After living on and studying a woodsy acre of land in North Zealand, Denmark, architect Jesper Brask cleared a stand of pine trees and, from the timber, built a getaway open to its surroundings. The house, which Brask shares with his wife, Lene, and sons, Kristian, Jens, and Niels, is used mainly in summer, when the weather is optimal for throwing open the glass doors.

Choosing a kitchen or bathroom countertop can be nerve-wracking, and we understand why—they can be one of the most expensive aspects of a renovation, with the added responsibility of impacting the aesthetics of a space. Read on as we work our way through the pros and cons of seven of the most common countertop materials.

Resident Peter Østergaard (with Maja, 6, and Carl, 20 months) and architect and photographer Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen have been best friends since they were 13, which makes for easy collaboration. Says Bjerre-Poulsen: “There are always a lot of challenges in a renovation, but Peter and Åsa trusted my judgment and gave me a completely free hand. Usually it’s hard to push people into unconventional solutions, but Peter has all these wild and crazy ideas.” One such idea was to embed a transparent glass-and-iron door in the floor, operated by a hydraulic pump, which allows access to the subterranean wine cellar. At night, the lit-up cellar glows, lending the compact living room an increased sense of verticality.

Danish furniture designer Hans Wegner in his studio. Photo courtesy PP MØBLER.

@jmunnymanek: Danish Designer Christina Liljenberg Halstrom's Georg stool for the company Skagerak. #danishdesign #DODNY

Iskos-Berlin’s Birth of Marilyn is a lampshade meant to evoke a skirt lifted by the wind. The duo behind the brand strives to develop products using rationalized production processes to generate a minimal waste of materials and other resources. The lampshades are made from two layers of mostly recycled PET felt.

To raise awareness about biodiversity in cities and the benefits it delivers, the EEA façade, overlooking one of the most prominent squares of Copenhagen, Denmark, gets shielded with a vertical garden (shaped like a map of the European continent!) which uses a mesh pattern, similar to a cross-stich pattern, that fills in dirt and various flowers. Via WalkOnWaterOrDrown.

Morten Bo Jensen, of Danish industrial design company Vipp, and his partner, graphic designer Kristina May Olsen, have mixed repurposed vintage items with their own creations inside their Copenhagen apartment. In the kitchen, the dining table—Jensen’s first piece for Vipp—is made of a powder-coated aluminum frame with a recycled, untreated teak top. The lamps overhead are salvaged and rewired Copenhagen streetlights.

An island home that served as Aalto’s workspace and proving ground for decades, the L-shaped structure is in a clearing surrounded by boulders and stones are covered with moss, bilberry and lingonberry bushes. Aalto played with and experimented with ceramics, solar heating and bricks (note the patchwork facade of different brick on the main structure).

Danish architects John Lassen and Joanna Tench renovated the interior of this quaint 1960s thatched-roof cottage in North Jutland, giving it a clean, modern face-lift.

Lassen designed all the furniture with the exception of a few items, like the vintage Chairman armchair by Henrik Tengler and white IKEA sofas. “To keep it simple, we only used natural colors from wood inside, with everything else being white,” Lassen says.

(Clockwise from top left) Christina Liljenberg Halstrøm, Pernille Snedker Hansen of Snedker Studio, Line Depping, and Jakob Jørgensen will appear in New York for the first inaugural Dwell on Desgn NY, in n partnership with the Danish Ministry for Culture and Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The Viking Pencil Factory Loft's floorplan.

This "local prefab" home on the Isle of Skye is made mostly from materials sourced in northern Scotland. The timber-framed model, meant to evoke the simple agrarian barns of the area, can be constructed on-site in as little as a day and is designed for affordability.

White plaster walls and a curved ceiling play up natural lighting, while minimalist decor and furnishings (many of which they designed themselves) make the small space feel larger.

Black and white kitchen cabinets painted with a triangular pattern add a whimsical touch to this funky kitchen.

Lassen says the biggest key for designing a small space is to keep things as minimalist as possible. “Don’t try to make anything bigger or build an addition. Just remove all bad architecture and create clean, simple rooms.”

