The quiet, minimalist kitchen features a wall in the same “criptoméria" wood used for the bookshelf in the living room. A Davide Groppi Punto 2 PL light hangs over the dining table.

Warm wooden walls ensure the simple bedroom setup, a low mattress next to a Muuto Leaf table lamp, offers more comfort than the cold stone exterior.

Check out all of our 2014 holiday gift guides at a glance, and don't forget to comment here with your best modern gift ideas.

When it comes to getting your home in tip-top shape for hosting parties this holiday season, or picking out the perfect gift for your favorite foodie, Dwell has you covered. From luxurious cheese knives to truly one-of-a-kind ice cream flavors, are sure to have you and your guests hungry for more.

With nary a necktie in sight, this year's gift guide for men offers something distinctive for every guy on your list, from the sartorialist to the grilling enthusiast to the classic car aficionado and the whisky lover. (We admit, there is a bowtie.)

Our 2012 picks for presents include unique and - we say - downright fun twists on classic gifts for her like jewelry and handbags.

Senegal Baskets by Eileen Fisher, $138 garnethill.com One of our favorite insider secrets is the home line that Eileen Fisher does for Garnet Hill. (Check out the bath towels, for one.) This set of three fair-trade baskets, made of natural cattails and strips of reclaimed plastic, were commissioned by Fisher and are handmade by the Wolof weavers of Senegal in partnership with the Peace Corps.

Check out the guides for 2012 and 2013, and stay tuned from now through mid-December for more great gifts for 2014.

Every year, Dwell editors open their personal shopping lists to bring you themed gift guides. Check out the guides from 2012 and 2013, and stay tuned from now through mid-December for more great gifts.

In keeping with the island’s rugged character, the new home was pared down to the essentials. Even the floor in the living room, elevated during the construction process to give seated guests sight lines of the coast, helped frame the outdoors. With this philosophy in mind, Vieira da Silva sourced and designed simple, light furniture, such as the custom bookshelves made from “criptoméria," a type of Japanese wood planted in the Azores for construction. The floor lamp, a Sampei model by Davide Groppi, is set above a Lamino Easy Chair by Swedese. Both the sofa and table are also Swedese.

Wooden Tumbling Tower, $28 shopterrain.com Games: fun for the whole family. This hand-crafted one is made of eco-friendly Monkey Pod wood and, like Jenga, is based on a traditional building block game from Africa.

Milo & Mitzy Circle/Grid Blanket by Forestry, $218 stevenalan.com These pure wool throw blankets, made from New Zealand wool, are designed in by a native Aucklander based in the Netherlands with clean modern lines in a traditional material: sturdy, warm, and lightweight.

Spotted Rug in black, $69 someware.com Give some seriously laidback vibes with this 19.5"x3-" rug that was handwoven and dyed by artisans in Santander, Colombia. The accent carpet is made from fique, a plant fiber that, similar to agave sisal, is native to South America.

Light Object 001 in Black by Naama Hofman, $582.85 larcobaleno.com Naama Hofman—a Tel Aviv-based lighting designer we featured in Dwell's April 2012 issue—combines art and technology in this minimalist lamp. The bent metal rod is secured to an acrylic pipe that houses approximately 120 LEDS and can be placed tabletop in numerous positions or hung on the wall.

02 Optic Alarm Clock by Joe Colombo for Alessi, $84 store.dwell.com This sporty little battery-powered number works on a bedside table, or even on the road. Its curvy plastic case brings a dose of Italian industrial design to time-telling—for the true globetrotters, set it to Majorca time and start dreaming about your next vacation.

Sake Pitcher by Japanese Ceramics, $44 stillhousenyc.com From Maarten Baas to Jens Faber, we love a rough-hewn take on a traditional silhouette. This affordable, snowy white pitcher is made in Japan (in an area known for its mastery of porcelain) from high-fired ceramic with a glazed interior.

Liquid Body Flask by The Principals, $45 areaware.com Be ever-ready to hit the road with this designer-made, mirror-finish, six-ounce steel flask. Its unique manufacturing process lends it an inflated liquid look, not unlike a Mylar balloon or foil drink packet.

Navy backpack by Mismo, $540 at stilleben.dk One of Copenhagen's reigning design shops, Stilleben, now offers online retail for its pitch-perfect array of tabletop pieces, art, and home goods. Danish brand Mismo doesn't come cheap, but it's built to last. We like the roll top, brass detailing, and leather straps.

For all of Dwell's editor-curated gift guides, check out our archive.

We'll be curating guides to suit all your gifting needs from now until the holidays; check back for more selections from our editors over the next month! And for now, peruse selections for the Art Aficionado, Student, and Chef.

Japanese Cast Iron Bear Bookends, $265 shop.nickeykehoe.com Los Angeles decorator Nicky Kehoe's shop is chock-full of international treasures, from African feather scupltures to Spanish wool throws to cast iron accessories from Japan, like these ursine bookends.

