Our first home tour takes place in a 34 square metre apartment in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. The lounge area is warmly defined in the compact living space by a slab of wood panelling behind the small sofa. An indoor plant causes feathery shadows to play across the grain.

The lounge area’s wood panelled wall establishes a tonal accompaniment for a small dining table positioned in front. Clear perspex ghost chairs leave the rest of the window view unobstructed, and allow sunlight to shine brightly on through.

A small L-shaped kitchen completes the living room layout with a clean, crisp white aesthetic. A light wood countertop forms a match with the dining table, wall panelling and wood laminate flooring.

The wood flooring runs on seamlessly between the living room and the home entryway, which helps to visually expand the small space.

Made-to-measure white storage cabinets line the wall of the white entryway. The units are wall mounted to open up space beneath for stowing shoes, and to give the hallway a more spacious appearance.

A grey pouf tucks in by a small wooden entryway shelf.

A frameless mirror further opens up the sense of space and light around the front door.

The cozy bedroom is tucked into a niche behind the hallway storage system. A bespoke bed fits snugly into the limited space.

Narrow wall space by the bedroom door is fully utilised as a home workspace.

A comfy reading corner completes the small bedroom layout. The wood panelling that frames the bed is extended around the lounge chair and floor reading lamp to fashion a cohesive flow.

Sheer white drapes lightly screen an enclosed balcony area.

The enclosed balcony has been set up for coffee breaks away from the computer screen.

In the bathroom, wood effect tiles encase the shower area. On the adjoined wooden vanity, a matte white faucet melds with the clean white countertop.

Apartment floor plan.

Our second home tour is a 39 square metre one bedroom apartment in Kyiv, Ukraine. This time, a warmer hue of white has been used to freshen and expand the living room, whilst green accents enliven. A short picture ledge adds a small decorative touch above the sofa.

A neat green console is on hand to store laptop peripherals, current magazines and phone chargers.

The green living room scheme is complemented by the lush foliage of a large indoor plant.

Two light green pendant lights fall at different lengths over a functional dining peninsula, where kitchen bar stools face toward each other in a conversational pairing.

An ombre glass vase set attracts another flourish of natural greenery to a grey TV console unit. A matching wall unit provides a tower of storage by the window, with lower shelves utilised for a small book library.

In the entryway, a cushioned hall tree bench has shoe storage tucked underneath. Wood panels box in the bespoke design.

A matching oak effect chest of drawers occupies the opposite side of the entryway, whilst the painted walls of the entryway gleam crisp white.

One tiny flash of green picks out an accent corner around the drawer set.

Grey granite floor tiles make the entryway easy to keep clean.

Similarly to the home entryway, it's a simple stripe of colour that establishes the green bedroom scheme. Interestingly, bedroom pendant lights on either side of the platform bed have been picked out in contrasting green and white finishes to stand out against their differing backdrops.

A floating tv stand narrowly underlines the television at the foot of the bed, whilst a tallboy fills a slender grey alcove.

A frameless full length mirror balances out the grey alcove on the opposite side of the TV wall.

Black drapes frame the window and balcony door.

A wall mounted bookshelf cube and chair establish the small enclosed balcony area as a simple reading nook. A set of modern nesting coffee tables await endless cups of tea and biscuits.

Another folding chair props against a storage cabinet at the other side.

The bathroom and laundry come together as one combined utility room.

The granite tiles that covered the entryway floor are flipped to the vertical plain inside the bathroom, to protect the splash zone around an over bath shower.

Vertical format white tiles create clean contrast behind the bathroom vanity area, where a racetrack wall mirror emits a bright halo of light.

One smooth sweep of grey granite tiles clad the floor and bathtub.

A built-in cabinet makes full use of vertical space above the washer-dryer machine to house all of the detergent, fabric softener and bathroom surplus.

The floor plan reveals the plentiful storage space on offer in the small apartment.