SHUN CLASSIC CHEF’S KNIFE, 6" $157 Shun Classic’s tasteful and contemporary design features a beautiful Damascus-clad blade and D-shaped ebony pakkawood handle. Behind the knife’s beauty is function: a razor-sharp blade offering precision performance.

A new office sits at the front of the house, and its moody walls and bookshelves contrast the other rooms' mostly light and neutral palette.

Chickens foraging in an enclosed garden with vertical planters.

Completed in May 2018, the Crossfield Street House is the residence of architect Jonathan Pile, his wife Katherine, and their five-year-old son.

In this updated 1950s Portland home, a light gray Neo sofa by Bensen harmonizes with warm wooden walls, ceilings, and floors, as well as a red-and-mustard-yellow vintage rug.

The box-shaped extension plays off the familiar farmhouse typology, creating a series of intriguing contrasts.

A painting by Ginger’s grandmother hangs above a midcentury dining set Ginger found on Craigslist.

The light-filled foyer was part of Goodman’s original design for Unit House No. 6, upon which the Wilson’s model is based.

A modular shelf system by Alu provides a more sculptural take on the classic bathroom vanity in this Toronto home.

OneButton chose Definitive Technology’s DI 6.5S models for their superb sound quality and matte-white finish. A Corian grille hides the subwoofer.

Linda Taalman and Alan Koch, of Taalman Koch Architects, completed work on their glass iT House, a lovely, minimal home that tests the limits of living lightly on the land in the desert near Joshua Tree National Park. The bath and basin in the bathroom are by Duravit, and the orange wall is by Three Form.

Detail of the kitchen

A couple enlist Butler Armsden Architects and Leverone Design to reimagine their home as a multigenerational meeting point. In 1963, landscape designer Lawrence Halprin devised a master plan for a community that would live in harmony with the natural environment. The resulting Sea Ranch, which stretches 10 miles along the Pacific coastline in Sonoma County, California, is characterized by timber-frame, wood-clad structures that are in dialogue with the local climate and terrain. Sited on a bluff within this pioneering community is the vacation home of a lawyer couple. After purchasing the residence in 2007, they lived in the home as it was for four years, even keeping the previous owners’ furniture. Envisioning a retreat that would accommodate their extended family and guests, they then recruited Butler Armsden Architects and Leverone Design to help guide the project.

Sleeping nooks that look like the grooves in a block of cheese.

Inspirational spaces

A look at the small reading nook located on the level between the bedroom and ground floor.

During the worst of the recession, companies looked to DIY and low-cost creativity to innovate. One company to jump aboard the creative revamp bandwagon is the notoriously cheap Motel 6 chain. The pillar of downmarket roadside accommodations, Motel 6 is reskinning their shabby (and not chic) interiors to give them a touch of modern minimalism and an air of modest luxury. Check out the changes here.

Sketch of Soma Water

Focusing on products made Stateside wasn’t Danny Seo’s first priority for his kitchen renovation—instead, he had one specific requirement: stainless-steel cabinets to replace the original, musty wood ones.

6. Swirled Clay Pot from Mata Ortiz circa 1970s“Mata Ortiz pottery re-emerged in a new generation of artisans in Northern Mexico in the 1970s. Their pottery is an adept example of mixing different colors of clay together to create an intricate marbled effect. It doesn’t have any glazing on it, it’s just sanded down and burnished. We’ve know a few contemporary ceramic artists who have tried to marble clay like that and it’s really difficult to get it to not crack apart, since it’s a whole bunch of different clays mixed together.”

"4x4," S2 Architecture This modernist cube by S2 Architecture features transparent Plexiglas windows that emit a warm glow from the interior.

A passage between the walls for hide and seek.

This sleeping area includes a bookshelf and sconce.

British artist Hannah Sawtell and technologist Avi Flombaum created sawbaum.com, where users can create visual collages using multiple vine streams. "We wanted it to look like a visual comic book, with overlapping panels," said Flombaum. "And we wanted it to be fun!" Photo courtesy Rhizome.

A resin-coated mop makes up Misha Kahn's bright-yellow B.A.N.A.N.A.S, which recalls a torch, but doesn't actually give off light.

The living room Ortal fireplace is clad in cold-rolled steel with a waxed finish. The side chairs, vintage reproductions from Room and Board, feature shapely walnut arms.

The master suite was fashioned from the house’s original garage in a 1970s renovation.

Annemie Lathouwers grew up in a forested enclave on the outskirts of Antwerp, Belgium. A nature preserve filled with stately pines, the area lured her back when she and her husband, David D’Hulst, began thinking about trading their house in the city for greener surroundings.

In the open-plan living area, one of the highlights is the natural light-filled kitchen from Italian manufacturer Armony.