In the new dining room, the wall is lined with built-in maple cabinetry and topped with a white quartz counter. Naber defined the bar area with floating shelves and a backsplash composed of Glazed Brick tile from Clé Tile. Knowing that the large expanse of the back wall would draw the eye, Naber wanted a unique installation for it: the Roke mural wallpaper from Anewall. "This was one of the main ideas I had going into this addition," Naber says. "I love how it looks like the ocean and really ties the indoor in with the outdoor."
In Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights, this townhouse by Etelamaki Architecture has a spa-like bathroom with mixed materials that include a slate wall behind the double sinks, which are suspended on a teak vanity. The freestanding tub sits on a raised wooden bed that continues up the wall behind it.
Photo by Mikiko Kikuyama
Architect and interior designer Oskar Firek created this black and white bathroom in a loft apartment in Krakow, Poland. Rustic wooden floors ground the black tile walls and cabinet, which contrast with the white shower and fixtures that round out the space.
Photo by Oskar Firek
MCK Architects designed the Queens Park House to include this bathroom that houses just the essentials surrounded by long, wooden boards that start on the floor, continue up the wall, and onto the ceiling. The planks stop just short of an elongated skylight that gives the feeling of the bathroom being outdoors.
Photo by Willem Rethmeier
The Russet Residence, located in West Vancouver, British Columbia, has a minimalist bathroom that comes with some really cool features. Designed by Splyce Design, the space features polished concrete floors, a shower separated by only two walls of glass, a cylinder sink basin, and a toilet built into the elongated bench.
Photo by Ivan Hunter
This Hamptons home was designed by Amee Allsop with fresh, all-white tiles and contrasting black fixtures which result in a crisp and clean feel.
Photo by Glen Allsop
Overlooking Portage Bay in Seattle, this house was designed by Heliotrope Architects for a bachelor who longed for a simple bathroom with a Japanese-style hinoki tub that was installed in front of the windows for the water views.
Photo by Aaron Leitz
Located in Singapore, the 31 Blair Road house by ONG&ONG keeps it minimal without being stark or clinical. A floating cabinet holds two sinks and the large, rectangular shower is sealed with seamless glass panels, all under a slanted ceiling with a skylight.
Photo courtesy of ONG&ONG
Melbourne is the location of the Canny-designed Lubelso Hawthorn Concept Home where one of the bathrooms has large, soft grey tiles on the floor that continue up the sides of the shower walls. A skylight above the shower keeps the space full of light.
Photo by Derek Swalwell
A glowing home in Japan has milky-white, one-and-a-half-inch plastic sheets wrapped around the exterior to let in light and provide insulation.
Architect Tadashi Murai designed this remote retreat for a Tokyo transplant who abandoned his corporate existence.
The black facade of the Yatabes’ house may turn a darkly futuristic face to its suburban block, but behind it the house is full of light. In Saitama, a tightly packed neighborhood near Tokyo, the black metal screen affords the family privacy without sacrificing outdoor space.
Millennium City is an experiment in sustainable living created by Japanese architect Hiroshi Iguchi. The buildings, shown in the photo above, utilize natural light by using floor-to-ceiling windows as walls. Inhabitants of the commune use the space as a way to escape from the hustle of nearby Tokyo. Photo by Alessio Guarino.
None of the ten units is purely communal, but detached Unit C, Yasuo Moriyama’s
“living room,” functions the most publicly. It houses a DVD player, a plasma screen TV, and little else, but it has a tea-room ambience. Moriyama says, “This space gives you the freedom to do anything you like, and it makes you want to.” Here, Moriyama and his pomeranian Shinnosuke visit with Ippei Takahashi, project manager and fellow resident.
Natural light and breezes pass through every room of the house.
"Because of its layout, it can feel like an intimate setting for a couple, or host close to 20 guests if need be," Dumont says.
The kitchen, the heart of the house, has a direct view of the adjacent lake. Quartz countertops are paired with lacquered MDF cabinets.
The house was made from steel beams, cast concrete slabs, and a metal sheet roof. "The dining area and kitchen open north and south to capture the summer breezes during the hottest days of the year," Dumont says.
The ground floor of the house contains the living and dining areas, as well as four bedrooms. The upper floor contains the master suite with a lake view, as well as two additional bedrooms. The large 'S' sculpture, shaken from a building following the 2001 earthquake in San Salvador, was salvaged and repurposed by designer Gerardo Dumont.
"The house plan is composed of a grid with alternating interior and exterior spaces, so that every interior space is adjacent to at least two exterior ones," architect Roberto Javier Dumont says. Designed as a weekend house for a family that lives in San Salvador, the retreat totals 3,500 square feet.