For the kitchen, Tyler hired David Restorick, a furniture maker and friend, to build an island for storage and to wrap Ikea cabinets with oak for a customized look. He also built a staircase that doubles as display space for Tyler’s vast collection of colorful cookware by the likes of Finel, Copco, Cathrineholm, Jens Quistgaard, and Stig Lindberg.

Masahiro and Mao Harada of Mount Fuji Architects Studio wanted to break with the traditional definition of a house when they designed this small Tokyo home. They achieved their goal by using the same material for the ceiling, the walls, and the floor, creating a space that flows beautifully. Photo by Ryota Atarashi.

A beloved Japanese tradition is to char exterior cladding to make it fire resistant. Here, the effect on the front door is likely more aesthetic than preventative—though you can never be too careful.

“The most important thing to do in a small space is exploratory demolition,” Pozner says. “We found all that height in the bathroom ceiling. There are giant cabinets above the bed—we found all that space. This facilitated architect Darrick Borowski’s small-space rallying cry: “Built-ins, built-ins, built-ins!”

The smooth, raven-hued island in this kitchen is made of oak with a thin stone countertop. A Foscarini Gregg Pendant hangs overhead.

A stairway of white oak, oiled to impart a matte finish, leads into the apartment. The residents left the design decisions up to K-Studio, only requesting that the house have a "contemporary and calm" feeling.

Minimal interventions by architect Andrew Simpson allowed this former jam warehouse outside of Melbourne, Australia, to be turned into a family residence. "To draw light and ventilation into what was a poorly oriented and deep footprint, an extensive number of operable skylights were introduced on the north- and south-facing roof pitches, and a large void connecting the floors was strategically positioned to also take advantage of this amenity," Simpson says. American oak floorboards and Dulux paint were used throughout the property for continuity.

A vintage stool, a design that once was a staple of Greek classrooms, is tucked under the office desk on a landing leading to a balcony. The visual theme of the vertical wooden slats repeats itself here, including on a closet door. “They have no handles,” Ritenour says of the closet doors. “The lines are the door handles; you have to know to grab them.”

Mitchell wanted to detail the solid oak staircase with that same sense of openness, even though its materials are heavy. “We used a lot of raw steel and wood on the interior of the home,” Mitchell said. “This carries the authenticity of real materials from the building exterior to the building interior.” A custom fireplace sits on the patio.

Oak veneer lines the stairwell in between the master bedroom and the children’s wing.

A wall-mounted oak bar is where Siminovich and Kerner drop their keys, pound away on their laptops, and occasionally eat a quick meal with Matilda, their two-year-old daughter.

It took six weeks to build the formwork for the poured-concrete walls that make up the first floor. Inthe kitchen the floors are raw European white oak, the countertops are Capolavoro granite with a leather finish by Antolini, and the natural oak cabinets are by Varenna.

Their design took four months to construct. And much like their later project on the same property, the Nest, the EDGE cabin features a protective, movable screen: when not in use, these white oak panels slide inwards to sheild the cabin windows and doors.

White-oak stairs connect the first-floor living spaces with the upstairs sleeping areas.

The formerly dark basement kitchen now feels much lighter, thanks to the addition of white oak floor boards, bright plaster walls, and floor-to-ceiling windows that let in garden views.

For a Toronto couple with a love of minimalist Japanese architecture, a sleek, storage-packed kitchen was the first priority in their home's renovation. In the kitchen, white oak used for the cabinets, kitchen island, and dining table is finished with double-boiled linseed oil, which can be reapplied by the homeowners as the wood mellows and patinas. The custom beveled edge for the island's "Blizzard" white Caesarstone countertop forgoes the standard one-inch countertop overhang to save on space and maintain a sleek feel. A Vola faucet is used with a sink by Mekal.

Adding wood floors to the home proved to be a challenge, both in terms of approval and execution. Since the flat is located in a historic mansion block, the license to alter it was very strict. Once approved, floating oak parquet floors were installed above a high-performance acoustic system to offer sound insulation for the neighbor below. The open dining room exemplifies the clients’ wish for a “fun yet minimalist” home. A copper Habitat pendant lamp hangs above a solid oak dining table fabricated by INTERIOR-iD. A whimsical mustard sofa pops against the blue Tabu veneer wall.

Floor Bored Abbe and Davor worried that plywood floors in the mezzanine bedroom would feel monotonous, given that the walls and ceilings were ply too. So they sourced second-grade French oak floorboards and filled in the holes in the timber’s knots themselves. Then they used leftover boards to make a door to cover a small opening between their room and August’s and for the sliding pantry door in the kitchen. qualitywoodfloors.co.nz Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

The cozy bedroom is clad in oiled oak.

Johan Bouwmeester built a library out of oak.

Stained oak flooring was used throughout the home’s ground level, and continues up the main stairwell. Painted steel was used for the guardrails.

Gaps and openings between the handle-less, white oak shelves are functional and decorative, holding plants, books, and office supplies. Small touches, such as the matching color of the chair and the lower shelves, help accent the clean white surfaces.

“Because the property is so narrow, we had to be strategic in laying out the plan,” Mitchell says. “Our goal was to create an open plan that spanned from exterior wall to exterior wall in order to make the home feel as large as possible.” Solid oak flooring fills the space and pendants from Kenroy Home illuminate the kitchen.

The ground floor entry was once a mix and match of different flooring materials and floor level heights. All the details were though out to create a functional, one-level space with new white oak flooring and stair treads to match the upstairs rooms.

This simple desk organizer is carved out of solid oak.

The custom zinc cabinets and quartzite countertops of Mark Berryman’s Tribeca apartment reflect the sun as it sets over Manhattan. Workstead designer Robert Highsmith kept the apartment’s original fir beams and painted its existing pipes Onyx by Benjamin Moore. The counter stools are by Sawkille, and the floors are white oak from LV Wood. The range is by Viking.

Oak Chair in scrapwood

"Shane wanted the largest fridge possible," Priftaj saus. "With this in mind, we selected the fully integrated Sub-Zero fridge and housed it in the tall oak wall unit to provide him with the maximum storage while keeping the space uncluttered." The ovens, microwave, and coffee machine are all housed within the unit and placed at an ergonimically optimized height.

Oak Chair in scrapwood

Light filters through the apartment from both the east and west sides. The coffee tables are by Bruzkus Batek for komdo.co. Kim Layani designed the rugs.

A custom steel and red oak ship ladder in the main living area is another space-saving solution. The door is Douglas fir and the shelving is mesquite wood; an Eames lounge chair can be seen in the master bedroom.

Chairs in the second-floor playroom are by Lievore Altherr Molina for Andreu World. Oak sliding doors can close off the playroom to minimize din.

The box-shaped balcony of this renovated farmhouse near France’s Chinon region uses oak built-ins to complement the home’s original timber beams. Photo by Jonas Ingerstedt.

The framed aluminum of the corner window by Natralight breaks up the roof of recycled slate tiles, which is entirely of a piece with the roofs around it. The Scottish oak cladding comes from Abbey Timber and the black aluminum cladding from MSP Scotland.

Architect Cass Calder Smith embarked on a gut renovation to join two apartments inside a SoHo building, resulting in a 1,600-square-foot residence. He redid the floors in oak and redesigned the wall of windows that frames views to the east.

Completed in 2009, the E.D.G.E comprises two modules that contain the mechanical areas (including the kitchen and bathroom) joined together with walls of glass and white oak panels.