My Faves

Wooden panels provide a contrast of warmth against the white walls and fixtures.

Vaulted ceilings allow for a spacious loft, complete with the second bedroom. Skylights draw plentiful daylight into the lofted space.

Custom built-ins provide functionality in every nook.

The wooden staircase winds its way between the main living space and the sleeping spaces above.

The staircase is hidden between wood paneled walls adorned with white, wooden slats, allowing light to filter into the stairway.

A black marble back splashed and matched oak veneer door fronts contrast with the white walls and light wood panels throughout the home. Flat panel cabinets add an extra modern flair.

Large steel framed windows and doors frame the open kitchen and dining space. Modern pendant lights hang above each cooking and eating surface.

A large living space combines the best of all elements: exposed truss, steel framed windows, wood accents, simple pendant light, and mod furnishings.

A interior courtyard is accessible from the bedroom, providing an unexpected secluded oasis right in the heart of an urban setting.

"Dealing with service providers can be tricky, and time-consuming,” Davies says. “Make sure you get your building control, gas safety, and NICEIC certificates for any work that you undertake. You'll be asked for these if you decide to sell the property further down the line, or need to refinance."

Operable doors and windows and doors provide fresh air ventilation off a newly created interior courtyard space.

Look at the utility setup. "Make sure you understand the condition of the existing services in a structure—such as gas, water, and electricity—and whether or not these will need to be upgraded in order to meet current building regulations," says James Davies of London–based architect and design studio Paper House Project, who did a dramatic conversion of a rundown London warehouse.

Measuring is key. Once you’ve decided on your ideal vanity size, confirm that you have enough clearance around any opening doors, shower stalls, and drawers, as there is nothing worse than installing a big new vanity and not being able to open the bathroom door all the way.

In the master bedroom, a pair of Artemide Tolomeo sconces bookend a Matchbox bed by Edwin Blue.

A third-floor office, furnished with a Metropolitan chair by Jeffrey Bennett for B&B Italia, opens onto a deck that overlooks the backyard.

This children’s room and playroom caters to one family’s young kids with built-in cabinetry that allows the mess to be hidden away. Hufft designed this marker-board table, which was cut in the shape of Missouri. The ceiling features abstract details from Thomas Hart Benton paintings.

Rock stands in the doorway to the boys’ bathroom, which is lined with semi-gloss Modern Dimensions tiles from Daltile. “We wanted it to be playful,” Hufft says, “so we chose each color and laid out the tile distribution in Photoshop.”

In the dining room, Beat Stout Black pendant lamps by Tom Dixon hang over a custom table by Edwin Blue.

In Roanoke Park, a neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri, architect Matthew Hufft designed a home for his family that drew on the surrounding traditional homes. In the kitchen, Bertoia barstools are tucked under a custom honed-granite two-level kitchen island by a local company, Carthage Stoneworks. Hufft’s team designed and built the larch cabinets. The appliances are by Thermador.