Venturing below sea level, Kate Orff and her firm SCAPE explore the nautical landscape. The model seen here examines affordable and sustainable opportunities for restorative landscape design. Her model’s relevance is heightened during the current dialogue about urban coastlines and rising sea levels. Image provided courtesy of the National Academy.

This "local prefab" home on the Isle of Skye is made mostly from materials sourced in northern Scotland. The timber-framed model, meant to evoke the simple agrarian barns of the area, can be constructed on-site in as little as a day and is designed for affordability.

Black and white kitchen cabinets painted with a triangular pattern add a whimsical touch to this funky kitchen.

When Abbie and Bill Burton hired Marmol Radziner to design their prefab weekend home, their two requests were “simple-simple, replaceable materials,” says Abbie—such as concrete floors (poured offsite in Marmol Radziner's factory) and metal panel siding—and “the ability to be indoors or outdoors with ease.” Deep overhangs provide shade and protection from rain, so the Burtons can leave their doors open year-round and hang out on their 70-foot-long deck even in inclement weather. They visit the house once a month, usually for a week at a time, with Vinnie and Stella, their rescue Bernese Mountain dogs. Their two adult children occasionally join them. The couple hopes to one day retire here.

Fong has designed a range of interiors, including Michael Voltaggio’s Ink restaurant. In 2009, he opened Galerie Half in Los Angeles, which showcases 20th-century design, European antiques, architectural elements, and art.

Rob Fissmer of the furniture company Vitsœ lives with his wife in a restored, A. Quincy Jones-designed house in Crestwood Hills. (Get a full tour of the space here!)

Roman Alonso founded L.A. based design collective Commune with Steven Johanknecht, Pamela Shamshiri, and Ramin Shamshiri in 2004. The group collaborates on commercial spaces, retail environments, restaurants, residences, packaging, corporate identities, and websites.

Angie Myung and Ted Vadakan founded the lifestyle design brand Poketo in 2003; they opened their flagship shop in Downtown Los Angeles in 2012.

Claudia & Harry Washington run an eponymous design studio in San Salvador, El Salvador.

Austere is retail, showroom, and event space celebrating Scandinavian design in Downtown Los Angeles.

Jamie Gray owns New York design shop Matter, which he founded in 2003. The store has its own in-house design line called MatterMade.

The concrete wall mimics the slope of the hill outside as a reference to early Maori structures that were dug into the land. The simple kitchen has strandboard cabinetry and an MDF island that conceals a fireplace at one end. The ceramic works on the built-in seat at right are by Raewyn Atkinson and Robyn Lewis.

After living on and studying a woodsy acre of land in North Zealand, Denmark, architect Jesper Brask cleared a stand of pine trees and, from the timber, built a getaway open to its surroundings. The house, which Brask shares with his wife, Lene, and sons, Kristian, Jens, and Niels, is used mainly in summer, when the weather is optimal for throwing open the glass doors.

Koeppel works with a local laser-cutting studio, Pagoda Arts. The entire production process—laser cutting, printing, packaging and design—is all done within a three mile radius.

Mami and Goo the Kishu dog return from a frolic in the forest, which the couple, along with Hideaki, has thinned and trimmed back over many weekends. It’s an idyllic escape and a world away from the concrete expanse of Tokyo.

In Seattle's rapidly developing South Lake Union neighborhood, the Art Stable is a classic example of urban infill. Built on the site of a former horse stable, the seven-story mixed-use building carries its history into the future with highly adaptable live/work units.

Ben Watson joined Herman Miller in 2010 as executive creative director.

A pared-down cabin on Eleuthera island was designed as an off-the-grid retreat for Mark and Kate Ingraham and their daughter. Envisioning "a simple box resting lightly on the land,

Japanese showers are usually set low down so the bather can sit on a stool and scrub, then pour cedar buckets of hot water over their heads for a refreshing rinse. This homeowner in Venice, California mounted a handheld shower head on the wall for added flexibility. The drain is under the removable cedar floor slats, keeping the room design uncluttered. Wood tubs are cleaned with a simple rinse and last for decades, as the antiseptic properties of cedar guard against mold and rot. This ofuro was designed by Santiago Ortiz and fabricated by Bartok Design.

Alhadeff opened The Future Perfect in 2003. The design shop and showroom has locations in New York and San Francisco.

Joel Chen started gallery and retail space JF Chen over thirty five years ago on Melrose Avenue. The space features 34,000 square feet of carefully curated furniture, accessories, and art.

Richard Wright founded 20th- and 21st-century design gallery and auction house Wright in Chicago in 2000.

Labaco joined the Museum of Arts and Design as Marcia Docter curator in 2010. Prior to that, he was Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at the High Museum in Atlanta.

Medda, who co-founded L'ArcoBaleno and serves as its creative director, also co-founded the Design Miami fair.

Choosing a kitchen or bathroom countertop can be nerve-wracking, and we understand why—they can be one of the most expensive aspects of a renovation, with the added responsibility of impacting the aesthetics of a space. Read on as we work our way through the pros and cons of seven of the most common countertop materials.

Tanya, Chris, Jackson, and Zeke spend much of their day outside.

What is the best design book to give as a gift? Phaidon Design Classics (Phaidon Press, 2006), three-volume set, $175.

Because the house is narrow and long (16 by 68 feet), the design team decided to create a huge open-air space to light the interior naturally. Two retractable motor-driven canvas canopies shelter the space during Singapore’s frequent rains.

Kate’s father predicted they would never use the crow’s nest–like tower, which is reached by climbing a narrow staircase.

On the outskirts of Austin, Texas, author Chris Brown and his dog Katsu head to the river; the path was once a dumping ground on top of a long-defunct underground oil pipeline. The green roof was conceptualized by John Hart Asher of the Ecosystem Design Group at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin.

“Before, the house turned its back on the landscape,” said Parish. “This renovation and addition really animates the garden.” Sliding glass doors match those of the living room beyond the deck, and both can be completely open to the yard.

Tom Givone’s clients, Rose and Steve Smith, teach overseas and have owned their house for 26 years. They intended to fix it up slowly and retire there. As one problem led to another, they reached a point when they felt their only option, as Rose put it, was to “burn it down.”

In the photos that follow, we take a look at the product offerings inspired by the house, which Yeon designed when he was only 27 years old.

Portland, Maine-based designers John and Linda Meyers run Wary Meyers Decorative Arts, a web shop featuring colorful candles, soaps, vintage finds, and more.

What is the best design book to give as a gift? Recently, Modern Swedish Design: Three Founding Texts. It’s the first English translation of three texts by pioneers of Swedish design that have been extraordinarily influential on international architecture and interior furnishings since the early 20th century. Modern Swedish Design: Three Founding Texts, edited by Lucy Creagh, Helena Kåberg, and Barbara Miller Lane (MoMA Publications, 2008), $35.