Lofts & Studios

Smith designed the custom cabinets, which were fashioned from medium-density fiberboard with a white lacquer finish. There are three drawer heights. "The faces are consistent but some, when you open them up, are triple-height," Smith says. "So that helps with things that are really large, like sleeping bags or camping stuff or whatever. They're three feet deep, so it goes into the knee wall, which is really handy. So you get lots and lots of storage."

In the living area, a sliding door conceals the loft from the hallway leading to the office, thus opening the space up by revealing extra square footage in the bedroom. When it’s time for bed, the door slides shut for privacy.

Jason lounges in one of two armchairs by midcentury designer Milo Baughman in the parlor-floor living room. The wood block coffee table is by Eric Slayton, a friend of the couple, and the modular Carmo sofa is from BoConcept. A 1952 piece by French industrial designer Serge Mouille, the Three-Arm Floor Lamp—widely referred to as the "Praying Mantis," for its looming trio of arms—is a nod to the couple’s love of Parisian interiors; a branch-like chandelier by Los Angeles–based artist Gary Chapman hangs overhead.

His 1,000-square-foot flat in the Marais district doubles as a personal museum of beloved possessions.

As Orange County’s first transit-oriented urban development, the Santiago Street Lofts were designed by William Hezmalhalch Architects, Inc. in 2007 and were built for creatives who want their life and work to fully coincide. Each 1,885-square-foot loft consists of one bedroom and two-and-a-half bathrooms—which are carefully puzzled together over three floors with a close attention to space.

Long before he moved into the historic building, Dutch architect Felix Claus admired 51 rue Raynouard, an apartment block in the Passy district of Paris designed and built in 1932 by Auguste Perret. One of the seminal architects of the 20th century, Perret is renowned for high-profile commissions like the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and the post–Second World War rebuild of Le Havre, and for his pioneering use of reinforced concrete. He constructed 51 rue Raynouard to house the design firm he ran with his two brothers and created a 1,830-square-foot apartment on the seventh floor for himself and his wife. Here, the apartment’s balcony offers an impressive view of rue Raynouard.

The old wood floors throughout the open-plan space are painted a dark eggplant. The vintage PP19 armchair is by Hans J. Wegner for PP Møbler. The painting above it is by Ruben Toledo, a friend of Peter Fehrentz, the resident. A trio of Tom Dixon lights hangs over the Pirkka dining table, with bench seating by Ilmari Tapiovaara for Artek. The Berber rug is from Morocco, purchased from the Paris shop Caravane.

“Wonbo had to be able to stand in the sleeping area,” architect Kyu Sung Woo says of his son. “By combining two dimensions—the height of the bed and that of the closet (the top of which forms the bedroom floor)—we made that possible.”

Studio Junction transformed a two-story apartment above Mjölk, Juli Daoust and John Baker’s design boutique on Toronto’s busy Dundas Street West, into a tranquil space. A courtyard joins the living room and the open kitchen and dining area.

Visitors pass by a sentry wall of lamps from Design House Stockholm on their way to the airy living-dining room with its 52 windows.