decorate

Solid wood shelves can be a great way to add contrast and texture a kitchen, especially an all-white one. If you're looking to add more fun pops of personality, opt for decorative brackets.

Lobby shot of the Grand Budapest Hotel. “We took our favorite pieces and combined them together,” says Stockhausen. “We did our own version of the beautiful fabric work and murals found in top hotels. All the fabrics are hand done, and the furniture is all antiques. We sourced locally from Eastern Germany, and reached farther afield -- we were pulling in from Vienna, Hamburg, Munich, Prague, even London, anywhere we could.”

Named the Tatami House, the houseboat resembles the size and layout of traditional Japanese tatami rooms. "We used the tatami as a grid for the house," explains Julius Taminiau, referring to how tatami—a rectangular straw mat typically measuring 35 by 70 inches—dictates the size and proportion of traditional Japanese spaces.

Photo caption: Seldom-needed stuff (luggage, winter clothes) is stashed in the high storage cabinets in the children’s bedroom.

Architect Gustavo Costa calls the home library the “project’s heart.” This central space houses the owner’s expansive collection of about 5,000 books, and acts as a meeting place for friends and colleagues. A Gerrit Thomas Rietveld Red and Blue chair completes the space.

Australian practice MUSK Architecture Studio maximized the units of Coppin Street Apartment with flexible floor plans and large sliding doors that expose of reveal some of the bedrooms.

Architect Bruce Bolander made the most of a limited footprint in a house he designed in a Malibu canyon. With the small bedroom unable to accommodate any "normal" size desk, the architect designed a very thin custom steel desk where resident Heidi Wright works. The floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors from Metal Window Corporation open the entire corner of the room up to the outdoors. “The mountains across the way are almost like another wall—they contain the space to the point that you feel like you’re in a much bigger space, that you’re part of the overall landscape,” says Bolander. Photo by J Bennett Fitts.

An IKEA desk and SKI wooden provide working accommodations in the study, overlooking the main living space.

Since the main living space has to function as both a bedroom and a family room, Krastev and Nikolova make do without a couch. When the family watches TV or reads, they cozy up on the bed or sit on the built-in bench, which also serves as a dining and play area. “When in a limited space, you have to really think: What do we do in this room, what do we need?” says Krastev. “Do we really need a coffee table?” In their case, the answer was no.

"It only cost about $48,000 to build, which was incredibly cheap," says Turner of the Stealth Barn. "We got the Timber Frame Company to supply the shell, then we clad it and fitted out the interior and windows ourselves. The idea was to take the archetypal black tar-painted agricultural building and make an almost childlike icon of that."

In the bathroom of “Mad Men” actor Vincent Kartheiser’s “Japanese-inustrial style” Hollywood home is an irregular-shaped sink of raw stone adjacent to the shower and soaking tub.

Inspired by the Sydney Opera House, architects Andrew Maynard and Mark Austin paid careful attention to the extension’s “fifth elevation"—the way it’s seen from the sky. Its tiny houses, clustered at the southern end of the property, are clad in white steel panels and western red cedar shingles, contrasting materials that emphasize their geometric forms.

In the warm interior of the X House in Hennepin, Illinois, Diane Pascal and Thomas Richie enjoy the view from their boiled-wool Ligne Roset couch in the main living area, where wood paneling on the ceiling and walls mirrors the topography of the landscape. A gauzy green curtain adds a moment of color to the scheme.