Two-year-old Annika and five-year-old Soren make music on the "nap swing," a popular hangout spot for kids and adults alike.

The courtyard is just one of many open spaces that will be highly utilized—in the non-winter months anyway. Concrete worked well with developing the language of FlatPak. The second level is a wood panel that can be clad in corrugated metal or cedar—different layers that can be plugged in like covers on your cellphone.

Plant Ring, $48.

When designer Hilton Carter furnished the industrial-style Baltimore apartment and work studio he shares with his wife Fiona, their dog Charlie and two cats Zoe and Isabella, he created a wondrous indoor woodland that offers all the benefits of being outdoors without leaving home.

PROD Architecture + Design created a farmhouse in Penafiel, Portugal to fuse the aesthetic of traditional homes in the region with contemporary, floor-to-ceiling windows that respond to the environment. Made up of four distinct structures, the home takes on the shape of an existing gabled-roof structure on the site. To complement the stone building, the home incorporates a series of muted materials including granite for the base, zinc for the roof, and Scandinavian pinewood for cladding.

Designer Paula Hayes points out that surgical tweezers are a terrarium builder’s best friend, since a blunter object could break the fragile glass of the container. Her go-to online retail source for tools is Black Jungle Terrarium Supply.

kitHAUS prides itself on its stylish, modern prefabs that are built on-site by a team of company employees. Their patented aluminum system takes only a few days to construct, and the homes boast superior energy efficiency, owing to insulated floors, walls, and ceilings as well as glazed doors and windows.

Maggie Treanor waters plants around her rural home.

A succulent sits atop a stool from Zone Maison, juxtaposed against a warm brick wall.

Andrew Magnes’s hanging screen composed of aluminum circles and lines, cut with a CNC water jet, separates the entry from the staircase and rear kitchen area.

Plants thrive on the sheltered terrace.

Designer Christiane Hogner, Bruxelles

This Terrarium Kit from Potting Shed Creations has everything you need to create an indoor garden for your desk, windowsill, or kitchen counter. This version was exclusively created for the Dwell Store, and is a complete moss and sedum kit housed in a recycled wine bottle.

@mattkatzenson: #dodla #thatssopotted #mattkatzenson #succulents at the Dwell event in the potted booth, very inspiring.

A pair of matching Idea lights by Vesoi over a dining room table and chairs, both locally-made.

A Boston loft in a former textile factory receives a minimal, efficient kitchen at the hands of Bunker Workshop. The client wanted to be able to prepare meals efficiently, so a red steel pegboard backsplash lets him easily access cooking utensils. The cabinets are IKEA.

Bob sits in the entry courtyard with his dog, Goya.

Pink & Brown’s Corkscrew Pendant Lamp lights the stair leading to the family room

Images by Raw Color hang in a room upstairs.

Ando, a Shiba Inu, was in the first Puppy Cam litter.

Repurposed shipping containers serve as the primary materials for the houses and working spaces designed by ShelterKraft. The company's designs focus primarily on disaster relief projects, drawing from existing steel frames and skins in order to reduce the use of new materials. Their buildings range from small cargo cottages of 160-square-feet to 700-square-foot warehouses for industrial facilities. Athough they come with electric power, heat and plumbing, they generally require a pre-existing concrete foundation and a local contractor to ensure a smooth, safe installation.

A sculptural terrarium brings the landscape indoors. This two-tier wooden box planter is but one of many designs by Plant-in City, a cooperative of artists and technologists who create a series of intricate, micro-ecosystems of “green architecture.”

A metal lighting fixture with an adjustable cord hangs from the ceiling.

La Casa Nell' Orto—House in the Orchard—was a unique architectural project from the onset. Clients Spartaco and Cinzia, both Tuscan dentists, desired a little home where they could occasionally reside and grow vegetables and other plants. They engaged LDA.iMdA Architetti Associati to create a house capable of cultivating their favorite hobby.

Terrarium "stalactites" by Lauren Coleman, currently on view at Direktorenahus Berlin.

An artist and an architect built their home, studios, and an exhibition space inside a lushly landscaped Antwerp warehouse.

A floating fireplace by FireOrb takes center stage in the living area.

Sustainability was top of mind for Tribe who, chose a highly efficient French Philippe Chemise fireplace—a justifiable extravagance that heats the entire home.

Linda Taalman and Alan Koch built a home by Joshua Tree National Park, where temperatures can span from 32 degrees to over 100. The two opted for a glass enclosure with raw industrial style and green design that allowed them to live lightly on the land. iT House has floor-to-ceiling windows to take in the landscape, a suspended fireplace by Fire Orb for cold nights, and an abundance of spaces that open up to the outdoors.

The clients have filled Spyon Cop with a collection of vintage Mid-Century modern pieces, including the coffee table, sideboard and dining chairs.

“Get a hanging pot rack. It frees up more than one cabinet’s worth of space,” Perelman advises. The Enclume Contemporary Oval Pot Rack is available from Williams Sonoma ($700). For a more affordable option, consider this forest green rack by Old Dutch International ($80).

Framed family photos hang, clustered and skylit, in the corridor.