Kitchen - Island

The clients sourced much of the furniture and appliances second-hand to reduce costs. The light above the kitchen counter, for example, is an original Sammode LED light that they found for just $160.

The backsplash is made of large cement tiles that were sawed into smaller pieces and rearranged to give a mottled look. An appliance garage hides the "non-sexy things you want to put away," laughs Andrew—the blender, the toaster, and so on.

“Clients come in, and we make them coffee,” Shivley explains. “We use it as an opportunity to slow the pace, to chit-chat and catch up on how their day has been. It takes the formality out of meetings, to make it really social.” Instead of a stuffy atmosphere, “we're just in a coffee shop catching up,” he says.

Chris made a point of avoiding plasterboard, instead using structurally insulated panels for the walls to create an airtight seal, and for the flooring, a hydronic concrete slab from Hydrotherm that can warm or cool the interiors.

Australian architect Lisa Breeze loved the use of color combined with natural materials this year. Take this Madrid apartment, which features