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Dwell’s Favorite Home Design Ideas and Photos

Built as a live/work space for a sculptor, Indigo by Dutch practice Woonpioniers is an eco-friendly, prefabricated cabin with bent wooden walls. The low-slung bed in the loft accentuates the height of the pitched roof and mimics the experience of camping in the woods.
If you’re looking for a casual look without sacrificing back support, take a page from this Los Angeles home that embraces the summery, California-style living. The mattress sits on a covered box spring directly on the floor, which is loosely wrapped in a breezy white cover.
If you're looking for the ultimate minimalist bed frame, a platform bed with edges that extend beyond the mattress allow it to double as a bedside table, eliminating the need for other furniture.
After buying a worn-down, 244-square-foot apartment in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, the owner of Achille—a young bachelor—stripped away the wallpaper, hauled in his temporary furniture, and spent a couple months living in the small space to let it guide the design direction. After some time, he envisioned a renovation with space-saving solutions that would retain and celebrate the rough-hewn character of the original apartment. A "space cube," made of Fenix NTM's matte nanotech material combined with warm oak, serves as sleeping nook and storage.
In Yuen Long, Hong Kong, a 452-square foot residence is designed to accommodate a young couple, one of their mothers, and their pets: a cat and a parrot. The home features transforming furniture and nooks and crannies that are perfect for the pets. A bench by the door doubles as a litter box.
The outdoor living space of the Birch Le Collaboration House features a wood-burning fireplace under large, covered porch.
Have your children help you go through their book collections and pick out what books they haven't read yet. If you are able to safely leave your home, you can coordinate curbside dropoff book exchanges with friends.
This is a wonderful time for children to pursue passion projects.
It's a great time to let kids be a part of the decision-making, if that is age-appropriate, and help set a schedule. Give your child a chance to take the reins and engage in child-led learning.
All the experts agree that it is important for children to have a designated workspace.
The table can be converted into a second bed in order to accommodate up to four guests.
Park Avenue Prewar Apartment by Michael K. Chen Architecture
Amagansett Modular House by MB Architecture
Off-Grid Guesthouse by Anacapa Architecture
This single-family residence in Bloomfield, Michigan, known as the Treehaus, embodies the iconic style of midcentury modernism. Thanks to a thoughtful renovation, this rare dwelling has been restored to its original state of refined elegance.
This 4,500 Square Feet house was designed and built for a family of four. It is situated at the intersection of two large farm fields and a small naturally occurring basin in Sagaponack, New York.
In Sunnyvale, California, architect Ryan Leidner cracked open a 1962 Eichler with a crisp remodel flush with foliage. He replaced the home’s vertical plywood facade with one-inch strips of American red cedar set at two depths. The rhythmic slats conceal a garage door that swings open on a hidden hinge. At the entryway, two massive panes of frosted glass shimmer with light and shadow from the atrium inside. Homeowners Isabelle Olsson and Matthaeus Krenn stand out front.
When designing her weekend getaway in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, architect Fernanda Canales knew the remote nature of the plateau and erratic weather conditions would prove tricky. In addition to withstanding the harsh climate, the house would need to also be self-sufficient. To embrace the beauty of the landscape while being open to sun exposure, the home wraps around four courtyards. Brick and concrete with high thermal mass create the foundation; its red hue and rough texture are juxtaposed against smooth concrete and wood inside. A unique facet to the home are the arches in the roofline—barrel-vaulted ceilings span the family room and all the bedrooms.
Oil your wooden kitchen tools and cutting boards. Most mineral oils will do the trick—and they’ll give your wooden widgets a much longer life. Make sourdough bread. If you’ve got some yeast in your pantry, and it’s not too old, get down to perfecting that sourdough bread recipe. You could also start a kombucha culture, or pickle any hearty vegetables you’ve got lying around. Make a pantry meal. If you can’t get to the supermarket, think about making some Spanish rice and beans from canned or dry goods. Perfectly simple. Label absolutely everything. KonMari your entire kitchen, while you’re at it. Know where and what everything is, and get rid of anything you don’t use for a perfectly uncluttered and organized kitchen.
A Carrara marble backsplash adds cool contrast and a sense of drama when set against the custom oiled-steel black cabinetry in the renovation of the kitchen in this A. Quincy Jones home in Los Angeles.
The white marble backsplash of this tiny, open kitchen is gracefully juxtaposed against the rustic feel of this 19th-century former banana warehouse conversion in Barcelona.
