Ribbon Bookends by Book/Shop, $16 each Gifting a book to the particular bibliophile can be tricky business—better to err on the side of utility. Case in point: these nifty steel bookends designed by Oakland-based bookstore Book/Shop. Fabricated locally in California, they come in three colors: yellow, white, and blue.

In Esperance, Australia, Fiona and Matt Shillington turned an outdated holiday resort into a cozy compound with restored A-frames, log cabins, and cottages.

The clients for an existing home in Seattle approached Best Practice Architecture with a need to make space for an aging family member, but the home on-site was already filled to the brim. The firm's answer was to expand the existing detached garage into a gracious and airy living suite. The architects worked with the natural, six-foot slope of the site and built the Granny Pad into the hill to gain the needed interior height. The volume on the right is the original garage footprint, which now houses a kitchen and sitting room. The added volume on the left hosts the bedroom, as well as a bathroom beneath the loft space.

Shop / Garage

Heart Shaped Pond & Shop

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Klopf Architecture's modest 72-square-foot addition at the front of the home blends in with the original structure while giving the owners a greater sense of openness in the master and hall bathrooms. Inside, the re-imagined great room now features dining space.

Generations of family have lived on this wooded, waterfront site, where architect Will Randolph has built a weekend getaway for less than $70,000.

Beach days, park picnics, and backyard barbecues—wherever your Fourth of July weekend takes you, these products will elevate your event with ease.

Eujin: Pasolini and Fassbinder Retrospectives at BAM/PFA Come September, my second home will be at the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive Theatre. Reason? Film auteurs Pier Paolo Pasolini and Rainer Werner Fassbinder are each being honored with career retrospectives. Pasolini starts from September 20-October 31 with Accattone (1961) and Fassbinder joins in on October 4-29 with Love Is Colder Than Death (1969). Bonus: Some films are newly restored 35mm prints!

The once dim, cramped kitchen in this 1963 Eichler in San Jose, California, now features luxe vinyl tiling, white slab fronts from Semihandmade, and a dual-pane window, courtesy of Cathie Hong Interiors.

“Architecture and sculpture are both about breaking norms,” says Winka Dubbeldam, designer.

This double A-frame Eichler was renovated by Phoenix–based Mackenzie Collier Interiors. Joanne Encarnacion's office is located in the atrium, on the opposite side of her husband's. Graphic bursts of black and white are complemented by greenery and positive affirmations.

Bark gives the exterior walls a textured appearance and allows them to blend into the forested surroundings.

“It’s easy to be in the honeymoon phase. But too often people skip important conversations, and things can go badly.” —Architect Michelle Kaufmann

A look inside Oakland's Book/Shop, which Heywood opened in 2013.

Amsterdam’s fertile and relatively tight-knit design community provides the ideal setting for Wiet Hekking’s longtime passion project, WonderWood.

Rewind was another favorite discovery on the street. The shop, which is dedicated to what they call "ecodesign," sells environmentally friendly furnishings, jewelry, and housewares from local and international designers. We especially loved the wool felt cushions and rugs from Muskhane, a French company whose natural products are handmade in the Himalayas.

If you're in Paris in February, check out Merci Shop Paris for a gorgeous exhibition on the history of ribbon production in France. And if you don't care about ribbons... Check out Merci anyway!

Photo via Bay Area Bites.

Though chairs are Hekking’s pride and joy, WonderWood’s proximity to a handful of hotels in the area makes other wares popular with touring shoppers as well. The smaller items on offer provide opportunities for more portable purchases, while still aligning perfectly with the store’s sentiment of a smart and engaging collection.

Photo via Bay Area Bites.

Among the shop’s best-sellers are these woven wool bags.

Klopf Architecture updated this Eichler with a radiant floor heating system, re-stained paneling, and a new office/guest room filled with Eichler hallmarks like dark bronze door handles.

Cambrian black granite countertops lie in contrast with white cabinetry below and open shelves above in this contemporary kitchen. "One of the favorite things I have to do in the kitchen is wash dishes, just because it’s such a delightful view out the window," says the owner.

Some of this Eichler's original highlights remain, such as the tongue-and-groove redwood ceiling decking and the now re-stained luan wall paneling. In the kitchen, walnut is juxtaposed with crisp white, and the light blue found in the dining area is a unifying accent color.

To stock Hugh's shelves, proprietor Joe Posch relies on local resources: "I look anywhere there's a chance I'll find something—a garage sale, a Salvation Army," he says, "never online and I don't do Craigslist. The trick isn't that there's a single special source for vintage; the trick is persistence." The pieces are heavily 1950s and 1960s with a bit of 1970s thrown into the mix.

Thin, delicate LED lighting is suspended from the ceiling, giving the display cases sharp, focused illumination.

The refrigerated, black steel display cases were custom designed and fabricated. The compressors for each unit are located in the basement, allowing the cases to stand on delicate legs and preserving the minimalist look of the space.