The wooden box is as functional as it is finely crafted, with room for clothes up top. Each niche holds treasures from travels, family keepsakes, books, and more.

Made of stainless steel and TEKA hardwood, a Curzon dining table by Modloft is surrounded by a quartet of Victoria Ghost dining chairs by Philippe Starck for Kartell. A striped Missy pendant light by Filipe Lisboa hangs overhead. Four Chill White media consoles from CB2 line the western wall.

Clothing can play a vital part in post-disaster comfort and survival. Be prepared with lightweight, versatile items that are appropriate for the highs and lows of your region—bonus points for bright colors like neon yellow or orange that might help emergency workers spot you. Make sure you have clean underwear, layers (including a light jacket), and a hat that would protect you from the sun. Extra blankets, shoes, boots, socks, and bug spray might be necessary depending on where you live.

HotBox: Michaela MacLeod and Nicholas Croft (Toronto) A mysterious monolith on the landscape, this warming hut, a cubic room wrapped in rubber and egg shell crate foam, provides a space for socialization.

When the Casali family gave Michael Krus and Prishram Jain of TACT Architecture free rein to work with unconventional materials, the architects responded by creating a geometric 4,300-square-foot smart home encased in aluminum panels by Agway Metals. The front facade features Cor-Ten steel fabricated by Praxy Cladding.

The resident, a Tokyo transplant, commissioned architect Tadashi Murai to create a fully-equipped structure that comes with its own power, heating and cooling, water, and waste-disposal systems.

Architect Joaquin Castillo blends inexpensive materials, the odd splurge, and a refined modernist sensibility to create an affordable weekend house for brothers Alfredo and Guillermo Oropeza. The facade is a juxtaposition of rough-hewn local stone, smooth concrete, glass, and steel—the material palette used throughout the structure.

Light Box Peter created a simple uplight at the top of the wood box by wiring together energy-efficient fluorescent fixtures typically used under cabinets and countertops. “The cheaper magnetic models hum unacceptably loudly, so make sure you get the electronic ballast types,” he warns. He then painted the cavity white to reflect light and covered them with quarter-inch-thick acrylic from TAP Plastics. homedepot.com tapplastics.com

Narigua House (El Jonuco, Mexico) Architect: David Pedroza Castañeda Category: House

Modern Sprout’s planters were designed by Nick Behr and Sarah Burrows, two Chicago apartment dwellers who wanted to grow their own garden, but didn’t have the space. Struggling to maintain plants in their apartment, they tried hydroponic planters, which yielded results, but were expensive and unappealing to look at. As a result, they designed their own planter—a hydroponic, self-watering system that hides its mechanism beneath a reclaimed wood planter box.

North Carolina firm Skram Furniture Company has created a flexible and functional line of containers that can be utilized in various spaces, from offices to kitchens.

“We edit to what’s most essential and what will highlight the product best.” —Pearl Schenkel, graphic design manager at Finell

Dotted with colorful footholds, a climbing wall covers one side of the home, allowing roof access.

A basic box that’s as tall as it is wide (28 feet) and 16 feet long, this Portland, Oregon house consists of rooms stacked vertically: an unfinished basement on the bottom, a kitchen-living area and a bathroom in the middle, and a bedroom on top, with the stairwell hinged onto the front of the home. The only interior doors are those to the bathroom, basement, and root cellar, leaving the rest of the space open and unfettered. At just 704 square feet, Katherine Bovee and Matt Kirkpatrick's home is a great lesson in making the most out of every inch. Click here to see the interior.

The transformed facade features dark gray stained-masonry.

A close-up shot of the duo's piece.

'Magic Hour' personal work by Nan Na Hvass & Sofie Hannibal of Hvass&Hannibal shown at Mohs exhibit in Copenhagen.

After an unprecedented year of earthquakes, hurricanes, and fires, a bright light has been shed on the benefits of building with concrete.

At 3.5" x 3.5" with a depth of 6", these planters are specifically designed to hold starter plants you've picked up at the nursery.

The facade of the three-bedroom house sports a series of extruded pine boxes, which create sheltered spaces that stand up to the area’s fluctuating weather. The owners, Isaac Pineus and Andrew Duncanson, spend summers here with their twin sons.

The lightbox is a glowing floor light made from roto-molded plastic. It's a lamp, stool, and accent table all in one. Read more about the lightbox here.

WOODEN TISSUE BOX or this one...

Boxes Gold Ornament This 3D geometric ornament creates a sense of modern movement with a gleaming brass or silver finish. We think they would be extra eye-catching in multiples on the tree or mantel.

Balearic Beauty in Boxes (Palma de Mallorca, Spain) Situated in a more relaxed part of Spain, this converted container hotel offers a condensed rooftop escape, a quiet private pool and crisp, unobtrusive design. The flat includes a pair of cycles to simplify your stay. Listing at Container home, a unique house!

Indoor Planter: Adding a touch of green makes a space feel vibrant and alive. Give one of these fun Window Planter Box's by Yield Design Co. to lend contemporary warmth to anyone's houseplants. A perfect home for kitchen herbs, sculptural succulents or flowering blooms.

“A summer house is every Swede’s dream,” says Duncanson, who was born in Scotland. “At first I couldn’t understand how they could take four or five weeks off in summer but after my first year, I couldn’t believe how relaxed and hungry I was when I came back.”

Unlike its neighbors, Casa Becerril is set back from the street and fits a yard onto its tight site.

“Magic Windows” by Luca Nichetto for Foscarini - Foscarini lamps come to life behind a series of windows that offer an imaginary glimpse of homes and the people within. This installation was at Foscarini’s Stockholm showroom during Stockholm Design Week 2013, and was inspired by the typically Northern European habit of leaving curtains open at home, providing glimpses of light and fragments of daily life.

A Kite wall sconce by Foscarini and mirrors from Gedy by Nameeks are installed above a polished chrome faucet from Kohler’s Purist collection.

More custom bookshelves in an upstairs sitting room, cleverly inserted into the villa's extant niches.

In the living room, a sofa by Vico Magistretti is next to a plywood armchair by Gerald Summers. The coffee table is by Enzo Mari; the Cesta lantern is by Miguel Milá for Santa & Cole. “It’s too expected for us to put Hans Wegner here,” Duncanson explains.

A Fermob table and chairs are on the rooftop terrace. “The weather is unpredictable, to say the least. You want to be outside but you don’t want to sit in the middle of a gale,” says Duncanson. “But [at this house] you can always find a place that’s quiet.”

Driven by data found on the site, the architects decided to merge the traditional red wooden cottage archetype with the modern box home.

“The color Falu-red, or Falu Rödfärg, is used for houses all over Sweden,” says Pineus. “It’s such a strong color, but I think it works.” Each of the house’s protruding boxes feature pine slats painted in a silver tar, which contrasts the larch of the interior and offers a sturdy defense to the ocean air.

The Walnut and Marble Storage Cube from 2131 takes the simplicity of a box and elevates it with rich walnut wood and luxe marble. The cube includes one interior surface that has been inlaid with Italian Calacatta Gold marble, which frames the storage cube’s contents. Available in small and large sizes, the Walnut and Marble Cubes can be stacked or structured to create a distinctive storage display, or they can be used individually as a striking accent.