DIY

What Carstensen saved on labor costs he was able to put into furnishings. The interior of the screened-in porch is outfitted with a mix of furnishings, both vintage and new. He purchased the vintage Malm fireplace in Los Angeles on a work trip and had it shipped to Portland. The rug, shelf unit, and loveseat are all from the locally-based Schoolhouse Electric, as are the ceiling lights: Factory Light No. 7 in Green.

Architect Jesse Garlick’s rural Washington vacation home references its rugged surroundings. The steel cladding has developed a patina similar to the ochre-red color of bedrock found in the area.

Constructed on land he had owned for years, this tiny cabin is also totally green.

In a chaotic stretch of Brooklyn, architect Nicholas Hunt built a 55-square-foot reprieve from the bustle in his own backyard. The studio, crafted with salvaged fence pickets and cedar planks, is crowned with a Plexiglas skylight.

A new wood-panel wall is a focal point in the open layout. The original white oak floors were also refinished.

Dubbed Small But Fine, a student-built 280-square-foot cabin in Finland connects with the outdoors and features a minimal footprint. Not pictured is a detached outhouse with a composting toilet.

Designed to sleep eight, the flexible cabin can be used as a quiet retreat for the couple or a gathering place for family and friends.

After renting in San Francisco for a decade, DIY couple Molly Fiffer and Jeff Waldman bought 10 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where the pair and their friends built a cabin compound complete with sheds, tree decks, a pavilion, a wood-fired hot tub, an outhouse, and an outdoor shower. The cabin is made from locally sourced, rough-sawn redwood, which the couple stained with nontoxic Eco Wood Treatment to give the panels an aged appearance and a dark patina.