On our round the world tour of awesomeness last year we stayed in a lot of Airbnb places. I became addicted to studio apartments, and as a result, simple living. Our temporary homes sparked something in my head and as the trip progressed, all I wanted to do was look at and stay in homes that oozed simplicity.

Here are a few of the places that inspired our own soon-to-be minimalist home.

Helsinki, Finland

This apartment was one of my favourites and as soon as we walked in I was convinced this was the kind of home I wanted. Despite everything being in the same room (dining/living, bedroom and kitchen), it still felt very spacious. I love the birch against the white walls, the ikea stools won me over and the kitchen storage (and crockery) just blew my mind.

Tokyo, Japan

This was our first stop and the only accommodation we booked before the trip began. It was a very comfortable studio apartment with a bed, two desks (and swivel chairs) as well as a couch, all in the same room. The linen was white, the place was clean and it had we everything we needed and then some.

Berlin, Germany

The crisp white walls and floor to ceiling windows gave this apartment natural light. I also liked the simple furnishing scattered throughout the rooms, especially this little plant dancing in the corner.

Madrid, Spain

This studio apartment was very cute and so comfortable. Here, we relaxed, cooked, read, did laundry and I even managed to have a Skype video job interview (which I got). It was just what we needed.

Staying in these places has taught me that we really don’t need a lot of space. If we ever needed “me-time,” it was as simple as putting on headphones, reading in another part of the apartment or even going for a walk for coffee.