Designed by jones | haydu, Coffee Bar's sleek and contemporary second location is built to stand out amongst sprawling high rises. The bold and expansive metal and glass exterior provides an alluring peek into the action inside. Limited by the relatively small space (it is under 500 square feet), Coffee Bar keeps things simple with backlit maple plywood panels and brushed concrete floors. Indoor seating was deliberately excluded from the small space to meet the pace of the bustling demographic; the outdoor teak seating is by Selamat Designs and complements the warm wood interior. 101 Montgomery Street

The coffee station features a professional-grade Rocket Espresso machine. Jang and King designed a stainless-steel pullout shelf for a cream and sugar station.

Lalita stands in front of the coffee nook in the couple’s kitchen—one of several details that relates to their shared Brazilian heritage. Her childhood was split between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, while Fabio grew up in São Paulo before moving to various cities around the world as part of his career in advertising.

Coffee and San Francisco!

Here's the cafe space, which is set off to the side of the building. The kiln (currently under construction) will be behind the bank of windows in the background. We love how the building hosts a multitude of uses: a social space for the neighborhood, retail, and manufacturing. It's also two local businesses supporting each other—a customer might come in for a coffee and come out with a new place setting, and vice versa.

In this sleek kitchen renovation in San Francisco, the kitchen backsplash is an easy-to-clean glass backsplash that mimics the glossy finish of the surrounding white cabinets. Painters accomplished the high-gloss finish on the cabinets of a kitchen in San Francisco by applying a coat of paint, polishing it with very high-grit sandpaper, repeating the process for each layer, then topping it with three coats of clear varnish. "It’s like an auto body," says builder Jeff King. "It’s incredibly beautiful." The island provides shelving space and storage as well as a second sink, an is topped with pietra grigio marble.

Russell-Clarke tends a small garden.

Designer Jeff Sand’s Universal Chairs combine his love for classic French café chairs with an appreciation for “the beautiful metal casings on an old Moto Guzzi.” Sand Studios also designed the dining table and pendant lamp.

Located in the Östermalm neighborhood of Stockholm, Cafe Foam channels "Spanish temperament with Scandinavian cool," according to its designers, local firm Note. Indeed, the interior features the prototypical Scandinavian blonde wood and spare detailing with splashes of magenta that evoke a more fiery feeling—an unexpected mashup as the latitudes (not to mention the design sensibilities) of Spain and Sweden are about as far flung as one can get in Europe.

The Hayes Valley location of local favorite Ritual Coffee is housed in a repurposed shipping container bordering Patricia's Green, an open gathering space anchoring the retail and residential corridor. The compact pod occupies less than 200 square feet, and showcases a sleek marriage of metal and wood, punctuated by Ritual's signature glossy red accents. Designed by envelope Architecture + Design, the space is in good company with other pop-ups that make up PROXY, a temporary cluster of local restaurants and vendors that occupy a freeway-bordering lot that was previously vacant. The PROXY pods will be recycled when a long-term residential development begins construction at the site. 432B Octavia Street

Tommy and Chris Newbury started serving Réveille Coffee from a stripped down food truck, and have quietly grown into their second brick-and-mortar location in the Castro. The brothers describe their design aesthetic as "clean Californian modernism" and the Castro location lives up to their vision. Relying on cues from local metal and woodworker Jeff Burwell, the space is peppered with white metal chairs and stools, and showcases a stunning installation of stacked split wood at the rear of the cafe. Mexican cement tiles make up the eye-catching patterned backsplash of the coffee bar, and the shop takes advantage of its Castro Street frontage with the creation of an intimate and inviting front patio. 4076 18th Street

The team from the interdisciplinary firm Commune Design joins us to talk about their role in revitalizing the city of L.A., from their work on the city’s major residential multiuse projects to the recently opened Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles. Photo by Spencer Lowell.

Across from the entrance is the main staircase, which leads to the bedrooms.

“Peter and I’ve got shockingly similar and far-reaching design inspirations. Our conversations would move easily from brutalism to driftwood to kachinas and then flow right back to something applicable to architecture. I can’t tell you how many times I will do that with a less-design-literate client and just get a blank stare!” —Architect Craig Steely

The once-sloping space now has climbing vines, a slatted fence, and foxtail agaves.

King installed dimmable fluorescent strips by Bartco in the alcoves above the cabinets for ambient lighting.

Curtiss describes the floor plan as “super efficient but with gracious moments.” Instead of maximizing room size, she ensured that shared spaces were adequately sized. In the upstairs hallway, that means two or three people can pass each other with relative ease.

