See All the Winners of Our First-Ever Small/Cool Design Awards

Celebrating cool, small-space-friendly design is what we do every day at Apartment Therapy, but now we’re officially taking things one step further. Say hello to Apartment Therapy’s first-ever Small/Cool Design Awards, a curated list of the best, smartest, most stylish home finds we saw so far this year.

Decorating your home can be overwhelming — especially if you like to keep tabs on what’s trending. That’s why we decided to draw on the expertise of Apartment Therapy editors — and industry pros — to spotlight the most noteworthy, well-designed, and just plain cool pieces for every room. Whether you’re wondering which modular sofa is worth the splurge or need inspiration for your next paint or tile project, we’ve got you covered. To cover all our bases, we even handpicked a team of pros, including Jeremiah Brent and Sarah Sherman Samuel, to share their own expert-approved recommendations. 

From big-ticket sofa buys and double-duty side tables to must-have bedding and multitasking table lamps, here are the designs that deserve a spot in your cart (and in your home) ASAP.

What Are the Small/Cool Design Awards?

As a spinoff of Apartment Therapy’s previous Small/Cool pop-up experiences, the Small/Cool Design Awards aim to highlight the coolest small-space-friendly home products. After months of research and vetting, we identified 44 winners across six categories: furniture, decor, textiles, lighting, kitchen and bath, and finishes.

How We Selected Our Winners

Of course, there’s so much good design out there, so to compile this list of bests, we first consulted our editorial and commerce teams for the need-to-know products on their radars, plus reviewed a handful of reader-favorite bestsellers. We also welcomed submissions from some of our go-to brands, but to be considered for inclusion, all products must have been released within the past three years and cost under $1,000 (with the exception of sofas).

We tapped a team of in-the-know panelists to share their own design-forward faves as well: Ellen Van Dusen, founder of colorful textile brand Dusen Dusen; Sebastian Brauer, senior vice president of product design at Crate & Barrel and Crate & Kids; Priya Vij, founder of cabinet hardware company Hapny Home; Sarah Sherman Samuel, interior and furniture designer; DuVäl, interior designer and Small/Cool pop-up alum; Deirdre Maloney and Minya Quirk, co-founders of online shopping platform Afternoon Light and two of Apartment Therapy’s 2024 Design Changemakers; and Jeremiah Brent, interior designer and Queer Eye star.

So without further ado, here are our winners!

Read on for the Full List of 2024 Small/Cool Design Awards

See here for the full list of 2024 Apartment Therapy Small/Cool Design Awards winners.

If you’re looking for specific products, read all about the following:

2024 Small/Cool Design Awards: Best Furniture Winners
2024 Small/Cool Design Awards: Best Lighting Winners
2024 Small/Cool Design Awards: Best Decor Winners
2024 Small/Cool Design Awards: Best Textiles Winners
2024 Small/Cool Design Awards: Best Kitchen & Bath Winners
2024 Small/Cool Design Awards: Best Finishes Winners

Further Reading

I Tried the 90/90 Rule and My Closet Is Now Fully Decluttered

We Tested (and Rated!) Every Sofa at West Elm — Here Are the Best for Every Type of Need

We Asked 8 Pro Travelers What They Never Pack in Their Carry-On, and Here’s What They Said