It’s been somewhat remarkable to witness the rise of small-space living over the years. It can partially be chalked up to our ever-more-crowded cities, and the simple fact that most people in big urban areas sacrifice space for location. It may not always be an ideal situation, but the idea of making the most of it, and turning a small space into a delightful one, can bring a certain charm to it. But the small-space trend also extends to the growing popularity of “tiny homes” (which in turn has been linked to everything from environmentalism, to millennial frugality, to the pandemic). According to an article at Business Insider, more than half of Americans now say they’d consider living in such a home.

As people familiar with small-space living are well aware, these rises in popularity have also brought about a great deal of creativity. It is increasingly apparent that there’s no end to the different ways in which people can make smaller homes special. So in this piece we want to look at some of the most interesting small space ideas we’re seeing from around the world, from general design concepts to some surprising celebrity homes.

Maayan Zusman’s Tel Aviv Apartment

It’s hard to think of a neater example of small-space concepts from recent years than this incredible apartment. Profiled in Dezeen back in 2018, it’s essentially a creative renovation concept, through which designer Maayan Zusman turned a 54-square-meter (roughly 177-square-foot), 1945 apartment into a seemingly spacious home for four. There isn’t one creative concept or gimmick at play here, but what Zusman shows us is primarily that walls and dividers can have utility, and save space in the process. In ways that are almost inexplicable, Zusman turned walls, dividers, and other wooden panels into storage and hidden rooms.

Michael Chen’s West Village Mystery Box

When you’re looking at big-city apartment spaces, the need to maximize space is really impossible to overstate. In addressing this issue, the idea of tucking anything from a television to a bed into a drawer is not unique among tiny home designers. However, tasked with fixing up a 225-square-foot Manhattan apartment, Michael Chen took the concept to new heights.

The result is a highly functional micro-apartment that is truly best described as a mystery box (though to be clear, Chen himself did not describe it as such). At a glance, it’s simply a very compact studio, with a tiny alcove at the entrance, a miniature kitchen counter, and a sort of small hall with room for a couch and a table. Upon further examination though, one notices that said table folds up into one of the walls — and that this same wall is actually a maze of compartments and cupboards concealing a bed, a divider for a bedroom, a computer and desk, and more. Again, it’s not a wholly unique concept, but turning a whole wall into a sort of puzzle box of features is wonderful.

Matthew McConaughey’s Solar-Powered Wooden Cabin

Matthew McConaughey may be an A-list film star, but he’s also something of a Renaissance man, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that he’d somehow find his way into the tiny home spotlight. As an actor, McConaughey has risen from the teen film and rom-com ranks to massive critical acclaim — “proving his versatility” time and time again, as Foxy Bingo wrote while profiling the man. And away from the cameras, there just seems to be no telling what McConaughey will get up to. He’s an author, a philanthropist, an avid college football supporter, and now a potential candidate for governor in Texas — not to mention a sort of amateur spiritual philosopher.

Amidst his many talents and interests though, McConaughey also fancies himself an environmentalist — which is where his stunning Australian tiny home comes into play. A profile of the home revealed it to be a sleek wooden cabin with a rustic, vintage interior and appliances entirely powered by solar panels. It’s an example of how a small space can be cutting-edge, classic, tiny, comfortable, and entirely original — all at once.

Maggie Rogers’s Echo Park Home

As one of the most beloved indie musicians to have emerged in years, Maggie Rogers couldn’t quite escape public attention when she purchased a new home in Echo Park. Variety wrote about the purchase, and revealed that rather than buying a typical celebrity mansion, Rogers had opted for a far more compact (and absolutely adorable) home.

Now, we should clarify that this is a 1,034-square-foot home that cost Rogers more than $1 million, so it’s not quite a tiny home or small-space apartment. Rogers isn’t exactly living in 200 square feet. But this home still merits mention for two reasons. One is that by celebrity standards it may as well be a tiny home — possibly indicating that the trend toward smaller living is touching Hollywood as well. The other reason is that there’s still a tiny-home quality to the home. Rogers’s Echo Park place has compact rooms, floor-to-ceiling shelves built into walls, and lots of natural light — all trademarks of well-made tiny homes. The home shows us that in some respects the small-space concept is relative, and that even a slightly larger home can use tiny house concepts to maximize its space and appeal.

Kodasema’s KODA Micro-Home

We’ll wrap up with an absolutely jaw-dropping concept from Estonian company Kodasema. The KODA micro-home was profiled at New Atlas a few years ago as one of the true pioneers of the use of pre-fab design in tiny homes. And even though this concept has since become more common, it’s hard to find a better example of it than these KODA units. They are box-like concrete structures that can be built in seven hours’ time, and provide 326-square-foot homes complete with everything one needs. And while their exteriors are somewhat plain, the interiors are quite nice — modern functional, cozy, and shockingly spacious. Each unit has an open bedroom lofted over a bathroom, a small kitchen counter, and a living room.

We simply haven’t seen many better uses of the replicable, pre-fab concept in tiny home design.

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Michael is Principal designer and blogger at Michael Helwig Interiors in beautiful Buffalo, New York. Since 2011, he’s a space planning expert, offering online interior e-design services for folks living in small homes, or for those with awkward and tricky layouts. He’s a frequent expert contributor to many National media publications and news outlets on topics related to decorating, interior design, diy projects, and more. Michael happily shares his experience to help folks avoid expensive mistakes and decorating disappointments. You can follow him on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook @interiorsmh.