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To increase the visual space, Herrmann took advantage of the bucolic, hillside setting, and made it a vital part of the interior experience. Every room features at least one large window, each showcasing a different view of the ever-changing landscape: mountains from the living room, woods from the kitchen, and wooded hillsides from the rooms upstairs.

Road-Haus features thoughtfully crafted details throughout, such as the leather pulls on the kitchen cabinetry.

Olsen enjoys a cup of coffee made by the La Specialista machine. “It’s the perfect fit in a kitchen that is personalized for our own style and life,” he comments.

Walnut cabinetry with a custom finger-pull treatment, a close collaboration with local designer John Deitrich at Plum Projects, now wraps the kitchen perimeter.

Light spills down over the exposed framework, and period lighting adds character. The counters are Black Vermont from Bedrosian in a leather finish, and the tile is Forest field tile from Heath.

The Fenix cabinets are constructed out of black Traceless laminate with a plywood substrate and feature cut-out pulls. Caesarstone counters run up the wall to form a backsplash.

Low-VOC finishes on the walnut cabinets help improve the home’s indoor air quality. "Our suggestion is always to use water-based rather than oil-based or petroleum finishes," Britt says. Quartz countertops and a ceramic-tile backsplash continue the focus on natural materials.

As you tour a potential home, look out for a lack of natural light or possible renovations—those details can be used during negotiations.

Don’t skip over the layout. “The most overlooked thing in kitchen design would be space design/planning,” says Curtis Popp of Popp Littrell Architecture. “No amount of expensive materials can compensate for a lack of foresight.”

Incorporate details that make everyday life easier. “The details of the kitchen are so often underestimated during the design phase,” says Anthony Laney of Laney LA.

In the kitchen, flat-front cabinetry from MTR joins Inax' round Pom Ponette backsplash tile with a slightly transparent pastel glaze.

The once dim, cramped kitchen in this 1963 Eichler in San Jose, California, now features luxe vinyl tiling, white slab fronts from Semihandmade, and a dual-pane window, courtesy of Cathie Hong Interiors.

Now available to rent on Airbnb, the revamped 1950s dwelling, known as The Surf Cabin, features airy interiors with laid-back vibes for a breezy weekend getaway.

Surfboards placed above the rafters in the kitchen and living areas serve as artwork.

Earth-toned laminate covers the kitchen niche and shelving for durability. There’s a gas stove and refrigerator, and no running water. “The staff bring you a bottle of water and it's a pump faucet at the sink,” explains St-Laurent.

When choosing an apartment to buy off-plan, one of the deciding factors for Jono was the size of the kitchen. "I noticed a lot of new apartments had extremely small kitchens,