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Choosing a kitchen or bathroom countertop can be nerve-wracking, and we understand why—they can be one of the most expensive aspects of a renovation, with the added responsibility of impacting the aesthetics of a space. Read on as we work our way through the pros and cons of seven of the most common countertop materials.

The home embraces its green surroundings with outdoor terraces, open living spaces, and large windows.

The home has a strong connection with the outdoors. The pool is aligned with the office space on the upper floor, and the doors open to provide access. The master bedroom hovers over the edge of the concrete podium.

The design of the roofline matches the slope of the site.

Maria Milans del Bosch’s Catskills home is attuned to the changing seasons. Sunlight pours into the double-height living room, where a Stûv fireplace and radiant floors keep the space warm in winter.

The home’s three low-lying rooflines subtly emerge from the landscape.

The living room includes a vintage George Nelson sling sofa and concrete stools by CB2.

Building the addition upward instead of outward allowed for more space and better views without excavating across the hilltop.

Danish architects John Lassen and Joanna Tench renovated the interior of this quaint 1960s thatched-roof cottage in North Jutland, giving it a clean, modern face-lift.

Furniture is now placed within the confines of the platform to create a defined seating area.

Ten minutes from British Columbia’s prized Whistler and Blackcomb ski areas, this house is located on a small lot atop a hill. Embracing a vertical layout, the upper level is where the open living area, complete with sectional, wood-burning stove, marble island, and spacious dining table, is found. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the forest views are especially heady.

The carpeting was removed to reveal the concrete slab underneath, which was finished with epoxy paint. “That room just beckoned to be an entertainer’s paradise,” says Wei.

The bedroom wing steps out to the pool. Cor-Ten steel encases the doors and windows, and forms the custom cantilevered canopies.

For this Long Island project, architect John Patrick Winberry rotated the back of the home ninety degrees, designing the main living spaces around an L-shaped corner. This allowed the building to follow the path of the sun and “interact with the interior,” as Winbury puts it, through an abundance of carefully placed Marvin windows.

- Leelanau County, Michigan Dwell Magazine : September / October 2017

The guest houses were prefabricated in a factory, trucked onto the site, and then set on concrete foundations.

The residents furnished the interior themselves, even hand-picking the exposed reclaimed beams from a barn in Pennsylvania. The dining table and shelving unit are 1970s vintage and the sofa is from Design Within Reach (left). The height of the top level varies from around nine to 12 feet.

Two hours north of New York City, an unusual barn emerges from a hill just off a country road. Its black siding and bright-red window frames hint at the imaginative playground inside. This space, with its rope-railed catwalk and indoor tent, is just one element of the multifaceted getaway architecture and design firm BarlisWedlick Architects designed for fund manager Ian Hague.