Read something. If you already watched Contagion, try out some pandemic-related reading—Severance by Ling Ma, or Pale Horse Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter. Or, read the Social Distancing Manifesto.
Find out what the heck “Cottagecore” means. Hint: it’s as quaint as it sounds.
Create an Instagram account for your pet. If ever there was a time to post and share infinity pictures of your cute (or ugly) dog doing cute things, this is it.
Dream about travel. Dive into Dwell Travel stories to plan that next trip, for when this whole thing finally settles down.
The mudroom, painted in Sherwin-Williams’s Dishy Coral, gets some canonical heft from photos of Mies’s 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments.
Kitchen and living space looking toward studio and loft bedrooms
Alexia, Achilleas, and friend Fotini prepare lunch in the kitchen, outfitted with cabinets by Zeyko.
A tight construction budget informed the choices Sean Guess made as he designed a house for a couple in Austin, Texas. Budget-minded materials, like the James Hardie fiber-cement siding, helped hold construction costs to $130 per square foot. Sherwin-Williams’s Cyberspace hue colors the exterior and Parakeet coats the custom kitchen cabinets by Austin Wood Works. The planter is made from Cor-Ten steel.
Many of the culinary craft projects are an extension of Ben’s work as an artist and dealer of antiquarian books about food and wine.
The minimalist interiors showcase the simple material palette.
“The client wanted an interior space where you could read the materiality of the building elements like understanding the ingredients in a recipe,” principal architect Elizabeth Webster explains. The extension features distinctly textured materials: an exposed timber ceiling, painted brick walls, and polished concrete floors. Warm lighting by Brinklicht unifies the space.
In the new kitchen, oak timber veneer joinery unites concrete floors and counters.
A steel mesh balustrade lines the stairway, which leads to the rooftop deck.
White subway tiles and a large window over the sink brighten the kitchen.
Kitchen detail
An Arteriors Wahlburg Chandelier hangs over the kitchen countertop.
The kitchen has only the essentials. “It’s not a house in which you’re supposed to live 365 days a year—it’s set up as a place to get away and relax,” says Claudio.
The kitchen cabinetry conceals two doors—one to a walk-in pantry and another to a small addition—housing a coat room, laundry, and powder room—that connects to the back yard.
The trusses were made by the building team from solid Australian hardwood and are critical in supporting the roof structure where the mezzanine level previously sat.
The architect integrated a dining table into the kitchen island, embracing the common Australian practice of gathering informally in the kitchen.
The angled joinery reflects light down the hallway and offers functional storage. It also naturally directs people from the living area toward the kitchen.
The service corridor emphasizes axial circulation and austerity of materials, with concrete countertops and wood cabinetry.
Recycled veneer coats the cabinetry, custom plant holders bring the outside in, and stainless steel provides a modern touch without seeming stark.
The pair borrowed a little space on the front porch and expanded the kitchen into the breakfast nook, so the sink now looks out on the front yard and old olive tree.
An island topped with a Raw Concrete waterfall counter by Caesarstone ($1,535) provides a place for the kids to make snacks. The Delta faucet cost $380; the Moen soap dispenser was $44.
The project team stripped the house to its framing and foundation to upgrade the systems and add insulation, keeping the original exterior detailing intact. When they discovered that a spacer in the triple-pane windows they’d selected contained an LBC “Red List” material, the manufacturer, Unilux, changed the product to comply with LBC guidelines.
The family gathers in the kitchen, which features oak cabinets, a concrete island, and brass fixtures. The backsplash is made of pink bricks hand-selected by Alix and Onur from a nearby brickyard. The mango wood pendants were purchased in a market in Bangkok.
Island Life
The appealing, handcrafted appearance of the concrete kitchen island is a happy accident, the result of the concrete not settling fully in its timber framing. When the framing was
removed, the builder, Peter Davidson, was worried that Davor and Abbe would be disappointed with the bubbled result and offered to start the process again, but they loved its one-off feeling and persuaded him to keep it that way.
A high-level mirror above the white-tile backsplash reflects the deliberately exposed ceiling joists, while also visually extending the space.
Bert & May Terracotta Arcilla handmade tiles line the kitchen floor and are complemented by cabinets with IKEA carcasses and white-sprayed MDF doors. There is also a cast in-situ concrete counter, which can be used as a secondary dining area or breakfast bar.
By eliminating walls and incorporating a series of interior gardens, architect José Roberto Paredes creates an eclectic and inspired El Salvador beach house. In the kitchen, rough-hewn materials like a eucalyptus-log-and-thatch roof offset the monolithic concrete island and glossy subway tile backsplash. Claudia & Harry Washington built the vivid wooden sliding walls, which are inspired by the palm leaves that change color and create diagonal patterns in trees near the house. The bar stools were a street market discovery.
Blackbutt veneer cabinetry inject warmth into the kitchen and match the blackbutt ceiling planks seen throughout. Granite and concrete countertops create visual breaks in the timber surfaces.
This kitchen is outfitted with concrete counters and floors and off-grid-friendly low-energy appliances. The ceiling is paneled in reclaimed barn wood.
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