Cirera + Espinet on Clever.

I recently had the pleasure of writing about this 540 square-foot bachelor pad in Barcelona, which features red marble countertops, dark green micro-cement floors, and terracotta velvet curtains instead of doors. Designed by local firm Cirera + Espinet, the apartment is full of unique solutions to a host of common small-space conundrums: cramped corners, lack of light, inadequate storage. What I love most about it, though, is that despite its bright colors (and all that luxurious velvet), it's a space that somehow still manages to feel minimal. “We wanted to create a multifunctional apartment,” the designers say, “that was daring and simple at the same time.”

Read more on Clever. Photos by Enric Badrinas.

Material Lust on Sight Unseen.

Although I'd met Material Lust designers Christian Swafford and Lauren Larson before, it wasn't until I visited their studio on assignment for Sight Unseen that I learned the story behind their brand, which produces furniture and home goods with decidedly dark flair. It was lovely to spend a fall morning in their space—to see their latest work, pore over their beautiful (and non-digital!) inspiration boards, and learn more about what inspires their cutting-edge aesthetic.

As it turns out, that aesthetic is one that's routinely confused for demonic. Says Christian: “We posted a photo on Instagram recently of a pentagram and a few of our chairs, and someone commented, ‘Unfollow these Satanists.’ Our design was based off of DaVinci’s Vitruvian Man. It was historical, but it had nothing to do with devil worship. Everyone feels the need to categorize.”

Find the full interview on Sight Unseen. Photos by Emily Johnston.

More from my Sight Unseen archive: Group Partner / Todd St. John / Ladies & Gentlmen Studio. Thanks so much for reading.

Brutalist Beauty on FVF.

Sculptor Pedro Reyes and clothing designer Carla Fernández make their home in a beautiful Brutalist structure in Mexico City, surrounding themselves with color, plant life, and an ever-growing collection of books. I was lucky enough to interview the couple for Freunde von Freunden last month, for a feature that went live this week. My favorite moment in our conversation? Pedro's comparison of the home to both a factory and a playground—and his description of the contents of his library.

"Our collection is very diverse," he says. "Just last week, I came back from Japan with two suitcases full of books, including an atlas of sand and a book about caterpillars. It all seems random—but it's not."

Read more on Freunde von Freunden. Photos by Ana Hop.

More work on FvF: Linda Derschang / Chelsea Miller / Mick Johan.

Robin's Nest.

Peter Becker's Robin's Nest is a hotel in Hesse, Germany completely comprised of treehouses. Becker tells iGNANT that until recently, the project was a one-man operation – just a sanctuary amid the trees, far from the bustle of Berlin and nowhere near a Wifi connection.

"It's a conscious decision so that people who come here can see and feel nature without their smartphones," he says. "When I ask people why they've come here, they tell me that they've already been to Spain and Italy ten times, but they haven't explored their own surroundings."

Read more at iGNANT. Photographs by Ana Santl.

For more on treehouse hotels: here's an article I wrote for VICE on Sweden's Treehotel (still high on my list of places to visit!).

Wild & Free.

With its patchwork houses dotting over 7,000 acres of Northwest Spanish mountainside, Matavenero is something of an eco-village paradise. Once abandoned, the village is now inhabited by a community wishing to preserve its lush surroundings, and who rebuilt its ramshackle houses and instituted cable transport for more convenient access. I've always loved alternative living spaces (case in point: these staggering Swedish tree houses I was lucky enough to cover for VICE), and these photos by Kevin Faingnaert have been perfect daydream fodder for this hot, humid NYC Thursday. See more — including villager portraits— here.




Visit Kevin Faingnaert's website, here. New POV to come tomorrow!

Living Close.

Some of my earliest memories involve making homes out of some of the tiniest hidden corners in the house. I'd cart my things into the front hallway and camp out under the narrow table near the heater, or the space beneath the bottom shelf in the hall closet. Somewhere, there's a photo of me reading a book in a plastic laundry basket, limbs overflowing. Small-ness, I remember thinking, was soothing.

