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Wood adirondack chairs surrounding a stone firepit.

Teak surrounds a minimalist outdoor shower.

In the Norwegian town of Larvik in Vestfold County, Oslo-based practice Lund Hagem Architects renovated a summer cabin on a rocky terrain with generous outdoor patios that take advantage of dramatic coastal views.

The steel-framed doors fully open to the courtyard, maximizing indoor/outdoor living space on the small lot.

Beach days, park picnics, and backyard barbecues—wherever your Fourth of July weekend takes you, these products will elevate your event with ease.

4. "Can I afford the payment if one of the buying parties can't?" "Sometimes homes are purchased with two incomes," Hoffman adds. "But then there are instances when one person wants to stay home to take care of children. You do want to think about the future."

Burns commissioned New York City–based firm MESH Architecture to remodel the residence in 2008. Since the property was flanked by homes on both sides, the team designed an interior courtyard, which allowed the home to more easily connect with the outdoors.

Top 10 Black Gable Homes of 2020: A dramatic take on an archetypal shape, these pitch-roofed residences cut a striking figure.

The spacious main bathroom (a former bedroom), joins marble, brass, and green elements. It is innovative for its use of "micro-spaces" that are subdivided and contained within the scalloping of the rear wall. They are meant to make each element feel special and separate, dividing a large room into smaller spaces that "hug you as you use them."

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.

These include the Cesta floor lamp by Miguel Milá and the wall cabinet by Studio Junction in the living room. The photograph hanging above the cabinet is by Joshua Jensen-Nagle. A ceramic dove—a vintage piece by the sculptor Cleo Hartwig—shares space with an antique Zulu beer pot. The painting is by Max Papart.

In the kitchen, a glass backsplash is one of many connections to the outdoors. The Hee barstools are by Hay and the Highline pendant light is by Rakumba Lighting Australia.

Incisive openings to the garden make the interior feel more spacious. “The interior spaces have a generosity and benefit through actively borrowing external views,” says Bokey-Grant.

The garden library that architect George King designed to accompany a 17th-century limestone house and its surrounding gardens in England is clad with charred timber and large glass doors that slide open and connect the structure to the outdoors.

A look at the bathroom. “The window also gives a view out to the front garden and lets the morning sun in,” says David.

Canary yellow doors keep the house from feeling austere. The sliding function also saves space.

Cero offers an offset vanity and a circular bowl.