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For the bathroom design, Ann was inspired by a visit to Dunton Hot Springs in Colorado years ago, where there was a tree indoors. Here, a staghorn fern hangs over the bathtub. Talavera Tile by Reeso tile in San Antonio covers the tub front and floor, and the window covering is a Pojagi-style curtain bought off Etsy.

All the new built-in cabinetry floats a few inches off the ground and below the ceiling, adding light and shadow, so as not to make the 715-square-foot apartment feel confining.

Architect Fareez Giga deploys a suite of custom built-ins to upgrade a 715-square-foot flat for a bibliophile and a passionate cook.

"Rio Belize

According to the homeowners, one concession they made to save money was downgrading the exterior retaining wall from a gabion retaining wall to native limestone blocks.

One of the couple’s favorite new details is the built-in, L-shaped bookcase in the den.

Seattle firm Wittman Estes designed this 1,300-square-foot cabin, which floats above a meadow on Whidbey Island.

An Eames lounge chair and ottoman anchor the houses's living room, which enjoys floor-to-ceiling views looking north.

Sugarhouse Design & Architecture lightened up the entry hall, thanks to interior fluted glass panels, white oak floors with a contrasting walnut inlay, and custom oak closets that reach to the ceiling (after removing the fussy tray feature there). The bench is custom-designed by Sugarhouse and fabricated by Elwood Design Co in Orange, CA, and the ceiling light is by Modern Forms.

Sugarhouse reworked the living room storage and reoriented the room to better occupy the available space. An Ellison Studio sofa, recovered in Dedar Patchwork Fabric, fits the whole family for movie nights. The coffee table is from Etsy and the rug is Nordic Knots. The overhead light is a vintage Poul Henningsen via 1st Dibs.

Extra Rockwool insulation in the dividing wall helps with soundproofing.

Looking for a better separation between work and home life, Seattleites Natalie Rohde and Patrick Haig asked local firm Linework Architecture to draw up plans to replace an aging backyard shed with a standalone workspace containing two acoustically separated offices. To make it work for their budget, the couple convinced Patrick’s father, Rob, a retired contractor, to lead the build.

In love with a one-bedroom loft in a former piano factory in Brooklyn, Merie Subryan and Alex Sierra made it work for their soon-to-be family of three. When their second child came along, they tweaked it further rather than move.

Potted faux plants, like this Afloral tropical yucca tree plant, are a smart option for adding easy-to-maintain and pet-safe greenery to your home.