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“When you’re lying in bed at night, you can’t tell where the wall ends and the ceiling starts,” Mark says. “The corners disappear.”

Vallely and Craig take in the sun on the raised deck in the backyard.

Cori’s 12-foot-long Paradise painting adds a dramatic touch to the living room.

During storm season, nature’s awe-inspiring light show is on full display through the oversized windows.

In the kitchen, a concrete Caesarstone countertop echoes the flooring material; the slatted pine mezzanine is a nod to the ceiling finish. “Everything is referencing something else,” says Armstrong.

The neighboring building houses a storage room and a wood-burning sauna.

“One of the most important problems we had to deal with was how we used the space available,” says Bene. “We installed a sliding door between the interior and the open rear deck, which saved a lot of space and means that the door never blocks the view or the way.”

The home’s compact form and modest amounts of glazing add to its overall eco-friendliness. The white oak casework, which goes from floor to ceiling throughout much of the kitchen, was fabricated by Big Branch Woodworking for $22,000.

A Parallel Bed in the master bedroom is by Jeffrey Bernett, Nicholas Dodziuk, and Piotr Woronkowicz for Design Within Reach.

The living space flooded with natural light.

On San Juan island, Pole Pass is an intimate waterfront retreat built to serve as a gathering space that takes advantage of the temperate Pacific Northwest summers.

Sam Shah and Anne Suttles asked architect Kevin Alter to renovate their 1920s bungalow in Austin, Texas, and add an addition, which contains a living area downstairs and an office upstairs. They tucked an office nook under the stairs; the Eames chair is a hand-me-down from Shah’s father.

Sarti is only too happy to demonstrate one of his favorite inventions: a mobile kitchen-supply box/cocktail station/breakfast bar with casters that hides beneath the stairs.

Reminiscent of a shade that Lou’s grandfather, an advertising creative, liked to use in his work, the red of the Fred Meyer barstools matches the Bluestar range. A pair of steel-wrapped vents rise from the fir plywood millwork, built by Schuchart/Dow.