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In the downstairs bedroom, the closet was transformed into a full bath.

The kitchen features hacked IKEA cabinets—Brit and Daniel built custom fronts and side panels out of Valchromat, a recycled engineered wood. The cabinets are topped with black steel, which extends up the wall as backsplash. “We wanted to find an inexpensive way of doing a really terrific kitchen,” says Daniel. “The metal, which is a cold-rolled sheet of blackened steel, is a unique material that will develop a patina over time, but will also be super durable—and again, very cost effective.”

The home was built by the same carpenter who built the original bunkie on the site in the late 1980s. “He was in his early twenties back then, and now he’s nearly retired,” reveals architect Tom Knezic. “He does all the water access cottage builds there, because he’s just on the other side of the channel.” An external stair leads from the front, ground floor deck up to the deck overlooking the water.

The entry hall has space to store boots and coats as you come into the home. The flooring throughout is high-quality vinyl that mimics the effect of a timber floor. “At first, I thought, ‘Everything else in this house is wood, how can we do a vinyl floor?,’” says architect Tom Knezic. “But nobody would do a hardwood floor in a cottage, because you don’t heat it all winter and they tend to buckle. The vinyl is a very premium product, and it looks fantastic—but it can freeze and get wet. It was perfect because you don’t have to worry about the kids coming in with wet clothes, or with sand on their feet.”

The wooden floors inside the house echo the trees outside.

"It only cost about $48,000 to build, which was incredibly cheap," says Turner of the Stealth Barn. "We got the Timber Frame Company to supply the shell, then we clad it and fitted out the interior and windows ourselves. The idea was to take the archetypal black tar-painted agricultural building and make an almost childlike icon of that."

The partial basement holds storage and an entertainment room. A skylight over the stairs floods the area with natural light.

The firm specified a museum reveal around the windows, doors, and cabinetry, as well as over the flush baseboard. This keeps the scheme minimal and creates a “very simple tracery where you have a punctuation in the architecture, and then you reveal back to the soft white drywall walls,” says Klymson.

The kitchen features custom white oak kitchen cabinets stained light gray and Caesarstone rugged concrete countertops.

Minimal Scandinavian with Desert Influence - light oak cabinetry, marble counters, polished concrete floors

The interiors of the main living area are furnished with top quality finishing.

Beach, hills, and flatlands vibes all swirl together in architect Clive Wilkinson's Los Angeles home, where guests are greeted with a laser-cut metal stair railing. Situated on a steeply sloping site, the distinctive structure lends itself to a living attic, pool deck, and garden terrace, mixing elements like low-slung Italian furniture and oak flooring. Bright green makes a splash in the kitchen, which is tucked underneath Douglas fir rafters.

Inside, rustic elements (like wood beams and whitewashed wood) nod to the structure’s former life, while walls of glass, black metal accents, and sleek furnishings give it a fresh, new look. After the renovation, the couple loved the guesthouse so much they decided to make it their full-time dwelling.

Make sure your kitchen fits seamlessly with the rest of your home. A good entertaining space should have a look that's consistent with the overall design, so use finishings, colors, and other elements that compliment the rest of the space.