My House

“The roof structure is exposed in every room of the house, which leads the eye to connect all of the rooms together, making the house seem bigger than it really is,” Hutchison says. Dunn Lumber supplied the laminate shelves for the study.

In Kansas City, Missouri, a family sought to construct a new home using prefabricated structural insulated panels (SIPS) instead of traditional frame construction. The entire kit house is composed of 4' x 8' sections, and the shell was constructed in about a week. The project’s relatively low cost, quick build time, and highly insulated envelope were positives, but the panels also have their limitations. “Most SIP projects look pretty stupid,” Jamie says. “They haven’t been manipulated by someone who’s thinking creatively.” In this case, Jamie augmented the simple panel system with a dynamic cantilever.

Whether you’re battling noise or are short on space, these guides can turn your office into a distraction-free zone.

“[We wanted to] discover and leverage the latent potential hidden under all the unpleasantness,” Young says. “The living room had a nice scale to it. The orientation was set up with a good relationship to the sun and the yard.” A custom sofa and vintage chairs surround a Platner table.

A Hans Wegner Shell chair by Carl Hansen & Søn outfits the living room, which is defined by a steel beam painted sharp red.

The dark Tufty-too sofas by Patricia Urquiola from B&B Italia contrast with the living room’s abundance of light.

The bedroom’s vertical, floor-to-ceiling window lets occupants admire the graceful trees outside. A Mini Tolomeo lamp by Artemide sits on the bedside table.

On the house’s lower level, Schicketanz’s guests have a bathroom complete with a steam shower to themselves. Anodized aluminum windows pop against white subway tile from Waterworks. The vanity is from Ikea and the fixtures from Hansgrohe.

Splashy bunk beds made from yellow lattice brick outfit this stylish hostel in Mexico.

Tiny houses are spreading across the world—and probably because it really just makes sense. The tiny home lifestyle is the ultimate application of creative resourcefulness, and allows residents to reduce their environmental footprints without sacrificing good design.