Davor (with his wife, Abbe, and son, August) designed the main living and dining pavilion as a double-height space to increase its perceived volume, and added high cubbies for extra storage.

Of the seven steps in Michael Pozner’s not-quite-500-square-foot aerie in Greenwich Village, five contain drawers. His small set of table and chairs is from CB2.

Using natural materials is one way of bringing nature indoors. Oiled white ash floors and ceilings, along with Italian poplar and Lawson cypress joinery, are found throughout architect Andrew Simpson’s 538-square-foot home outside Wellington, New Zealand.

The former dining room is now home to Russell and Fontanez’s custom kitchen, designed by LOT-EK and fabricated by Chef Restaurant Supplies. “We love to entertain,” Russell says. “Before, the galley kitchen was in the hallway; now we can cook and still be a part of the party.” The space-saving setup, which adjoins the living room, features stainless steel–paneled cabinets, DuPont Corian countertops, Onda stools by Jesus Gasca for Stua, and fixtures and appliances by Grohe, Liebherr, and Miele. To maximize space, the designers specified that the cabinets be built around a former fireplace in the kitchen. “Because there’s a bump out where the chimney is, we turned the sink lengthwise,” Lignano says. “The cabinet directly overhead is only four inches deep, so it’s just a huge spice rack.” The island provides ample additional storage.

In a small seating area at the base of a two-story tower, Oslo chairs and sofas by Anderssen& Voll are paired with Around tables by Thomas Bentzen, all from Muuto. The lamp from Svenskt Tenn was designed by Josef Frank in 1938.

The Entertainment Shelf includes a panel that slides to reveal easy-to-reach shelves on either side.

The kitchen cabinetry echoes the new blue ceiling. The brick tile is from Heath Ceramics, as is the dinnerware. Behind the Viking stove is powder-coated corrugated metal (“Very trailer,” says the designer). The refrigerator is from Big Chill. On the table is a bowl by Victoria Morris.

More fragment pillows adorn the bed, which is covered in a reversible bedspread by artist Jane Kifer. To the left of the window is a painting by Shumate.

The backyard sports a sequence of raised flower and vegetable beds and two green roofs—one atop the workshop and other atop the back entrance.

Open enclosures and connections to adjacent living spaces keep the home inviting and airy rather than densely packed—a key feature for an owner of two dogs: Ben, a whippet, and Flynn, an Irish gypsy dog.

Oriented to absorb the afternoon sun, floor-to-ceiling doors comprise two-thirds of the home’s west-facing walls, which open to an elevated deck overlooking Island Bay. Combined with extra-thick building insulation, this passive element provides sufficient heating for the home, even during winter months—a true feat given the region’s cold seasonal winds.

Pozner credits Borowski with the idea to use a roller shade, purchased at the Shade Store, to close off the sleeping loft. The simple intervention, neither sound- nor lightproof, is sufficient to demarcate one “room” from another.

After a 40-year-old pine tree fell over on a Brentwood estate in Los Angeles, the owner let it lie, and the continued to grow from its newfound horizontal position. He decided to incorporate it into a 172-square-foot office and guest house with the structure floating above the tree. Around the perimeter of the butterfly roof is a clerestory that gives the illusion that the roof is floating.

Like a Murphy bed, the dining table tucks into the wall when not in use.

Bovee and Kirkpatrick eat at the table he designed. The cooktop, oven, and dishwasher are by Bosch; Bren Reis of Earthbound industries made the cabinets.

The deck is furnished with pieces from Design Within Reach.

Each student room has a dedicated workspace that's clean, bright, and functional. Objects and furniture had to be carefully selected or designed to make the apartment work: for instance, the steel desk was custom designed by Wierciński’s firm to double as a radiator cover.

Tips for Living in a Small Space: Blogger Erin Boyle breaks down her 240-square-foot studio where she and her husband live to share her best small-space secrets. From A Cup of Jo.

Key to the space-efficient floor plan is a strategically placed set of recessed areas, includingthe sleeping nook and writing desk.

A Coral pendant lamp by David Trubridge hangs in the dining area.

Ryan Anderson of RAD Furniture designed the stools as well as the table and benches on the pool deck.

Simpson runs his practice, WireDog Architecture, from his home study, where custom bookshelves line the perimeter of the mezzanine for a storage solution that doubles as railing.

The steel-clad Rolling Huts designed by Olson Kundig Architects in Manzama, Washington, sit lightly on the land thanks to wheels that allow the tiny residences to "hover" above the site, optimizing views of the landscape. Photo by Derek Pirozzi.

The Kaschkasch Floor Mirror is a decidedly modern home accent that is designed with small spaces and apartment living in mind. The full-body mirror has a triangular shaped frame, making it easy to fit into the corner of a room.

The home also extends into outdoor panoramas, even—and especially—from the ground floor, where a westward-facing deck cantilevers out into the lush landscape.

“I suppose you could consider me part of a subculture who lived in various inner-city spaces,” says Simpson, whose previous homes include ad hoc spaces in industrial warehouses, floors of office buildings, and units above shops and bars. In designing his Island Bay home completely from scratch, he retained his experimental spirit: “We wanted a house that responded to our wider social, environmental, and economic concerns rather than something that blindly followed convention,” he says. Unassuming in sight, the home’s corrugated-metal cladding (above) recalls the tin shed, a vernacular housing type in the region.

Their creative confections may ruin our diets, but we’re happy to be their taste testers anytime.

Deeds hung a single Louis Poulsen PH5 lamp from the ceiling; its blue and red interior paint “is very friendly to human skin tones,” she says. Photo by Lenny Gonzalez

A 500-square-foot outdoor space with a grill, a table, and a hammock sits just off the entrance level of the townhouse, offering extra room for dining, relaxing, and entertaining. The corner couch is a custom piece inspired by the large cushions of Moroccan sofas. The Fermob table is paired with Hay Hee dining chairs by Hay.

The office, which is also Lily’s room, features a Babyletto crib and a Smileywalls wall decal applied atop Normandy paint from Benjamin Moore.

A sleek galley kitchen packs function and style into a small space.

A writing desk is paired with a classic Series 7 chair by Arne Jacobsen.

In the living room, spare Scandinavian design takes center stage. Hans Wegner’s Wishbone chairs surround an Essay dining table by Cecilie Manz for Fritz Hansen; a mostly wood palette is enhanced by slate-gray brick around the fireplace. The paper lanterns throughout the home are a mixture of classics by Isamu Noguchi alongside those picked up in Japan and France.

Inspired by the small scale of Japanese residences—in particular, Makoto Masuzawa’s 1952 Minimum House—architect Andrew Simpson designed his own economical 538-square-foot home set into a wooded site in Island Bay, a coastal suburb outside Wellington, New Zealand.

Built-ins reduce the need for furniture.

At the client’s request the kitchen contains neither upper cabinets (Shino can’t reach them) nor an oven (they only used the old one once—to reheat a pizza). A modular Roche Bobois Mah Jong sofa adds a decorative flourish to the living area while maintaining as low a profile as the traditional Japanese furniture.