Douglas fir lines the walls of the entryway. A narrow striped rug adds texture to the white-painted wooden floor from Dinesen.

Omer Arbel, the creative director at industrial design firm Bocci, was given three parameters when he began designing a home for his colleague Randy Bishop: Create a “profound” connection between the internal and external spaces; build only one level; and, most crucially, utilize a wealth of 100-year-old beams salvaged from a series of warehouses owned by Bishop’s ancestors.

An attentive sensitivity to site played into nearly every aspect of both the exterior andinterior spaces of the home. Architect Peter Rose collaborated with landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh, who worked to craft and maintain the wild, organic feel of the environs. Will Parry, a local builder, custom-fabricated all of the sustainably harvested Spanish cedar-and-glass windows and skylights throughout. Here, a vertical-swinging window at the end of the entry hallway opens directly to a lush expanse of vegetation.

Raising the bed above floor level, architect Kyu Sung Woo converted this tiny studio into an open and comfortable home for Wonbo Woo. Photos by: Adam Friedberg

You may think that a library has to be its own room, but books can be stored and read just about anywhere. Lining a hallway with books turns it into a library that you’ll walk through, and be inspired by, every day. Cabinets below provide extra storage and even a place to sit and read.

White oak paneling imbues uniformity and warmth into the hallway, kitchen, and living spaces.

The red acrylic hallway.

The two wings of the addition are connected by a central “void space.” The glass walls visually draw the garden and greenery into the living space. Both East Coast transplants, the couple wanted to more easily take advantage of favorable gardening conditions in the mild Northern California climate. With this in mind, they used the renovation to bring the outdoors in, as well as encourage easy and direct exterior access for gardening.

In addition to reconstructing an open living room, Loft Szczecin had to subdivide four smaller spaces to create privacy in the expansive warehouse.

To add to the feeling of spaciousness, bookcases are set back on the upstairs landing.

Curtiss describes the floor plan as “super efficient but with gracious moments.” Instead of maximizing room size, she ensured that shared spaces were adequately sized. In the upstairs hallway, that means two or three people can pass each other with relative ease.

Australian residence, John and Cathy Dillon drew from mid-century modern ethnic influences to design their dream home. Photo by: David Sandison

Recessed lights are installed above a ceiling so that the body of the light— the mechanism and wiring—is hidden in the ceiling with a flush bulb or lens.

Paths of Andalusian tile and intervening plaster walls help to delineate space in the expansive apartment, which is centered around an internal entry courtyard. The armchair, designed by Peter and Alison Smithson, is covered in a Josef Frank textile from Just Scandinavian. The white piece just behind it is a repurposed Austrian stove that’s now used as a storage device.

The once public hallway between the two apartments now boasts a bold wallpaper by Kravitz Design for Flavor Paper.

The interiors of this 1850s threshing barn in rural England are finished in OSB. The material, usually used as sheathing under exterior cladding, reminded the project’s architect Carl Turner of the straw that was once held in the barn.

Zames reconfigured the apartment to improve circulation and open some of the confined rooms. What was formerly a hallway is now integrated with the kitchen. A bank of floor-to-ceiling cabinets offers storage and an island covered in carrara marble offers space for working or dining. "We embraced dark colors in the kitchen to keep a contrast with the bright white of the surrounding living areas," Zames says of the constrasting finishes. The barstools are from CB2.

“There’s not a single place where you’re not aware of the larger landscape,” Moffitt says. “The double-height living room is such a generous space that it feels big.”

Strategic site planning and smart technology help the 3,200-square-foot Great Gulf Active House achieve hyper-efficiency. The Toronto-based architecture firm, superkül, used triple-glazed windows; a solar hot water system; zoned heating; a fully automated HVAC system, skylights, and roller shades; LED lights; and spray foam insulation, among other green strategies.

Bold color continues in the entrance hall. The bench is from an antiques fair.

To help define the kitchen, the architects designed a wall of storage with cubbies on one side and a pantry with appliances on the other. Colorful doors add a playful touch, and DP3 Series cabinet pulls from Doug Mockett & Company keep the surfaces streamlined.

The hallway’s matte-white paint is a crisp backdrop to refurbished details like the balustrade.

The owners furnished the living room with a mixture of new and old pieces, including a Hans Wegner lounger and Tuckbox coffee table. A timber-lined hallway leads out from it to the newer parts of the home. Sections of steel-framed double glazing separate and accentuate each “house” while letting in glimpses of sky.

What else is the porch good for? Tricycle races, of course.

Childrens’ bedrooms are reimagined as cozy private cubbies, much like sleeper cars on a train. These compact rooms were designed to encourage outside interaction with the rest of the household during the non-sleeping hours of the day. Sliding doors and baltic birch built-ins complete the rooms.

When she’s not at the treehouse of her Hawaii home, Jackson hangs out in the kids’ room.

A double-height corridor runs the length of the house, and a slatted wall on the second floor overlooks the space.

Working with a limited footprint, a daunting slope, and killer views, architect Bruce Bolander went vertical with a secluded canyon house in Malibu. A colorful, laminate-clad wall of storage stretches seamlessly from the kitchen to the bedroom, where a repurposed speaker stand serves as the bedside table. Photo by J Bennett Fitts.

Fontanez solved LOT-EK’s conundrum of how to situate the bed against the center wall while still maintaining closet access by suggesting an automated dry-cleaning rack in the narrow closet. He and Russell access the closet from opposite ends. “We just have to make sure we don’t spin it at the same time,” Fontanez says. Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

Custom white oak millwork creates a spine that separates the living areas from the entrance stairway.

This Texan abode is made up of two-by-four cedar strips. A frieze of screened openings runs the length of the building, allowing a cross-breeze and extra light in, while ceiling fans keep the air circulating in summer. “Animals, from deer to raccoons to all kinds of birds, come right up to the porch,” says Panton. Photo by: Greg Hursley

Miller explains, “Every material and spatial decision we make in one space affects the entire home,” a design philosophy warmly embraced by the owners.

In this Brazilian home, São Paulo studio Jacobsen Arquitetura placed laminated timber porticoes approximately 1.31 feet apart, to create a dynamic linear aesthetics that brings to mind the tori gates of Kyoto’s famous Fushimi Inari shrine.

The hallway leading to the master bedroom is lined with an assortment of framed photos of family and friends and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the verdant James River Valley.

The playful aesthetics of Austin Maynard Architects have once again breathed new life into aging building stock—this time with the transformation of a dark and narrow terrace in Melbourne into an open and light-filled home fitted out with sustainable features. Upstairs, the "parents’ retreat" includes a centrally located bathroom "box," seen on the left of the image. The bright orange walkway is perforated to let natural light pass through.