Photographer Won Kim's series Enclosed shines a light into some of Tokyo's tiniest living spaces —in this case, the rooms are part of a backpackers' hostel. Each room is made of plywood and contains no windows or doors. Won writes, "For me, the real interest of the resulting portraits is in how each resident has made use of such a small, confining space...the sharply-defined space and its contents tell something about... his or her ability to function in such a strange, enclosed environment." What I find fascinating about them are the looks on each resident's face. They seem — to this fan of small spaces, anyway — lost in thought, completely comfortable, oblivious to the walls around them.

See more at Won Kim's website, here. 

At Home at School.

As a former student of a progressive elementary school known for its out-of-the-box thinking, I was immediately struck by the idea behind this Japanese nursery, which was designed to remind children of being at home. Meant to resemble "not a small school, but a big house," its designers were told to think of the space simply in relation to the daily activities of its pint-sized pupils — playing, snacking, running free — rather than as a building meant for educational instruction. 

The end result features cozy, muted classrooms (with not a chart or diagram or alphabet poster to be seen), and two smaller playgrounds as opposed to a single large one. Fascinating.

Photos by Yoshikazu Shiraki. Thanks, Dezeen.

Various Projects on FvF.

Very happy to share my latest feature for Freunde von Freunden, which went live a few days ago. The interview is with Elizabeth Beer and Brian Janusiak of the design studio Various Projects — they're owners of the store Project No.8 (which has a location in Manhattan's Ace Hotel), creators of a tremendously well-received line of key tags, and the brilliant minds behind a collection of hand-knit birds (including one made exclusively for FvF). They're also wonderful people with whom I feel so lucky to have spent an afternoon. I just fell in love with them, I've told countless friends since.

At one point in the interview, I asked the two whether they could have predicted the course their lives and careers had taken. "No," said Brian. "None of this was planned, really. It just happened. We both tend to make it up as we go along. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't, but we do everything very earnestly. Our process, I think, involves a lot of stumbling through things."

Photos by Brian W. Ferry. Find the complete interview on Freunde von Freunden, here.

See-Saw Snacking.

Though perhaps not the most practical pick, this see-saw table by Dutch designer Marleen Jansen would certainly make a very entertaining addition to any living space — and would force those seated to be completely present at mealtime (no texting, fidgeting, or excusing oneself early). Could be great for children — or as a tool for couples therapy. See more at Marleen Jansen's website, here. 

Photos by Wim de Leeuw.

Canyon Cabin.

This wooden cabin, built by Mason St. Peter in LA's Topanga Canyon, is the stuff summer dreams are made of. With its deck and its lofted bed and its assortment of ridiculously beautiful woven rugs, I could easily imagine spending a weekend here (or a week, or, in a perfect world, an entire sun-soaked season). 

See more, here. Photos by Mariko Reed.

See also: a Spanish DJ's attic abode; living in buses, boats, and on seaside cliffs.

Friends of Friends.

I was a fan of Berlin-based interview magazine Freunde von Freunden long before I started as a contributor, and it's been an ever-evolving love affair since. I'm such a fan, and am so honored to be profiled today in the site's latest installment of Meet the Contributors. Below, a few pulls from FvF interviews I find especially inspiring, captured by photographers and writers I'm proud to be featured alongside. (Credits below.)

You can find my FvF archive, here. Visit Freunde von Freunden for much more. 

Photos, from top to bottom: Johanna Burke photographed by Grace Villamil; Aviva Rowley's home photographed by Marco Annunziata; Gisele d'Ailly van Waterschoot van der Gracht photographed by Jordi Huisman; Coltrane Curtis photographed by David Engelhardt; Manuela Sosa photographed by Silvia Conde; photo of Gori de Palma and Laura Gonzalez's space by Rubén Ortiz & Natalia Guarín; photo of me by Jacquelyne Pierson.