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In a modern home in the Illinois River Valley, the kitchen worktop is a seamless, stainless-steel surface with integrated sink and backsplash, custom-fit by Elkay. The sheen on the backsplash helps reflect light in the kitchen, and complements the hardware on the white cabinets.

In kitchens that are looking for a more glam feeling, metallic or reflective tiles and materials can be a great idea. The slight changes in color of this metallic tile backsplash add visual interest and make for a consistent color palette with the stainless steel appliances.

Subtly textured and tonal, a metal backsplash can be a great idea in a range of spaces, from industrial to moody and sombre. In this particular kitchen, the backsplash and drawer pulls were fabricated by 12th Avenue Iron. The cooktop is by Miele.

The dining area is located in what used to be the passageway between the house and the barn. A Moon luminaire by designer Davide Groppi hangs above the table, with tall, sliding glass doors extending the space to the enclosed yard.

In Melbourne, Australia, local firm Austin Maynard Architects designed a compact rear extension to an existing suburban home. A large, circular window in the blue-painted living space allows natural light to pour in.

The colors used in the interior were inspired by the surrounding landscape. The kitchen island is clad in solid timber fluting crafted from durable plantation-grown iroko with with a granite top. “The green-blue-brown color of the granite benchtops very much reminded me of the colors of the water in the nearby harbor of Tutakaka,” says architect Belinda George.

The original load bearing wall was replaced with a wood beam and vertical supports, creating a more open floor plan.

The kitchen is now part of the large open living space. The 1960s Hygena formica cabinets in Polyester Pumpkin were a vintage find. The white pendants are from IKEA and the blue is from Habitat.

The simple, efficient kitchen features a stainless-steel counter. From the kitchen, another staircase descends to a basement with a utility room, larder, and TV area.

The other centenarian fixtures in the home are the glass light shades in the kitchen. The shades originally hung in an old chapel. The brass bar was designed by the firm.

Whereas others might look at a board-formed cement wall in a basement and see, well, a concrete wall, Jess and Jonathan Taylor, the design duo behind the L.A.-based firm Taylor + Taylor, were inspired. The couple had purchased a virtually untouched 1952 house in east L.A. and that concrete wall became the backdrop for a new guest kitchen in the basement. "It was really the starting point of the whole design," says Jess Taylor. "As designers, our goal is to always try to incorporate the existing surroundings whenever possible, utilize them in practical ways, and be inspired by them."

Vibrant blue cabinets brighten up this kitchen and serve as a bold contrast to the exposed brick. The stainless-steel countertop wraps slightly up the wall, and creates a trough for storing items.

A Boston loft in a former textile factory receives a minimal, efficient kitchen at the hands of Bunker Workshop. In the kitchen, the island features a stainless-steel countertop with a gas cooktop, oven, and a brick half wall.

Exposed Tasmanian oak planks complement the reclaimed brick walls and handmade Anchor Ceramic tiles.

The open plan kitchen on the ground floor.

Looking from the kitchen across the living space offers a glimpsed view into the more private areas of the project, while the glass partition enclosing the study reflects a view of the same glazing system on the exterior wall of the original building.