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A floor lamp nearly eight feet tall anchors the seating area in the living area. Ceilings that are 12 feet tall at the highest point help the room feel expansive. “We needed to find a way to define different areas in a relatively tight space,” Lachapelle says. It’s the clients’ first experience with an open floor plan. “We raised our kids in an old Victorian, and the farmhouse we live in now is chopped up into tiny rooms save for the studio we just added,” the husband says.

Linda Taalman and Alan Koch built a home by Joshua Tree National Park, where temperatures can span from 32 degrees to over 100. The two opted for a glass enclosure with raw industrial style and green design that allowed them to live lightly on the land. iT House has floor-to-ceiling windows to take in the landscape, a suspended fireplace by Fire Orb for cold nights, and an abundance of spaces that open up to the outdoors.

Tigg Coll Architects took a new approach to a straightforward town house renovation and expansion in London. The home’s rear extension has its own personality, with with pivoting glass doors, sharp red support beams, and a wood-burning fireplace. The overhanging concrete plinth acts as a hearth or, as Tigg imagines it, a sort of contemporary inglenook. Wood piles neatly between the beam and wall. The fireplace, a Stovax Riva 2, is flanked by a Lampe Gras wall lamp; firewood is cleverly stored in the narrow space between the fireplace and the red support beam, creating a fun moment of practical texture in the room.

Conservatory

This San Francisco home in the Theatre Lofts building, built in 1926 as a movie palace, was given a sophisticated upgrade by LOCZIdesign for a couple. A new study makes it possible for the husband to read and work late into the night, while the wife sleeps upstairs. The modern fireplace is clad in ceramic tile with a subtle textural pattern.

At a renovated farmhouse in the Italian countryside, a crisp, modern white plaster fireplace and hearth infuse the interior with coziness and warmth. The firewood is stacked in a nearly-frameless niche next to the fireplace that is lined with metal, adding a bit of shine that contrasts with the rustic firewood and wood ceiling and beams above.

The house has two living areas, each with a fireplace.

The kitchen cabinets are clad with black walnut, with a black steel built-in bookshelf nearby.

A view from the kitchen looking toward the glass-ensconced great room, with a custom Olson Kundig-designed dining table in the foreground.

In the primary bedroom, daughters Ellis and Panda play on pieces of a 1972 Camaleonda sofa by Mario Bellini. A Davide Groppi Moon pendant, made of Japanese paper, hangs overhead.

The new kitchen features green kit kat tiles, a terrazzo-effect rubber floor, white cabinetry, and cherry wood veneered cabinets. The client originally wanted teak cabinets, but 4 S Architecture recommended using cherry wood instead as it is more sustainable but has the same warm tones as teak. “We couldn’t get behind teak as a product so we used FSC certified European cherry that has less air miles than American cherry,” explains architect Julia Hamson. “The client was really pleased with the result.”

Niki and Gustavo splurged on more permanent finishes and budgeted on items, like faucets and shelves, that could be easily upgraded over time.

By the Saey fireplace, a wicker chair from Malawi echoes the lines of Pinch’s Willo table. Matching other pieces to their line “is not an exact science,” Oona says, “just an innate reaction to things we love.”