The wall beneath the stairs holds hidden storage, including an Enomatic wine dispenser and Sub-Zero refrigerated drawers.

Shibata made the 10-person dining table using $130 sawhorse legs from Maruki Wood Products Company topped with a sheet of birch plywood. A hole in the sliding wall fits over the table, enabling it to be used in both the library and the meeting room. malki.jp A movable wall clad in wainscoting on one side slides along tracks in the dining-room ceiling, dividing the room into a meeting space and a library. The Shiro Simple Modern Pendant lights can be easily removed and reattached after moving the wall. vanilladesign.jp

Outside, the couple clad the house with a rain screen of 1.5-by-1.5-inch strips of spruce to create a “modern rustic barn.” The extra-deep sills of the first-floor window become a bench on the outside and a shelf on the inside.

Alexandra Young's Craftsman-style bungalow in Oakland testifies to the wisdom of patiently accumulating a collection over many years. An ornate masonry fireplace fits easily into the home's historical mood, but like other rooms in the house, it has been updated with a modern fire screen.

Corrugated siding usually used for roofing is used for the exterior.

In the living room Daphne the dog keeps company with a Case Study Day Bed from Modernica, a LCM chair by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller, and a painting by the Brooklyn artist Joyce Kim.

Clerestory windows in Tyler's design studio provide plenty of light, while built-in bookshelves and flat files offer ample storage.

The Lyons’ younger daughter practices cello in her bedroom, which overlooks the central gallery space.

Walter Hood is perfectly comfortable carving out serene spaces amid often chaotic urban Oakland, California. Despite the speeding cars overhead, Splash Pad Park is now home to a thriving farmer’s market.

A large personal library, featuring patterned rugs, adds to the home's charm.

Part of the Tassafaronga Village affordable-housing complex in Oakland, California, this 60-unit apartment building anchors the new neighborhood and surpasses California’s already-strict energy standards by 47.5 percent.

Photo via Bay Area Bites.

Photo via Bay Area Bites.

The inspiration for this prefabricated, modular family home on Fishers Island, New York, were the views that Tanney and Luntz saw from a 12-foot stepladder, which was balancing on the bed of a pickup truck when they first visited the site.

Architects Alice Fung and Michael Blatt designed their own home in Los Angeles, complete with a modern fireplace design clad in galvanized steel.

Made of polished integral concrete with a Cor-Ten steel base, a fire pit “becomes very much a unique element that sets itself apart in form and color,” says landscape architect Stefan Thuilot, who designed it.

Oakland's Cathedral of Light, designed by SOM, is just a single-story building, but the gracious curves showcase the artistry possible with taller wooden structures. Reaching a height of 136 feet, the wood-and-glass sanctuary exudes a calming presence.

A simple chair, re-covered and re-veneered.

A zigzagging white-gravel path ultimately ends at the final destination: a circular fire pit for conversation.

In addition to her beloved midcentury style, Young developed an appreciation for Scandinavian design while abroad in Europe in her twenties, evident in the pared-down bedroom.

A shot of the Oakland sample warehouse.

Photo by: Meatpaper

Hayon and his wife, photographer Nienke Klunder, and their son, Tys, has filled his home with many of his own designs, including the Bardot sofa for Bernhardt Design and the 22 chair for Ceccotti and mint-colored armoire for Bisazza Bagno.

The home’s custom woodwork—including the movable furniture—was made by Orana Joinery and finished with plywood. Chemisys Group supplied the timber door and window finishes, as well as the timber deck outside.

The modular system created by the architects at Resolution: 4 allows them to customize a home’s floor plan by stacking, lining up, and joining factory-built, rectangular modules. This is the largest prefab house the firm has completed to date with eight modules amassing around 4,500 square feet.

Alexandra Young's Craftsman-style bungalow in Oakland testifies to the wisdom of patiently accumulating a collection over many years. Her house is a personal museum of curios, mostly handcrafted, made in America, or heirlooms.

Architect Joseph Tanney says the house was designed as a safe haven for Wexler and Zimmerman’s children.

A refurbished shipping container was used as the basic building block to create the installation. Extremely portable and an innovative way to re-think and re-use a seemingly single purpose object.

Jane Watson, Paul McElwee, Brahm Ahmadi, and Malaika Edwards stand by their work.

Dulkinys uses the remote-controlled mountaineer’s harness to peruse the two-story bookshelf.

Jimena makes use of a giant chalkboard just outside.

Endless possibilities!

A toy that promotes analog learning and creativity in a digital world without technology? Meet the anaPad 2, $40-70—a magnetic white board housed inside a white acrylic frame with a wooden back and 3D geometric magnetic apps. Perfect for what kids do best—doodling, endlessly arranging things around, and game playing.

Mix Method The best way to integrate different furniture styles is to treat “the space like a gallery and place objects according to their colors,” Hayon says. He cautions against using too much natural wood furniture in a space with wood floors: “You need contrast.” In his home, contrasting materials, small porcelain objects, and an occasional black form enliven a palette of light gray furniture.