Jennifer Laing

If you have a hard time getting excited about a one-room apartment, you haven’t experienced a highly engineered version like the ones featured here. With clever designs, creative storage solutions and customized built-ins galore, they take one-room living to the next super-stylish level.

Summer is officially in gear, which explains why you and your family are longing to escape the city. A quick trip to the beach, mountains or lake is a no-brainer for those with wheels, but for vehicle-less New Yorkers—which, given the price of parking in the city, includes many of us—it’s more of a puzzle and a hassle.

No matter how many tricks you try—choosing low-profile furniture, painting the ceiling a contrasting or high-gloss shade, hanging curtains as high as possible—nothing makes a room feel more spacious than soaring ceilings. Check out these fab pads for inspiration.

New Yorkers aren't generally fans of stairs, especially if you live on the top floor of a walkup. But when they're within the walls of your own home, they're the—ahem—height of extravagance. These apartments are equipped with staircases so glam, you can be sure to make a grand entrance.

Bathing suit season is just around the corner, but there’s still a bit of time yet to get in shape. For those of us who think working out in public is just too mortifying for words, we'll just have to make do. But if you're one of the lucky ones in the market for an apartment with a get-fit indulgence, consider ones of these homes—all of which come complete with private gyms that would give even Equinox

The days are getting warmer, the school year’s winding down and your kids need fresh air and room to run, but your building lacks an outdoor area and the neighborhood playgrounds have lost all allure. So, what’s a space-challenged New Yorker to do?