Built with inconspicuous, blink-and-you’ll- miss-it brown brickwork, this 1980s apartment block sinks into its surroundings between Wanstead Park and Wanstead Flats. Inside, the story is altogether more colourful: a joyful palette inspired by postmodernism and the Bauhaus make this home an artwork from every angle. Considered touches include a green-painted wall framing a particularly verdant outlook from the living room window, creating the feeling of living among the trees outside.

The candy-coloured softness of the interiors is furthered by the shapely contours, including an archway from the hallway that allows light to pass across its length. Despite this open feel, there’s a strong sense of demarcation, as well as space-savvy nooks for home-working and storage.

Finding space for two bedrooms and cleverly delineated living spaces into its just-over-500-sq-ft plan, this mid-terrace house in Wood Green has pushed its diminutive plan to its (spatially speaking) limits. Slight though it may be, a healthy amount of storage was carved out during a recent renovation – ideal for stowing away the everyday.

Tall sash windows elongate the proportions of each room, making it feel substantially bigger than its square footage would suggest. And, come summer, an immaculately decked rear garden generously extends the indoor living space.

There is a distinctly creative bent to this artful apartment on Peckham High Street. North-west-facing windows in its main living space imbue the space with a diffuse quality of light, while pared-back walls offer themselves up as a blank canvas of sorts. A large picture window above the sink frames a view of the sculptural staircase outside, creating a sort of hung-artwork allusion while doing so.

One of four apartments carved out by Cuozzo Fleming that are also on the market with The Modern House, this home is perfectly placed to make the most of the arts and cultural scene on its doorstep too, with Peckhamplex, Peckham Levels and the South London Gallery all within easy reach. (We’ve written in greater depth about this cluster of new flats in our Journal, too.)

Believed to be the oldest building in Newquay, this trim seaside home has been cannily forged from a blacksmith’s workshop. It sits mere minutes away from the sea, which has seemingly inspired its interiors: sandy-coloured cork flooring runs underfoot, while white-painted walls amplify the glittering coastal light. The double-height living space, bespoke storage, skylights and space-smart staircase combine to create the illusion of a space.

Newquay is a perennial favourite among surfers and, for those that way inclined, the house has space for stashing wetsuits. For landlubbers,  town centre is moment away, as are the brilliant walking and cycling routes along the South West Coastal Path.

The lateral plan of this light-filled apartment in Maida Vale, north-west London, lends itself to a certain seamlessness which has been furthered by Studiores’s footprint-conscious overhaul of the interiors (think clean lines and space-saving pocket doors). Soaring ceilings create a voluminousness that is enhanced by the all-white walls and fluted cabinetry that pleasingly obscures the clutter of day-to-day life.

Although the space has been thoroughly reimagined, a degree of flexibility remains. Some of its fixtures can be moved to one’s will – quite literally the case with a tall, island-hovering light set on an articulated bracket.

This pocket-sized portion of a regency townhouse sits on Cambridge Street in Pimlico, one of the streets laid out in the early part of the 19th century by the prolific English architect, Thomas Cubbitt. It has a sampling of the original features that have become known (and loved) by architecture fanatics far and wide: original cornicing, gargantuan ceilings and a south-west Juliet balcony set in the building’s icing-like facade.

An equally deft hand has transformed the house for modern living. Leather, steel and cork work in tandem to hone an unabashedly contemporary feel that enhances the building’s bones. Cupboards run along the length of the open-plan kitchen and reception room, making the most of the space’s generous length.