Kitchen

In the living room, there's an Eames sofa and wood-burning Malm fireplace, which is a back-up heating source.

In the entry, Sherwin Williams "Rocky River

The sleeping area is framed with custom maple casework crafted by local Lopez Island company, Island Custom Woodworks. The brass cabinet pulls are from Schoolhouse, and the wall lamp is by Normann Copenhagen.

The master bedroom features a fully glazed wall that opens up to the lush courtyard, extending the living space outside. Storage is concealed behind full-height timber doors.

The sliding front door is made of glass panels, and its bright red color was inspired by the red doors (symbolic of fortune and prosperity) found in traditional villages in Taiwan. “We wanted the front door to be transparent so that light filters into the interior even when the door is closed,” says Chu. “It was very important to have a constant relationship between inside and outside.”

Designer and artist Jaime Hayon renovated a 1920s apartment in Valencia, Spain, into a vibrant guesthouse and artist’s residency.

Read on for all the pros and cons to keep in mind for an educated decision about installing a kitchen sink.

The difference a Solatube tubular daylighting device can make in these spaces is dramatic.

The flooring in the master bath is vein-cut Ocean Silver travertine. The custom bathroom vanity is stained birch, the polished chrome fixtures are from Hansgrohe’s Axor Uno2 line, and the chair is upholstered in Checker by Alexander Girard for Maharam.

In modern bathroom vanities, timber can be used a number of different ways. It’s at its most basic in this simplistic modern bathroom, tied together neatly with matching shelving in the cut-out above.

Talo Mini chrome sconces from Artemide installed atop the mirror in the master bathroom effectively disappear, becoming what Maca calls “subtle 3-D sculptures.” The Neo Blanco vanity, from Porcelanosa, is clad in the same Douglas fir as the ceiling. The IQ faucets are from Jado.

For this Briarcliff beach cottage, designer Charlie Hellstern selected two different types of stone countertops, travertine (a natural stone formed from limestone, like marble) for the island and a clean and bright Pental Quarts for the sink on the island. "Travertine has character and movement—looks like sand on the beach, so it was perfect for this home, which is right on the water," says Hellstern.

The custom Bulthaup kitchen is outfitted with Gaggenau appliances and Caesarstone countertops.

The Aplomb wall sconce for Foscarini has a raw concrete form that contrasts a gentle diffusion of light both upward and downward.

In this library, a Grant sleeper sofa by Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams is paired with a Cigar wall sconce by George Nelson.