The designers explain, “These steel windows played an integral part in making the interior feel larger and more open by blurring the boundaries between the interior and exterior.” A grey Halcyon Lake area rug, an oak chair from MAP, and Hans Wenger Wishbone chairs make for a simple, neutral palette. The painting over the fireplace is by Kate Hendry.

A palette of wood, concrete, and painted brick forms a neutral backdrop for Kathryn Tyler’s vintage treasures, including a $30 dining table, $3 poster, and a set of 1950s Carl Jacobs Jason chairs she snagged on eBay for $400.

Ryan Anderson of RAD Furniture designed the stools as well as the table and benches on the pool deck.

The dining room features 1970s leather-and-brass dining chairs and a table concocted from a brass-and-silver base and a custom lacquered top. The cheerful blue paint enlivening the doorway is from Emery & Cie.

In the living room, spare Scandinavian design takes center stage. Hans Wegner’s Wishbone chairs surround an Essay dining table by Cecilie Manz for Fritz Hansen; a mostly wood palette is enhanced by slate-gray brick around the fireplace. The paper lanterns throughout the home are a mixture of classics by Isamu Noguchi alongside those picked up in Japan and France.

Avanti A durable chair that comes in ash or walnut, the Avanti can be upholstered with fabric-covered foam that is woven into the seat for extra comfort. $600

Built-ins reduce the need for furniture.

At the client’s request the kitchen contains neither upper cabinets (Shino can’t reach them) nor an oven (they only used the old one once—to reheat a pizza). A modular Roche Bobois Mah Jong sofa adds a decorative flourish to the living area while maintaining as low a profile as the traditional Japanese furniture.

Yang Yeo and his girlfriend Ching Ian relax on the back stoop of their renovated and radically updated Singapore shophouse—an archetypal building type in this busy port city. “Shophouses brought back memories of our childhood,” says Yeo.

The beanbag chairs and outdoor sofa and chairs are from West Elm and the Case Study Museum Bench is from Modernica.

Two San Francisco art and travel addicts overhauled a loft—and customized a pair of shipping containers—to accommodate their collection and reflect their passions.

This open-concept Amsterdam loft features soaring 15-foot ceilings, an Eames lounge chair and ottoman, and a Jielde light. Throughout the home, Standard Studio architects Wouter Slot and Jurjen van Hulzen favored raw materials, including concrete, oiled oak, and hot-rolled steel, all of which complemented the original space's industrial feel. Tucked smartly underneath the loft, a compact home office features functional built-in shelving and an Eames DSR chair.

Homeowner Susanna prefers a motley set of dining chairs over a coordinated set; that way, guests can pick their favorite when they sit. Photo by: Petra Bindel

To highlight the existing architecture of the home, Hill retained the dark polish of the casement windows, which she finds enhances period details instead of undermining them. In the rear sunroom, the vintage Case Study furniture pieces with Plexiglas bases are from Metro Retro in Houston. A Bourgie lamp by Kartell is atop an old marble end table by Knoll, and the Gan kilim rug pictures a branch motif echoed in the kitchen and breakfast room.

Builder Ross Percival helped finesse the finely tuned detailing that separates the internal slope from the rock outside (opposite). The Pedro wire stool is by Craig Bond for Candywhistle.

Alex enjoys a sun-filled breakfast at the built-in dining table and bench, one of many space-saving designs.

Frame Chair The Frame easy chair has a distinct attitude with visible screws and wing nuts. The design is clean, raw and clear. Oak, leather and some small details in metal meets to create a comfortable easy chair.

Chair Necessities The couple’s four Chair One dining chairs by Konstantin Grcic for Magis are among their most prized possessions. They had been given their dining table as a wedding gift but couldn’t afford enough chairs to surround it, so they opted for a wooden bench on one side and the Grcic chairs on the other. Davor says he’s pleased they purchased the chairs early in the design process before the budget got really tight. magisdesign.com

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, food scraps and yard waste make up 20 percent of what we throw away. Composting organic materials keeps them out of the landfill, which cuts down on greenhouse gases, and enriches the soil. To compost at home, make a pile in your backyard, or introduce an indoor bin for throwaways like apple peels and eggshells.

By creating a desk out of roof beams, this home office perfectly integrates into an open-plan renovation of a Northern Italian farmhouse.

Though only two feet deep, the Ikea cabinet Azevedo bought for the guest bath didn’t quite fit, so she sliced off eight inches with a table saw. “It might be unorthodox, but it was just easier, faster, and cheaper to do it myself,” says the former furniture designer.

Konstantin Grcic’s Venus chairs for ClassiCon surround a table by Poliform in the formal dining room. Hill selected the Flos chandelier designed by Marcel Wanders for its "Old World reverence." The sleek fireplace mantel was designed by Hill and cobbled together onsite from three solid slabs of limestone.

The dining table, made from a single piece of teak, is a little over 13 feet long and was custom made for the space. It can seat up to 24.

In the living room, an Eames lounge chair is matched with a Richard Conover–designed fiberglass chair in similar proportions. A custom coffee table by Asher Israelow com-plements the industrial lighting by Workstead, affixed to walls painted in Farrow and Ball’s Manor House Gray. The sliding doors leading into the home office were fabricated by Markus Bartenschlager.

Simple utilitarianism at its finest: Takagi's Simple Machines series of stools, benches, and tables in white oak.

A departure from the mod-meets-baroque dining room, Turin’s breakfast area is far more sedate. She and her daughter, Helena, have a chat at a Progetto 1 table by Monica Armani for B&B Italia surrounded by four Lia chairs by Roberto Barbieri for Zanotta. The painting behind Helena is by Ricci Albenda.

For more bedroom ideas, check out our ten tips for clutter-free bedrooms.

Avanti Kids This children’s chair rivals its adult counterpart by genuine Schylling sock monkey upholstery. $325

"You want to make sure that your feet aren't unsupported," Burn says. "If you do have the feet on the floor and your thighs aren’t parallel to the floor you could be compressing the circulation in the back of your leg. Adjusting the feet to the right height is crucial." Gesture chair by Steelcase Design Studio in collaboration with Glen Oliver Loew, $979.

“Choose a seat with either an adjustable backrest height or lumbar support so the chair’s curve fits into the curve of a back like two pieces of a puzzle," Burn says. Collection Ciel! chair by Noé Duchaufour Lawrance for Tabisso, from $1,500. Check out another colorful customizable chair!

“It’s crucial to think about seat pan depth—especially if you’re short," Burn says. "Look for at least two inches of clearance behind the back of knee when you’re sitting in the chair.” Mirra 2 chair by Studio 7.5 for Herman Miller, from $649.

“Look for five key adjustments. Some chairs have more; some have less," says Burn. "These five should accommodate 95% of the population: seat height, seat depth, backrest and lumbar support height, and armrest height.” Diffrient Smart chair by Niels Diffrient for Humanscale, from $1,310. Check out more smart furniture here.

"If you’re in a chair that has a foam or mesh back, you need to look for some level of adjustment for lumbar support to fit the curve of the chair to the curve of your back," Burn says. "Sometimes this can be done more passively where the chair automatically fits to you without you coming in to make the adjustment." Clarity chair by BMW Group DesignWorksUSA with Allsteel, from $750. For more foam fun...

The study features floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors that bring the outdoors in. Space-saving custom walnut desks are accented by a Pixo Optical LED Table Lamp, an AJ table lamp, and a 1958 Eames Management Chair.