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The renovation preserved the original facade of the 1914 Craftmsen-style home, while opening up the interior and employing numerous resilient, health-conscious design techniques.

Built-in cabinets and open shelving illustrate a few design strategies: Use humble materials thoughtfully, and make place for stuff.

Built-in benches provide plenty of storage and reduce the need for free-floating furniture.

This Singapore apartment, renovated by Takenouchi Webb, features a guest bathroom covered in eye-popping flamingo-print wallpaper.

becomes this wood cocoon with ambient light coming through the clear wall panel. You don’t need to even turn on a light.”

The home is divided into different zones that are clearly represented in the built form. The ground floor is open, public and noisy; the first floor houses more private rooms for guests and children; and the new mansard roof extension has a

The large pantry allows all the food to be in one place, visually out of the way, yet still super convenient to the rest of the kitchen.

With the help of California Closets, the homeowners maximized every square inch of space with shelving, drawers, and a countertop area for placement of various small appliances like a microwave, coffee maker, and tea kettle.

Previously, a small bathroom was located off the kitchen space. By relocating the bathroom elsewhere in the home, this freed up space for a large walk-in pantry where all the food and clutter could hide, and even the fridge.

During the day, this home takes poolside relaxation to the next level, with sun loungers spread out across the patio, which is paved in a large Para slab in Greyed Nickel. The pool’s ornate edge pattern was created with the linear Westmount paver in Shale Grey and Onyx Black, and is finished with the brand’s elegant Raffinato wall cap and steps in Greyed Nickel.

Techo-Bloc’s Blu Grande slab in Greyed Nickel creates a sophisticated backdrop for this epic outdoor kitchen and dining setting with a quartet of playful timber swings—not only is it practical, but the large size of the pavers reduces the need for joints that can collect crumbs and create unlevel surfaces for furniture. The covered kitchen and dining area is defined at the ground level with Borealis slab in Smoked Pine—an elegant wood imitation patio slab that retains the warmth of wood but features innovative Klean-Bloc technology that eliminates the need for maintenance.

This kitchen garden cleverly uses Borealis wall in Hazelnut Brandy as a long-lasting, retaining wall for raised garden beds, bringing the cottage-garden charm of timber without the need to worry about maintenance or everyday wear-and-tear. The clearly zoned pathways between the beds allow room for a cafe table and chairs.

Clad in cypress and charged with color, the North Fork getaway of author Julie Satow and editor Stuart Elliott is something to write home about.

Emerald-green herringbone tile adds color to the roll-in shower of British TV presenter Sophie Morgan.

While the owners really liked the idea of shou sugi ban, they opted for a more cost-effective black stain. The random-width, reverse board-and-batten siding reflects the wabi-sabi concept. “The builder said the math for the random siding was torturous,” the wife said. “We didn’t know how hard it was to make things look simple.” DeNiord planted hay-scented fern and lowbush blueberry sod around the house. “We didn't want any side of the house to feel unconsidered,” he says. As for the local boulders he placed around the house and terrace, he says, “They give the feeling that the house grew up around the outcroppings.”