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The dark wood floors were replaced by light-colored terrazzo that gives the interiors a brighter feel.

A carefully crafted studio serves as the home and workplace of painter Kent Monkman. The artist sanctuary in Toronto is swathed in white walls with strategic lighting to be able to take in every brushstroke. The home makes use of an open plan with his studio, office, living room, and dining room all in one place. Plywood sits behind drywall so that he may hang art anywhere he pleases. It also makes way for a gallery when collectors and curators visit. The 3,300-square-foot loft is largely the work of architectural designer Jason Halter, formerly of Bruce Mau Design, where he’d worked on a range of projects from MoMA signage to a sweeping urban park with Rem Koolhaas. He explains that every element in the home was done out of necessity so that it may properly function as an artist’s studio.

Fields of native grasses connect the main residence, situated at the top of the slope, to the new structures scattered below. A pergola extends from the post-and-beam structure that was maintained during the remodel of the midcentury home.

Built on a tight budget of $120,000, a retirement home in the mountains delivers unexpected contemporary design to a rural township.

At an eco-retreat in Quebec, geodesic kit domes had their interiors designed by Bourgeois/Lechasseur Architects, complete with a wood-clad outdoor firewood storage that ensures that guests are well stocked.

If you want to chat with a Dwell editor in person, stop by the Skylight Books booth at Dwell on Design between 1 and 3 pm on Sunday, June 23!

Dwell's September 2014 issue.

Approached from the driveway, the home is accessed along a stone path that turns into a series of wide, wooden steps. The home's angular roofline is a dramatic form against the natural backdrop, but the wood cladding connects it to the site.

Grant Ellis has been the photo editor at Surfer Magazine for 13 years and lives in a quaint beach shack in Cardiff, California with his wife Julie, son Ethan, and daughter Kaia (shown here).

In Texas, where everything is bigger, Ryan McLaughlin is placing his bets on something small. Specifically, a simple 160-square-foot cabin that he hopes city-dwellers will book to get away, find some focus, and reconnect with nature. The result is a laidback, pitched-roof cabin in which every inch of space is thoughtfully allotted so that guests can spend the maximum amount of time outdoors.

At under 100 square feet, the 8' x 12' Site Shack includes just the essentials: a wood-burning stove, a desk, and storage.

A consistent wood palette makes the interior feel cohesive.

Located on New Zealand’s North Island along the Coromandel Peninsula, this timber-clad shipping container house by Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects captures the simplicity of living with nature. An open-plan layout extends the interior toward the surrounding landscape and ocean, while a built-in mechanism reveals a drop-down deck on one side of the unique holiday home.

The exterior’s charcoal metal paint finish helps recede the cabin into the surroundings.

Australia-based firm Contained specializes in transforming cargo vessels into well-designed lodgings. Each 20-foot shipping container easily opens up, flips out, and unfolds into a luxurious hotel room.

The Cabin is used by a couple with a young child, who spend their weekends here while a larger country home is under construction.

Desai Chia Architecture harvested plagued ash trees from the client’s property and used them for interior millwork, flooring, and trim. Working in collaboration with local architect of record Ray Kendra of Environment Architects and Delta Millworks of Texas, the firm clad the dwelling’s exterior in cedar that was intentionally burned to protect it from fire, insects, and age. The process is called shou sugi ban. - Leelanau County, Michigan Dwell Magazine : September / October 2017