Brian Levy, Tony Gilchriest, and Jay Austin (left to right), are creating the Boneyard Studios complex in Washington, DC, along with Lee Pera and a team of architects and builders. The four structures onsite are both experiments in small-space living and, during public “work days,” a base for educating the community about construction, design, and tiny houses.

Jay Austin’s Matchbox house is only eight feet wide but feels bigger thanks to a well-organized interior.

A rear deck is nestled behind the central cabin, flanked by the sleeping quarters. Inside, the dining table sits beneath a single hanging lamp.

A skylight over the lofted bed and some clever storage moves, including magnetized spice containers overhead help maximize space in Austin's Matchbox house.

A barrier-free house enables a family to come together amid the vineyards in Northern California. The kitchen is fully accessible and yet not institutional, with room for both extended family and a caregiver, and the ability to move between indoors and out without having to negotiate a single barrier. The island contains a micro kitchen for the family’s daughter, who is in a wheelchair, with a sink, refrigerator, and warming drawers within easy reach. The pendant is from Global Lighting.

nArchitects, Monadnock Development, and the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation partnered on a winning proposal for a micro-unit apartment block.

The units are arranged on every floor to form a staggered facade and will measure between 250 and 370 square feet each.

Renderings of their project reveal a building made of 55 modules that will be prefabricated in a factory in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and craned into place on a city-owned lot on East 27th Street in Manhattan.

At Boneyard Studios in Washington, DC, Brian Levy’s Minim house has a built-in sofa with storage and a moveable table that can serve as a dining area, desk, or kitchen worktop.

Jay Shafer’s Four Lights Tiny House Company sells floor plans for houses that start at 98 square feet. The Gifford is a Craftsman-inspired, 112-square-foot structure that can be wheeled from site to site. Shafer has designed a residential community of micro-dwellings in Sonoma County, California.

A shed provides storage for the owners’ tools as well as wood for the fireplace. It features the same aged pine finish as the main home.

”It’s important to be able to get rid of the bed,” says developer Patrick Kennedy. ”To me, there’s nothing inherently more depressing than looking at the bed all day.”

To make the sub-300-square-foot units in San Francisco’s prefab and LEED Platinum–targeted Smartspace SoMa building more livable, Panoramic Interests and ZETA Design + Build installed clever convertible furnishings, including a hydraulic table that lowers to become a window seat and a Murphy bed that turns into a dining table.

A view from above of the iron staircase, which faces one of the textural béton brut cement walls. Its treads slant at opposing angles, creating their own minimal pattern.

A Japanese hinoki bowl and stool from Mjölk sit next to a custom hinoki bathtub by Bartok Design in the tub room.

A third-floor courtyard stands in for a backyard and gives Elodie, the couple’s two-year-old daughter, a place to play outdoors. A Hunting chair by Børge Mogensen shares the space with a child’s chair by Tomii Takashi and a vintage Danish coffee table.

To install Charles Willson’s prefab house, Stillwater Dwellings lifted the structure over an existing barn on the one-acre property. Willson, who is often on the road, wired the house with the latest in smart technology.

The central, welded-iron staircase is the house’s most striking contemporary feature. Beyond it, more large sliding doors conceal extra storage and the home entertainment system.

With their matching peaked roofs, every cabin nods to the traditional form of countryside retreats. The cluster’s pine cladding has been treated to speed up the aging process, giving it a warm patina.

The auxiliary cabins contain the sleeping quarters. A ladder leads to a sleeping loft underneath a gabled ceiling. The cabin’s bathroom is situated beneath the loft and features clean white fittings and tile.

A contractor with years of industry knowledge will know how to solve common problems that may arise during construction, and will also have well-established connections to subcontractors and suppliers.

The living area opens up to a patio with views of a neighboring vineyard. Paulistano armchairs from Design Within Reach and a Ligne Roset Togo sofa surround a Dunn coffee table from Room & Board. The fireplace is from Montigo.

The family retreat abuts a rocky cliff in Herfell, Norway. The central cabin provides communal living spaces, while the two cabins that flank it are used as private sleeping quarters.

Instead of purchasing Memorial Day party or cookout supplies, consider donating those funds to a veterans charity. Charity Navigator lists some highly rated military and veteran organizations to help make sure your contribution goes to a trustworthy program.

Designed and built by Diedricksen himself, the Periscope was intended to be a treehouse, but its tall, elongated form made it impossible to hoist into its canopy. Today, it remains fixed to the ground in Canton, Massachusetts. Copyright Derek Diedricksen.

Inside the prefab residence, molded plastic Eames chairs from Design Within Reach rest beneath a Splugen Brau pendant light from Flos.

Full-height glazing caps the central living area. A rigid steel frame concealed within its wood envelope allows for uninterrupted sight lines and creates a single, open-plan living space.

Each unit is 370-square-foot studio and was built off site in a warehouse near Sacramento.

DIY touches define this three-tiered, 182-square-foot studio, belonging to artist and engineer Steve Sauer. Tables, shelving, and benches are made of wood recycled from IKEA products. Copyright Andrew Pogue Photography.

A variety of drought-tolerant plants cascade down a 10-foot-wide vertical garden wall near the entrance to the property.

An outdoor dining area is shaded by a mesh canopy suspended by old drilling pipes.

An animation shows the structure inflating.

An antique Japanese indigo tapestry hangs by a vintage Danish piano.

Pam stools from Ligne Roset pull up to the kitchen island; the custom birch cabinetry complements a Caesarstone Raven countertop.

Many of the items in the home come from Mjölk, on the ground floor of Daoust and Baker’s building, which dates to the 1870s and has a distinctive tin facade.

The owners are car collectors, especially of “vintage American Mustangs,” Simpson says, so a nearly 23-foot-wide garage door opening was created at the rear of the building to access a space made for six prized rides.