anne nguyen

This dreamy, glass bedroom by the lake was created as an early prototype for the prefabricated greenhouse/she kits known as the Kekkilä Green Sheds.

Helsinki architect Ville Hara and designer Linda Bergroth collaborated on a prefab shed-meets-sleeping cabin, which can be assembled with little else than a screwdriver. Bergroth, inspired by nomadic yurt dwellers, wanted an indoor/outdoor experience for her property in Finland.

Inspired by the small scale of Japanese residences—in particular, Makoto Masuzawa’s 1952 Minimum House—architect Andrew Simpson designed his own economical 538-square-foot home set into a wooded site in Island Bay, a coastal suburb outside Wellington, New Zealand.

Among the few new pieces the couple acquired for the house is a blue Bantam sofa from Design Within Reach, which complements the Westnofa Siesta chairs by Ingmar Relling in the living room. The kitchen includes a Jenn-Air refrigerator and a Bosch oven.

After entering through the front door, visitors pass over the large koi pond on a cast-concrete footbridge chiseled to look like stone.

Protected by an overhang, and floating above ground level, this tertiary space is known in traditional homes as the "engawa." To sustain a unified look throughout, the floor and ceiling are clad in ipe wood.

At the client’s request the kitchen contains neither upper cabinets (Shino can’t reach them) nor an oven (they only used the old one once—to reheat a pizza). A modular Roche Bobois Mah Jong sofa adds a decorative flourish to the living area while maintaining as low a profile as the traditional Japanese furniture.

The couple asked for a “no maintenance, not low maintenance” backyard. However, Shino tends to “Carlsbad's largest public bathroom for cats” (otherwise known as their Japanese-style rock garden) about once a month. Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

Arroyo designed this slatted-wood coffee table in 1956.

Two Womb chairs by Eero Saarinen for Knoll and a Ring bench by Castro structure a reading area in the enclosed terrace.

FCstudio updated the 5,000-square-foot apartment by removing several walls in central areas to clarify views and simplify the overall floor plan. The firm also custom-designed the Brazilian walnut room divider with a striking geometric pattern that allows light to traverse throughout the living area.

All the floors were redone in a light ash hardwood. The crisp interior paint is Benjamin Moore Super White. The kitchen cabinets are from Artistic Kitchens. A frosted glass door leads to the laundry room.

Though Jacobson initially wanted a completely open shower upstairs, Lee convinced him that a small lip would keep the splashes a bit more contained. The freestanding sink is from Canadian bath furnishings company Wetstyle.

In a Manhattan Beach home, homeowner Matt Jacobson and architect Michael Lee designed the long steel-and-Ipe bench surrounding a square, concrete outdoor fire pit, which suspends from the low concrete wall in their outdoor space. Dukes relaxes on a Willy Guhl Loop chair with her German Shepherd, Major.

The open living and dining plan is flooded with natural light. The wicker PK22 lounge chairs are by Poul Kjaerholm for Fritz Hansen. The suspension lamp is by DePadova.

There are generously proportioned nine-foot-high ceilings throughout the Desert House. Marmol Radziner designed and built the outdoor table and benches from reclaimed Douglas fir.

Top designers give their advice about how to choose a stylish, functional faucet and what it will cost. Hint: it’s more than you may think.

The living and dining room look out to the central courtyard, promoting indoor/outdoor living. Here, five doors slide into a pocket in the wall to create a nearly 23-foot-wide opening on one side looking into the garden. Another set on the opposite side enhances cross ventilation.

Architectural designer Sebastian Mariscal and project manager Jeff Svitak created a house in Venice, California, for Michael and Tamami Sylvester. Known as Dwell Home Venice for its role as an exemplification of modern architecture, the house is an homage to indoor-outdoor living. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

The couple chose to contrast the wood in the master bath with a smooth Caesarstone counter in Organic White 4600, which was measured and cut specifically for the space. They added a bit of shine with polished-nickel Upton fixtures from Toto. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

The house rises to nearly the height of the neighboring structure. The plantings on the bridge, which connects the guest pavilion with the master bedroom and media room pavilion, will eventually grow in to create a privacy screen. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

The master bedroom leads to its own private courtyard. The rug is from Peace Industry; the Kelvin LED floor lamp for Flos is from Lumens. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

A guest bedroom, with furniture from Room & Board, overlooks the bridge above the dining courtyard. The home’s landscape architecture is by Ventura, California–based Jack Kiesel. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

The architect incorporated a central courtyard in the house, an unusual but intelligent design response for the region with a temperate climate. “The house sets up an interesting tension between two established [courtyard and farmhouse] typologies,” Crump explains.

Looking into the warm, brightly lit house at night offers a different kind of view, one that charmingly recalls the cutaway dioramas in Wes Anderson’s films.

The dining room is delineated from the kitchen by a long kitchen island with a higher partition between the two spaces. The island provides storage along its length, with exposed shelving at the ends. The drum lighting pendants by Axiom were also made using local timber.

Houle designed the ofuro tub in the master bath to mesh with the home’s tallowwood wall paneling. The Ikea sink is outfitted with Vola faucets.

The almost-entirely tallowwood kitchen is custom. Muuto pendant lights, bar stools by Alvar Aalto for Artek, a Vola faucet, and a ceiling fan by Beacon Lighting finish the room.

As with the rest of the house, the bathroom is blessed with ample natural light. Ann Sacks Athens tiles and white Ceasarstone countertop further enhance the sense of lightness. The custom vanity supports a Lacava sink.

In the kitchen, custom walnut cabinetry from American Woodworking and white Ceasarstone counters house Wolf ovens, a Subzero refrigerator, and a dishwasher by Bosch. The Woodward Counter Stools, produced for MINT in Canada, provide the perfect perch to eat a quick meal.

The master bedroom’s clerestory window provides morning light while allowing for privacy from the neighbors. The Siena bed is by Naoto Fukasawa for B&B Italia, the side table is Room & Board, and the globe light is vintage. The windows are by Fleetwood and the doors by Bonelli.

To reinforce a streamlined aesthetic, materials move from the inside out and from room to room. A Caesarstone countertop in the kitchen extends through a window to the backyard. The basalt path in the house continues outside and up the outdoor stairs.

At a home in San Francisco, the non-visible modern cabinet door hinges of this bar and surrounding cabinetry are due to the frameless cabinets and hinges that mount directly to the interior of the cabinet.

Bernstein specified sequenced walnut veneers in the kitchen and dining area and counters from Caesarstone. The Chrysalis bar stool is by One & Co for Council. A Foscarini pendant hangs above Ligne Roset’s Eaton table and bench.

JHID maintained the essential layout of the home which Zaik had oriented to its site. "Living here [in Portland] all my life," he says, "I value sunlight."

Arne Jacobsen's AJ Wall Lamps are in the master bedroom, which is furnished with a Case Study bed and a Series 11 6 Drawer Console by Blu Dot.