The kitchen of this Brooklyn brownstone was updated with a white Carrara backsplash that frames the Bertazzoni range and Dunsmuir cabinetry, providing a white background that makes the Matte-black quartzite kitchen island pop.
This lakeside home in Quebec boasts a white kitchen with an elegant, white marble backsplash that adds just a touch of pizzazz to an otherwise simple and minimalist open kitchen.
Passionate about recycling, a Belgium designer couple Michaël Verheyden and Saartje Vereecke upcycled a beautifully veined marble tabletop from Vereecke’s parents’ house as the backsplash for their kitchen, pairing it with metal countertops for a chic industrial look.
This minimalist Belgian kitchen extends its marble backsplash up the height of the wall to give the open space a greater feeling of enclosure.
For this Swedish kitchen, an extra-thin slab of Carrara marble was used for the countertop and backsplash so that it would recede into the space, not overwhelm it. The room is also outfitted with IKEA cabinets painted a serene powder blue—adding a vintage vibe, and a high-low sense of style.
This Denver kitchen sets a marble backsplash, that continues up the wall as the backsplash for a display shelf, against walnut cabinetry and countertops of an alternate gray material.
A large, marble island is the focal point of this all-white kitchen, with the marble backsplash helping to tie the space together.
The kitchen of this renovated apartment in Rome dramatically puts a deep veined marble for the counters and backsplash against the dark millwork.
This artfully minimalist Australian kitchen combines concrete, oak, steel, and prefabricated panels with a substantial marble countertop and backsplash.
The kitchen of this Manhattan pied-à-terre was opened and enlarged; adding a Calacatta Gold marble countertop and backsplash which runs from just under the cabinets to the terrazzo tile floor that matches the counter's creamy tone.
To most eyes, Ezequiel Farca’s 1970s-style concrete home in Mexico City looked like a teardown. Even the lot itself—shallow and crammed against a steep hillside—wasn’t particularly alluring. But Farca saw through all the restraints to create a spa-like refuge in one of the world’s most energetic cities. "It’s is such a hectic place. You’re bombarded by so much information the moment you step into the streets," says Farca, who first gained prominence as a furniture and interior designer. "So we envisioned this house as a retreat, a kind of a temple." The rooftop courtyard is lined with a verdant mix of indigenous plants, including banana trees, palm trees, lion’s claw, Mexican breadfruit, and native vines. The chaise longues were designed for Farca’s EF Collection.
Vibrant blue cabinets brighten up this kitchen and serve as a bold contrast to the exposed brick. The stainless-steel countertop wraps slightly up the wall, and creates a trough for storing items.
To add more space to her petite Florence apartment originally designed by Roberto Monsani, architect Silvia Allori incorporated fold-down furniture and storage into the white laminate walls that also support bookshelves.
Rustic, Scandinavian-style The Hut, in Ohio, is a true family affair; the sustainable cabin, covered in cedar shingles, was built by architect Greg Dutton and his brother and father. Inside, views are amplified through a 25-foot wall of floor-to-ceiling windows.
In Chile's Chiloé Archipelago, architect Guillermo Acuña developed a 12-acre island for his friends and family to unwind, first with a boathouse, later with pathway-connected cabins at the water's edge. Design details include glazed walls, eco-friendly pine, and a bright red palette that calls to mind the intensely colored chilco flowers that bloom here come spring and summer.
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.
Sri Lankan architect Palinda Kannangara's home and studio outside of Columbo nods to brutalism, with sustainable double-layered concrete and perforated brick walls. The rooftop is the greenest element, strewn with an herb garden and biological pond that regulates storm water. Hovering within the main volume is the living area, buoyed by jungle views, as dramatic a sight as the double-height office.
A stainless steel chimney painted red pierces through this two-story chestnut-clad holiday pad facing the sea, the handiwork of ECE Architecture's Nick Evans. Built into a sandstone hill in East Sussex, England, the highlights include the kitchen—Evans's wife is a chef—a room enlivened by a shiny 16-foot steel countertop and cabinetry in custom hues of green. For a breezy beach feel, reclaimed roof beams, sawed and painted white, were converted into floorboards.
A single Japanese red pine tree provided the impetus to build this spartan, three-story dwelling and office designed by architect Go Fujita of Gosize in Nishinomiya, known as a prime site for Japanese cherry blossom sightings. Fashioned almost entirely of concrete, it has high ceilings and full walls that make way for select materials including tin, oak, and silver foil.
