Creative Ways to Bring Light Into the Home

When Molly Alexander and Graeme Anthony were looking for a house to renovate for their growing family—including five-year-old Chloe, seen here—they didn’t expect to find it right next door to Alexander’s own childhood home. The light-filled sanctuary they created features vintage Singer sewing stools at the American walnut–topped kitchen island and hanging lamps from Ikea.

Architect José Roberto Paredes calls the sliding walls utilitarian artwork. “The doors open to a surprise space, like a secret pathway,” he says.

Linda Hutchins and John Montague hired Works Partnership Architecture to turn a former warehouse and auto repair shop into a versatile live/work space. The building is full of natural light, thanks to 11 skylights and a glass atrium in the center of the space, where a hammock and a vine maple tree sway in the breeze.

Here also hardy materials—the dark oak stairs—contrast with clean white walls.

Cutouts in the concrete slab floor allow for an indoor forest of taro, fig, and bamboo—and a subsurface drain connected to a perforated underground pipe slowly filters out excess moisture to the groundwater. The cabinets were custom designed by Nick Damner, while the refrigerator and dishwasher are by Thermador.