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A peninsula is lined with Form barstools from Simon Legald.

Kitchen

Wise maintained the footprint of the kitchen, which is roughly 125 square feet, then maxed out the storage. "Our goal here was to create a sleek and minimal kitchen respectful to the era of the home that was hyper-functional in a small space," says Wise. The black stools are from IKEA.

For this kitchen, the architects paired slate-gray HPL (high-pressure laminate) cabinets by Henrybuilt, cool Basaltina countertops, with custom shelving and a white Corian backsplash.

This lovely kitchen features laminate cabinets by Danish brand Reform.

Portland-based pastry chef Andrea Nicholas purchased a 1953 midcentury ranch whose 2,500 square feet needed "a lot of TLC." Nicholas hired architect Risa Boyer to design the renovation, which involved opening up the kitchen to the dining room and creating a contemporary open-plan living space.

Amy worked with Josh Tomlinson of Tomlinson Woodworks to craft the island, which is as much of a showpiece as it is for storage. He also did the cabinetry.

"Around the time we were thinking of moving back [to San Francisco], I took a trip to Marfa, Texas, and fell in love with the agelessness of Donald Judd’s work," says Amy. "I liked the idea of having a classic American reference to the space, since we are influenced as much from America as we are by Asian culture."

Mutuus Studio cofounders Saul and Kristen Becker remodeled the kitchen of their 1954 dwelling over a three year period, finishing it this year.

The kitchen tiles are by Heath Ceramics with barstools by March SF and pendant lights by Allied Maker.

The oak island and cupboards offset the kitchen’s black IKEA cabinetry.

"If you like the look of higher ceilings, choose a home that already has your preferred ceiling height,” says Eskandari. “Raising the height of ceilings is possible, but extremely labor intensive and costly. Taking down walls to create an open concept space is one of the most common requests from homeowners. Make sure you know which walls are load-bearing, as those are a lot more expensive to take down.”

The kitchen, kept in the same location, was opened up dramatically. Gray cabinets from IKEA are topped with honed granite countertops; an oil painting of the original cottage sits on one of the floating shelves.

Pam and Frank recently tasked Light and Air Architecture with remodeling this loft in New York City to get better natural light. “That’s exactly what we were looking for, is light and air,” says Frank.

The couple has two rescue dogs, Wren and Lint.

"I often choose finishes that allow the natural texture to show through, and finishes that emphasize the cathedrals and burls of the graining,

“They really wanted to have tile in the kitchen and at the front door, but everyone disliked that hard edge line,” says Gregga. “Doing the organic edge of the tile helped make the entry space and kitchen feel like one, and then it disintegrates into the living and dining room.”