In this kitchen, three globe pendants with brass details and burgundy cords match the hood tube hanging above the kitchen island.
Hatchet Design Build took a contemporary approach with this kitchen while still drawing from the a traditional palette. The grain-matched walnut cabinets echo the walnut pocket doors elsewhere.
The owners of this updated Tudor-style abode in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Eagle Rock, Amanda and William Hunter, are the design duo behind the William Hunter Collective, which rehabs homes. Handmade tile, soapstone counters, walnut wood, and steel make up the artfully styled kitchen.
This kitchen is outfitted with concrete counters and floors and off-grid-friendly low-energy appliances. The ceiling is paneled in reclaimed barn wood.
After: Pink-toned terrazzo tile counters and a backsplash and olive green-painted cabinetry enlivens the kitchen, where the designers created open shelving using leftover plywood from the mezzanine ceiling panels.
Casa Malaparte is perched on the cliffs of Capri and was designed by Adalberto Libera in 1938.
Throughout the house, there are a number of details that are clearly "Lautner." Working with Goldstein, the architect was given the opportunity to design custom furniture pieces, which is something he didn’t normally get the chance to do. His angular, minimalist style was carried throughout, including in the custom leather-and-concrete sofas spread throughout the living room.
For the Skyline Residence, Belzberg Architects made a conscious effort to build an environmentally sensitive structure without sacrificing aesthetic and budget. Along with recycling wood framing and flooring from a nearby construction site, they sourced the low e-glazing, steel, and concrete mixes from California manufacturers.
In their concrete-walled courtyard, Yuka and Aaron watch as twins Emerson and Jasper, daughters Maude and Mirene, and Alfie the dog play. The house is painted in Black Bean Soup by Benjamin Moore, a color in keeping with the period of the original architecture. The garden was designed by Lauren Hall-Behrens of Lilyvilla Gardens.
This remodeled kitchen features Silestone countertops and backsplashes paired wood cabinetry with laminates.
The entire kitchen wall by Lignum Cabinets is made from laminates and features functional peg board-like shelving above the sink, allowing it to be customized to the homeowner's needs.
White laminate cabinets are the perfect solution to keep costs down for the small, open kitchen in this Madrid apartment.
This eye-catching villa in the Netherlands, designed by Next Architects, proves that you can go big and go home as well. While some homes feature hints of color, the Villa van Vijven structure garners well-deserved attention thanks to its warm orange facade that is meant to mimic the tiled rooftops of Holland’s country buildings. The orange of the exterior also carries over into the communal entrance beneath the building, offset by natural elements such as stones adjacent to the entryway.
In this renovated midcentury in Seattle, the living room’s fireplace has been powder-coated orange to complement the vintage furnishings, including a test bomb discovered at an antiques mall.
In February of 2007, two San Francisco art and travel addicts purchased a 3,200-square-foot former Chinese laundry and tooth-powder factory with column-free interiors and a zigzagging sawtooth roof in lower Pacific Heights. They customized a pair of shipping containers to accommodate their collection and reflect their passions, and hired a local company to sandblast the interior to expose the board-formed concrete walls and replace the carpeted floors with Georgia hickory pecan planks to further lengthen the loft and make it look more like a warehouse.
The playful aesthetics of Austin Maynard Architects have once again breathed new life into aging building stock—this time with the transformation of a dark and narrow terrace in Melbourne into an open and light-filled home fitted out with sustainable features. Upstairs, the "parents’ retreat" includes a centrally located bathroom "box," seen on the left of the image. The bright orange walkway is perforated to let natural light pass through.
Inspired by the sea and sand, Richard and Jackie Willcocks chose blue and orange joinery colors for their 1,140-square-foot prefab. The modular home is by New South Wales company ArchiBlox.
In this custom-built London guesthouse kitchen designed by Studiomama, lustrous vertically clad cabinetry achieves additional depth with the addition of the chairs, which were picked up for $15 each at a local market and powder coated in bright orange.
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Dwell's favorite photos of modern homes and design ideas. From midcentury gems, prefabricated units, and eye-opening renovations, to shipping container construction and custom trailers and campers, these projects display the best from Dwell Magazine and submitted by the Dwell community. Here, you'll find ideas for every room in the house, whether it be kitchen, bath, bedroom, living, or dining—and beyond.