With its reclaimed-wood cladding, the kitchen is a rough-and-ready backdrop for the family’s tableware.

Architect and builder Ken Meffan lives in Rough and Ready, California, a tiny town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. “Rough and ready” also describes his take on domestic bliss: Meffan, 56, is known for his rugged, modern houses in the High Sierra. But when it came to creating his own homestead, he, his wife, Sue, and their four kids roughed it for over a decade (two years in a tent and nine in a workshop) while he built his family’s home by hand.

Ready Made Curtain hanging system by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, produced by Kvadrat A/S.

Paper Diamond Marble - Set Of 3 We love these paper diamond ornaments from Ferm Living. They are just intriguing enough to be unique but not over the top. Perfect for a clean, minimal, and modern holiday.

This jacquard throw is just the right size for napping, reading or simply admiring. Toss it over a sofa or chair, or fold at the foot of the guest bed. The intricate, and bright Native American-inspired design is sure to be a conversation starter wherever it lands.

Sorted lumber ready for collection.

Replacing the old toilet with a wall-hung Duravit model continues the floating theme, which is echoed by the custom recessed magazine caddy. The room’s sole freestanding piece is a glass-sided cabinet from Restoration Hardware. The diamond-shaped tile is from the Dwell collection at Heath Ceramics.

The Roughed Up collection is a new spin on Rabih Hage's Rough Luxe hotel in central London.

The rear of the house looks onto a lush backyard. The rough, industrial prefabricated concrete panels by the German manufacturer Syspro are the building blocks of the home.

Spanish Rooftop Ready for Its Closeup (Barcelona, Spain) While the owner claims this designer apartment is where Bond would stay in El Born, the rustic rooftop could even drag M out of M16 headquarters for a Spanish holiday. Panoramic views of the Catalan playground contrast nicely with the sleek, slate-colored interior, which, based on the incredible perspective, probably isn’t where you’ll be spending most of your trip. Listing at Petit Lego Barcelona WiFi 007

Andrea Branzi, Animali Domestici (1985)

Coffee table by AMMA "Their furniture is a really cool mix of things like rock salt, cement, and coffee," says Singer. "They use all these materials that aren’t usually used for furniture to create these really organic, beautiful, sculptural pieces."

Laarman's Diamond table from his Maker Series. Engineered to function like a three-dimensional puzzle, the series features chairs and tables made in tiny, interlocking pieces of resin, wood, plastic, or metal. Photo by Andrew Bovasso; courtesy of Friedman Benda and Joris Laarman.

Designed by brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Iittala, the Ruutu Vase Series is a distinctive collection of hand-blown glass vases. Available in three different sizes and several colors, the vases feature a diamond-shaped base and mouth. As each vase is handmade, no two vases are exactly the same. The vases are made from glass that is mouth blown into a steel mold and polished by hand. Due to the difficult nature of shaping the glass, as well as the intensive colors available, each Ruutu is created by skilled craftsmen who take twenty-four hours to produce a single vase. As such, it takes seven glass craftsmen to create one complete Ruutu Vase.

Above all, determine what you want your wallpaper to do. "Wallpaper can be used to accomplish a variety of goals. It can draw the eye to make a room feel larger, brighter or to focus on one specific area," Sherman says.

A trio of Manné's Ikat Diamonds pillows. From clockwise: Aqua, Black, and Red.

An early prototype for the 2007 Diamond Boxes collection, a range of domestic lights utilizing photographic reflectors, never made it to market.

In the existing house, the wood beams were hidden under sheetrock and wallpaper. "I exposed them all, but I didn't let that dictate where the new walls would go," Givone says. "I let the beams fall where they may."

People frequently talk about "good bones" when it comes to purchasing a home, but it's not crystal clear what that actually means. Here, we walk you through the process of spotting a diamond in the rough.

Anticipating that casting a single concrete countertop would be difficult and unwieldy, the pair poured a rough rectangular sheet of concrete on their living-room floor. When it set, they carved it up into chunks with a diamond blade skill saw and fit the pieces in around their appliances. Keener recommends Cohills Pro Series or Buddy Rhodes’s countertop mixes.

Ready Made Curtain by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Kvadrat from $442 Turning privacy into an easy DIY project, this lightweight, all-in-one curtain system includes hanging cord, wall fixings, pegs, and a selection of woven and synthetic textiles.

Mimicking collage is Scott Massey's Make Ready 1, a five-color print made in 2009.

In the Tegu facility in Tegucigalpa, completed blocks lie in boxes waiting to be packaged and shipped to customers.

Bouroullec Ruutu Diamond-Shaped Vases, $76–$276 at the Dwell Store through December 1, 2015 Designed by brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Iittala, the Ruutu Vase Series is a distinctive collection of hand-blown glass vases. Due to the difficult nature of shaping the glass, as well as the intensive colors available, each Ruutu is created by skilled craftsmen who take twenty-four hours to produce a single vase. As such, it takes seven glass craftsmen to create one complete Ruutu Vase. Regular price: $95–$295

A cotton backing is added before the sheets are cut into their rough shapes.

The garden-ready rooftop can provide additional insulation and soundproofing.

The humpbacked Diamond Head looms behind Waikiki Beach.

More diamonds, boldly interpreted in a 3'4" by 5'8" rug.

Ruutu Diamond-Shaped Vase, $95–$295 at the Dwell Store Known for the iconic Aalto Vase, Iittala’s launch of the Ruutu Vase series offers a new vase to the company’s glassware line, designed by one of today’s greatest design duos: Ronan and Erwan Bouruollec.

Designed by brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Iittala, the Ruutu Vase Series is a distinctive collection of hand-blown glass vases. The vases are made from glass that is mouth blown into a steel mold and polished by hand. Due to the difficult nature of shaping the glass, as well as the intensive colors available, each Ruutu is created by skilled craftsmen who take twenty-four hours to produce a single vase.

Diamond rug by Steffan Tollgard Design Group for JAB. This rug is a beauty—its distinctive diamond pattern is accomplished through knurling, which is a process by which a pattern is cut or rolled into a material, usually with a lathe. The resulting relief inherent to the rug’s design presents a subtle texture that provides an arresting dimensionality.

Diamonds in the rough.

RAINBOW DIAMOND BLING www.susanjablon.com/rai...

Painting this diamond-plate steel backsplash a charming pink color makes the material feel less cold and industrial.