tiny

Knob Modern, helmed by Amy Beaumont, renovated this 1964 cookie-cutter home in Tempe with an eye toward making the two-bedroom, two-bath home "stand out from the rest.

The cabin's curved zinc shell exudes a rugged, industrial look.

One of the models Parfett designs is the Tube, a slender room that can be built off site. Mellen says the company wants to do more "off-the-peg" designs like the Tube and Pod, to add more affordable and easily integrated models. Each tree house is assembled in pieces via sophisticated computer technology in a warehouse to maximize control and minimize waste and on-site disturbance.

Photo by Tom Bies

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.

Linden specified a black stain from Cabot for the house’s exterior. The shade draws on Scandinavian and Japanese building traditions and helps the structure blend into the landscape. Native grasses populate the courtyard.

Three deceptively simple shelves made of particleboard are the house's main structural elements. By pushing any one of the units, the resident can easily reposition it; they slide left or right with a simple track system.

Inspired by the different movements in modern art, this West London House by award-winning interior design firm Studio MacLean has a streamlined, minimalist aesthetic.

When the Ferguson Sauder family—parents Meg, a school counselor, and Tim, a design instructor, plus kids Cole, Olive, and Asher—wanted a multifunctional backyard addition, they decided to build it themselves. Two Liftoff chairs by Tim Miller, one of Tim’s former students, surround an oil-drum fire pit set in granite dug up on the property. On the deck, the Panamericana chair is by Industry of All Nations.

Constructed on land he had owned for years, this tiny cabin is also totally green.

Jaanus Orgusaar's NOA cabin in the Virumaa region of Estonia is currently used as a summer cottage.

Exterior of the backyard studio Riley McFerrin of Hinterland Design built for his client, a children's book illustrator.