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The couple's back patio and yard are a seamless extension of their indoor living spaces thanks to thoughtful fenestration.

Large swing-out doors extend the couple’s living spaces to the outdoors.

"Where the house sits, it’s sandwiched between these two structures," says Garry. This made accessing good natural light and views a challenge. A breakthrough move in the design consisted of installing windows on the north wall with glass-backed cabinets over them, thereby admitting natural light into the house, but not giving less-than-ideal views of surrounding buildings too much visual weight.

There's a noticeable four-inch gap in between the last two tiers of cabinets where the couple mounted a sliding library ladder in order to easily access every cabinet.

"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."

Rich black soapstone counters wrap black-matte IKEA cabinets, and appliances are hidden behind cabinet fronts so the room recedes. Storage now extends under the windows and lines the dining area, where the table and chairs were both Craigslist finds.

Wooden carved out a cozy sitting area by the back window. The walls are painted with Farrow + Ball's Great White. The chime on the wall is from The Tienda at Hotel San Cristobal in Baja California. The backsplash features glazed Moroccan zellige tiles from Cle.

Instead of adding counter space on both sides of the kitchen, Wooden opted for floor-to-ceiling cabinets, which provide ample storage space and help keep the kitchen tidy. A center island provides additional storage, prep space, and a breakfast bar. At the back, a classic black panel window and patio door lead to the family's outdoor space while bringing much-needed natural light into the formerly dark kitchen.

Before: SHED redesigned the kitchen as a series of interconnected functional zones, which are linked by a continuous kitchen counter. This approach allowed the architects to increase usable space without modifying the house’s exterior. It also helped to visually connect the kitchen with the living area, while still maintaining separation via the walnut plywood cabinets and solid walnut eating counter, which serve as partitions.

As with the kitchen island bench and the cabinetry for the media unit, the bathroom vanity was custom designed by Studio Jackson Scott and built on-site using Australian Blackbutt.

Perforated black metal has also been used in the design of the staircase.

The view out to the garden.

An overview of the first-floor living space. Despite the dark color palette, the home is still able to find plenty of light with the full-height sliding doors.