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The enlarged mudroom benefits from honed, gray slate floor tiles and newly painted beadboard on the walls. A midcentury Danish cabinet from a local antique shop pairs with an antique rug hung behind it.

A dark green Lacanche range is backed by 18th-century English reproduction tiles hand-painted in Portugal.

New cherry paneling and flooring throughout complements the original Douglas fir exposed beams.

The Rothenberg Residence in Los Angeles, California, is currently listed for $1,495,000 by Benjamin Kahle of Deasy Penner Podley Real Estate.

In addition to large tripartite windows, the living room also features an original fireplace and provides direct access to the main dining area and kitchen beyond.

Simon and Eva Luna play in front of a wall covered in Daks wallpaper from Walnut.

Alcoves and open shelving in the kitchen allow dishware and other accessories to be on display.

In the upstairs bedroom, built-in shelving surrounding the window frames provides storage space for books and mementos.

A vintage Molded Plywood Lounge Chair (LCW) by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller sits in front of built-in shelving in untreated hemlock.

Despite their dark color palette, black and white kitchens can still feel bright. This tiny kitchen perfects the art of chiaroscuro with white shiplapped walls, custom-built open shelves and dark concrete floors. The owners selected sleek faucet fixtures by Santec and a sink by Blanco to complement the white laminate countertops. The stainless steel appliances include a Bertazzoni oven, Fisher & Payel refrigerator, and Thermador dishwasher.

Cohen and his wife, Sally, sit in the dining room, which along with the connected living room, is a focal point of the house, lighted in part by high, remote-controlled clerestory windows.

Shane Michael Pavonetti, an Austin-based architect and contractor, and his wife, Holly, built their eco-friendly home on a lean budget of $175,000. The cedar siding used on the exterior reappears throughout the house. Keen on recycling the wood, the couple added shelving to their kitchen as well.

The existing cottage has been on the site for “a long time” with various extensions and refurbishments taking place ad hoc between the 1930s and 1990s, including the garage and utility room at the rear that has been replaced by the newest extension. Like many typical cottages in the area, the cottage is built from local stone with timber shutter windows.

Full-height sliding glass doors bring a sense of the outdoors into the home.

A family of cost-conscious Hamburgers converted a kitschy turn-of-the-century villa into a high-design home with a strict budget in place. To unite the quaint masonry of the original villa with the squat, ugly add-on built flush against it, the architects decided to paint the old-fashioned facade graphite gray and then covered the box next door in plain, light-colored larch. Photo by Mark Seelen.

Masahiro and Mao Harada of Mount Fuji Architects Studio wanted to break with the traditional definition of a house when they designed this small Tokyo home. They achieved their goal by using the same material for the ceiling, the walls, and the floor, creating a space that flows beautifully. Photo by Ryota Atarashi.

A second tiny house is set within an existing structure and contains a kitchen, dining area, and bathroom.

Michèle Monory’s Chinon farmhouse is an idyllic getaway from her home basein Paris. After she inherited the property and centuries-old structure from her father, she hired Matali Crasset, who runs a cutting-edge architecture and design firm, to update the living spaces.

Quartz tile and original plank floors surround a 1920’s schoolhouse sink in the vaulted second floor bathroom. The sink’s original tap openings were enlarged to accommodate modern Jado faucets, and the entire sink was re-glazed. Old turquoise locker found in a barn in upstate NY.