9 small-space pieces our hosts swear by

The same few pieces keep turning up in the small homes we film. They fold, roll, store or disappear, and the people who own them say they changed how their space works. Here they are, with the homes where you can see them in use. At the end, you'll find a list of pieces to shop, each marked Exact if it's what our host owns or Similar if it's a close alternative.

How we chose these: each piece appears in more than one home we've toured, or a host told us on camera that it changed how they live.

1. A Murphy bed

A Murphy bed folds up into a wall cabinet, so your bedroom turns back into a living room each morning. Elise's Toronto studio came with one. Josh installed his on his mom's advice in his Brooklyn studio, in a unit with a side closet and shelves. Jeff uses the open floor in his Long Island City studio for yoga and guests.

What to look for: a unit with shelves or a closet built in, and a mattress thin enough to close. Jeff found out the hard way that a thick new mattress can stop the bed folding up.

2. A clear coffee table

Glass or acrylic tables give you a surface without blocking the floor. Elise chose a clear coffee table and a clear nightstand so light passes through. Josh found a Noguchi-style glass table at an outlet.

What to look for: rounded corners if you'll be walking past it in a tight room, and thick acrylic that won't wobble.

3. A see-through desk and chair

Sheridon's Jersey City studio is 300 sq ft, but it still has a full office. Her desk is clear, and she found a clear chair on a Bushwick street. If both are invisible, she reasons, the room feels bigger. Josh's desk has a glass top, and he's had it for over ten years.

4. A table that folds down from the wall

A wall-mounted drop-leaf table gives you a work surface only when you need it. Arriane uses one in her Toronto walk-up kitchen for extra prep space. Edmund has a fold-down desk and a fold-down table in his bedroom that works as a music corner.

What to look for: solid brackets and a wall that can take screws. Check with your landlord if you rent.

5. A dining table that hides its own chairs

Jeff's dining table rolls on wheels, opens to seat eight and stores three chairs inside. He calls it his first statement piece. Jake found a vintage teak folding table from Romania that hides four chairs and folds down to the size of a small cabinet in his Ottawa studio.

6. A storage bench

A bench with a lift-up seat gives you seating and a closet in one. Edmund's dining bench in his Montreal apartment doubles as his son's favourite seat. Carla's benches in her Brooklyn dining nook hide cleaning supplies and extras she has nowhere else to put.

7. A sofa bed or daybed for guests

If friends visit often, a sofa that becomes a bed saves you from the air mattress. Carla's sofa bed and daybed have slept up to six visiting friends. Abinaya's sofa hides a queen bed, and Bryan's IKEA sofa bed in his Midtown condo took him months to choose because he wanted one that was comfortable both ways.

What to look for: sit on it before you buy. Bryan's test was that it had to work for both sleeping and watching TV.

8. Clear lazy Susans

A lazy Susan is a turntable that brings the back of a shelf to the front. Priya uses clear ones from Dollarama for supplements and one from IKEA in her fridge for sauces in her Toronto condo. Clear ones let you see what you have.

9. Over-door and magnetic storage

When there's no wall left, use the door. Isabelle hung a shoe rack over her front door in her Brooklyn studio. Gail added magnetic baskets to the side of her fridge for pens, papers and electronics in her Manhattan kitchen.

Before you buy

Measure twice, and think about how each piece moves. Every item here earns its spot by doing more than one thing. For more ideas without buying anything, read our small-space ideas from real homes.