Undersized Utopias

Small doesn't have to be ordinary. Check out a small pink and green playhouse in Brooklyn, a tiny, transformed row house in Washington, D.C., a multifunctional studio in Virginia and a minimalist look taken to the extreme in San Francisco.

Elizabeth Hauser is the self-proclaimed "Queen of the Packrats," but she has managed to turn her tiny New York apartment into a petite palace fit for a princess. She is a girls' toy designer and children's craft book writer, and her home definitely reflects her work. Her 800-square-foot apartment has two halves, separated by color: one half for living, the other for working.

The combination living room/bedroom is not separated by a wall or divider, not even by color or style. The bed is simply in the corner of the living room. Her favorite colors are pink and green, and her apartment feels like it's springtime year-round.