Making "compact" living work for you

Another hurdle crops up after I clear my first towards ideal-living in NYC.
With a limited budget, and even more limited space, I need some serious inspiration for creating my dream pad in a shoebox. Apartment Therapy's Smallest Coolest Apartment Contest gives some great examples (and some mediocre ones too) of how real people (ie. non-interior-decorators-or-architects) make spaces work.

But before I even do any space-planning, I have to find a cheap studio / 1 BR in or around the Upper East Side / Astoria / Williamburg first. Guard your doors, landlords of rent-stabilized properties!