A Model 78 side chair by Niels Otto Møller tucks into a custom desk in the master bedroom, a home base from which Friedlander works remotely. The brass pendant light is by Allied Maker.

Built as part of a functional farmhouse, the original building's ground floor was used to store food and animals, a situation that didn't exactly call for expansive views or large amounts of natural light. Vieira da Silva maintained a similar layout over the two-story home, with social areas on the upper floor and bedrooms on the ground floor, but opened up the lower level with large windows. "With the pre-existing stone walls we created patios, keeping a distance [between the walls] so we could have big openings, and create a close and intense relationship with the landscape and the ruin itself."

Initially unassuming, the E/C home appears hidden from the road, perched on the sloping edge of the island and partially wrapped in the basalt walls from an 18th-century farmhouse. Architects Ines Vieira da Silva and and Miguel Vieira approached the site with a vision to create a relationship with the landscape; they designed the 2,600-square-foot holiday home to not only be a simple escape, but also to frame the weathered coast and reflect its past. “Both paths to the house were designed with basalt stone, as if they were still a rural path,” Vieira da Silva says.

The SSB-1 by Erik Heywood for BOOK/SHOP, $199 from book---shop.com Available in walnut or birch wood, the shelf offers an attractive way to store books. Set on the floor in a kids' nursery or on a table to keep prized items organized and in view.

The Infographic Designers' Sketchbooks by Steven Heller and Rick Landers, $60 from chroniclebooks.com We're in the era of data visualization and infographics and this tome from Princeton Architectural Press deconstructs how designers go about making everything from leaderboards to charts that need to relay complex details at a glance. The book also shows the meticulous process behind creating the graphics—the notebook sketches, storyboard mapping, and more.

Keep reading for all of Dwell's 2014 holiday gift guides at a glance!

Fluorescent Pink/Amber Sculpture No. 18 by Phillip Low, $660 at art-object.totokaelo.com New York City artist Phillip Low's saturated, prismatic acrylic sculptures are such a favorite of the Dwell office that our creative team hired Low to craft the second annual Dwell Vision Award in 2014. This pyramidal piece involves semi-transparent neon orange and neon pink acrylic with neon amber refraction from the sides.

Let us know your favorite design and architecture tomes in the comments section below, and don't forget to browse the full Dwell holiday gift guide for 2014.

Beetle 02 print by Note Design Studio for Paper Collective, $62 at paper-collective.com Following in the wake of Warby Parker, a business model that pairs philanthropy with e-commerce, there's no reason you're gift-giving this season shouldn't give back. Paper Collective, an art print purveyor from Copenhagen, contributes proceeds from every poster sold to the designer's charity of choice. The Stockholm design studio has created a series of overprinted posters with slight color field mismatches; the benefits go to Greenpeace.

Online framing from Framebridge and Framed & Matted, from $99 for 12"x16" Framing art is notoriously expensive, and it's a frequent caveat when doling out prints as gifts. A few online companies are attempting to change the status quo by offering discount framing with the ease of a virtual dressing room. Framebridge's process is more customized: You send in your art using prepaid packaging, then either select a frame/mat style or the company's designers can recommend three frame-and-mat combinations, later receiving a ready-to-hang artwork. With Framed & Matted, you can upload a snapshot of your artwork, but all the framing materials you select come shipped to you with hardware for DIY assembly. Prices are equivalent—we compared costs for framing a 12"x16" piece, and both start at around $99. (Both Framebridge—shown above—and Framed & Matted offer gift cards as well.)

Above Home Woven Door Mat by Hlynur Atlason for Umbra Shift, $90 store.dwell.com A little bit Luis Barragán, a little bit David Hockney, these abstracted landscapes-turned-doormat are a raffish take on art masquerading as household accessory. Bonus? The mat is woven from abaca, a natural plant fiber that is odor- and moisture-resistant.

Grid Tapestry by Heddle and Needle, $175 at etsy.com Textile art has experienced a major resurgence in 2014, gaining popularity at every scale from a seasoned pro like Sheila Hicks putting up three exhibitions to a proliferation of Etsy shops led by creative, driven artists around the country. One such shop belongs to Rachel Gottesman, who sells on Etsy under the moniker Heddle and Needle. We especially like the deep indigo hues of her fringed Grid Tapestry, which some might call "architect-y" in its symmetry. (Hint: Gottesman's tapestries aren't huge—most measure around 11 by 22 inches—so check out her Instagram to see them in situ.)

Cement stair planter, $19.50, at Budd + Finn Available in single, double, or triple opening, this Brutalist-inspired planter is made to house small succulents or even serve as a desk caddy.

Roll Bottle Opener by Umbra Shift, $30 at A+R Store Rendered in solid brass, this bottle opener from Umbra Shift is too divine to relegate to a drawer.

Brass Bookends by Commune, $900 from communedesign.com To keep books neatly upright, you could do no better than these striking solid-brass items. (Yes, we listed Commune twice in this list because they're so darn good.)