Inside, white paint lightens up the middle of the building. A vintage Danish dining set and Cloud pendants by Frank Gehry for Vitra define the dining area.

A Renovated Farmhouse in Denmark: This beautiful renovation has a classic Scandinavian feel and soft, but simple color scheme. From The Style Files.

Degrado Amarillo wallpaper by Eijffinger. The Dutch company’s Ibiza collection saturates walls in degrees with a photorealistic paper that adds an of-the-moment gradient effect.

The minimalist posters were originally advertisements shot by photographer Paul Salomonsen. The series available for purchase at Carl Hansen's showroom in Copenhagen includes three pieces of seating now produced by the company: Mogens Koch's Folding Chair, Ole Wanscher's Colonial Chair, and Hans J. Wegner's Wishbone Chair.

The dwelling showcases the designer’s collection of Danish chairs and loungers from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s — including pieces designed by Kofod Larsen, J.L Moller, Harry Ostergaard, Bruno Mathsson, and Hans J. Wegner.

Wegner's upholstered Peacock Chair updates the Windsor-style seat he designed in 1947.

A series of round cushions piled atop the floor make for a casual lounge area in the upstairs apartment. Acting as both a room divider and a dramatic centerpiece, a custom dining table, created by Nathalie, hangs suspended from the ceiling. She also designed the kitchenette beyond, incorporating vintage cabinets by Danish midcentury designer Børge Mogensen.

When Abbie and Bill Burton hired Marmol Radziner to design their prefab weekend home, their two requests were “simple-simple, replaceable materials,” says Abbie—such as concrete floors (poured offsite in Marmol Radziner's factory) and metal panel siding—and “the ability to be indoors or outdoors with ease.” Deep overhangs provide shade and protection from rain, so the Burtons can leave their doors open year-round and hang out on their 70-foot-long deck even in inclement weather. They visit the house once a month, usually for a week at a time, with Vinnie and Stella, their rescue Bernese Mountain dogs. Their two adult children occasionally join them. The couple hopes to one day retire here.

In 1966, the Danish design magazine Mobilia dedicated their whole issue to Design Research.

The pair’s art covers a cork wall where Eva Luna reads in a vintage Danish lounge chair.

Copenhagen-based architect Martin Kallesø was tasked with a simple program: create a freestanding guest room so that visitors have a private place to lay their heads. The interior is small, but comfortable. It fits a double bed, coffee table, and chair. The bed is recessed into the wall so as not to waste any space.

In 2013, the hotel renovated half its rooms to evoke Danish design in the 50s. Last year, the hotel refreshed the rest of its rooms to epitomize the country’s iconic 60s aesthetic.

Often referred to as one of the designer’s favorite pieces, the leather Ox chair (1960), perched on chromed steel supports, shows modern design doesn’t always need to be so “dreadfully serious.” The inflated shapes of Picasso’s paintings supposedly inspired the shape of this piece, which -- true to form if you’re taking Surrealism as a reference point -- initially were sold with or without horns.

Located in Aarhus, Denmark, Villa R is a minimalist, serene structure clad in zinc panels. "The objective was to create a house that brings the forest inside through large glass panels—and create an ever-changing seasonal backdrop for the interior living spaces," stated the architecture firm, C.F. Møller, of the 3,200-square-foot abode.

Apartment balconies in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The Duck and Duckling Series is a playful celebration inspired by true events. In 1959, a Danish police officer stopped traffic in order to let a young family of ducks across the road. Inspired by the newspaper photographs, Hans Bølling designed the duck and duckling figures to playfully commemorate the event. Crafted in teak, these figures are now icons of Danish design that will make a treasured gift for modern design lovers.

The concrete wall mimics the slope of the hill outside as a reference to early Maori structures that were dug into the land. The simple kitchen has strandboard cabinetry and an MDF island that conceals a fireplace at one end. The ceramic works on the built-in seat at right are by Raewyn Atkinson and Robyn Lewis.

Four emerging Danish designers brought their streamlined wares to the show floor.

The Fritz Hansen factory in Denmark.