In the living room, guests gather on a matching ebony sofa and daybed from Hudson and a pair of Jorge Zalszupin lounge chairs. An Yves Klein coffee table—filled with the artist’s signature International Klein Blue pigment— provides a vivid burst amid otherwise organic tones. The walnut-and-bronze cabinetry is a custom design.

"We had fantastic natural light in the space from the large existing skylights," Dunn says. "That gave us the freedom to think we could just line the walls and floors with a warm, natural material, and let the light take care of most of the 'impact' of being in the space—it led us to be a bit more restrained." Photo by Patricia Chang

"The owner had a great vision of a business focused on an open, interactive exchange between the customer and the barista," Dunn says. "Juggling the practical workflow of coffee-making—and selling—with the desire for a low, obstacle-free counter that would be conducive to that interaction was probably the biggest challenge." The matte white hexagonal tile covering the sides of the counter was purchased from Design and Direct Source. Photo by Patricia Chang

"From a practical standpoint, we organized the space in layers—starting with the sidewalk display function of the window seating and signage, then to the entry space with its merchandise shelves, and next to that is the recessed pastry case and barista station," Dunn says. "Past that point is the serving area, point of sale, and main seating area with service spaces in the back." Photo by Patricia Chang

The public staircase is directly adjacent to the house, though the louvers mitigate the view of passersby in favor of views of San Francisco.

Saint Frank offers beans by the pound in addition to coffee and espresso-based drinks. Photo by Patricia Chang.

The interior of Saint Frank Coffee, which is located at 2340 Polk street in San Francisco, features oak walls, flooring, and furniture. "There's a warmth and openness to the space," architect Ian Dunn says. "It's the product of some restraint and refinement; perhaps there's a peacefulness that comes through. You're there to enjoy a really great cup of coffee and the cafe was designed for that purpose." Photo by Patricia Chang.

We are all bibliophiles and magazine-philes so Offi’s Embrace Media Table by John Green is perfect for extra storage. $299

The facade is painted a deep charcoal gray. Click here to read previous Coffee Break stories. Photo by Patricia Chang.

The flooring behind the counter is Daltile's Plaza Nova series in Black Shadow. Photo by Patricia Chang.

Dunn hired Buck O'Neill Builders as the general contractor for the space. Weston Martin designed and built the custom stools, tables, and benches in the cafe. "Our contractor, craftsmen, and fabricators did a great job executing our details for the spots where the steel and wood come together—the wall trim, the seating supports, the stair railings, etc.," Dunn says. "I always enjoy working through those types of connections, and it's satisfying to see them built well." Photo by Patricia Chang

The walnut coffee table in the living room is by Samuel Moyer.

Despite their dark color palette, black and white kitchens can still feel bright. This tiny kitchen perfects the art of chiaroscuro with white shiplapped walls, custom-built open shelves and dark concrete floors. The owners selected sleek faucet fixtures by Santec and a sink by Blanco to complement the white laminate countertops. The stainless steel appliances include a Bertazzoni oven, Fisher & Payel refrigerator, and Thermador dishwasher.

In the bathroom, a teak live-edge countertop and custom yellow cabinet support a double wash basin by Duravit. A mirror from Restoration Hardware hangs below custom lights, designed by the homeowner for a steampunk look.

The kitchen is marked by its Wolf gas range, white Carrara marble countertop bar, and Cobb Rise & Fall pendants by Original BTC. The architect designed a custom wine glass holder, which hangs nearby.

The master bath incorporates custom cabinets by Bob Clausen, fixtures by Grohe, Hansgrohe, and Kohler, and a sink by Duravit. Plush Lisbon cork carpets the floor.

“On April 1, 2014, Peet’s will be 48 years old,” says Michael Williams, Vice President of Store Development. “Retail is an evolution and this is a new chapter in our story. Quality, craft, and passion are our core tenets and we wanted to insert that into the store environment.” Debbie Kristofferson, Vice President of Brand and Creative Strategy for Peets, says customer feedback about the previous retail experience wasn’t on par with how they felt about the coffee. “We wanted to tell the brand’s story in a way that will be meaningful, interesting, and will connect with people,” she says.

Lara and Ethan Pagnier have hosted over 40 travelers since joining Airbnb, and it's easy to see what attracts them. Apart from owning a spotless home in San Francisco's coveted Mission district, the pair are natural hosts.

The three levels of the house transition from public to private: The ground floor is composed of the kitchen and living-dining area; the bathroom and closet occupy the mezzanine, accessed by a ship’s ladder; and the sleeping loft hovers a couple steps above. The seminal 1970s tome A Pattern Language, written by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein, inspired the layout. “I’m a huge proponent of the [book],” says Azevedo. “I like the ideas of a bed as an alcove, natural light on two sides of a room, varying ceiling heights, and different levels of privacy.”