In Esperance, Australia, Fiona and Matt Shillington turned an outdated holiday resort into a cozy compound with restored A-frames, log cabins, and cottages.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

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.

Like many of Benepe's projects, planting P.S. 111's playground is more than a quality of life improvement. The grass and other flora help absorb flood water during storms, relieving pressure on the city's drainage systems.

At P.S. 111, the Trust for Public Land transformed an asphalt eyesore into a green sanctuary for New York City schoolchildren.

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.

Hollyhock House, view looking southeast in living room, with garden court (at left) beyond.

A classroom in PS 313.

A student from PS 47 in the Bronx.

For PS 234 in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood, Macrae-Gibson designed a colorful walkway to connect the main school building to a modern addition designed by the firm in 2008. The walkway, adjacent to a play yard, protects students and teachers from the elements as they move from one area to another.

The custom leather platform bed was designed by Shikany’s firm, PS Studios.

PS 313 is a school in Sunnyside, Queens for 432 kindergarteners through fifth graders that opened in the fall of 2014. Equipped with a central courtyard and rooftop play area, the brick masonry building has attained a green rating from New York City.

The red steel-framed structure is lined with perforated metal panels in a variety of colors.

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.

If a dim breakfast nook or counter has you down, add a bit of light overhead. Ikea's PS Collection LED lamp is handsome and energy efficient. $99 from ikea.com.

Hy-Fi, The Living's installation for MoMA PS1, "temporarily diverts the natural carbon cycle to produce a building that grows out of nothing but earth and returns to nothing but earth—with almost no waste, no energy needs, and no carbon emissions," says Benjamin.

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.

Macrae-Gibson designed a 45,000-square-foot structure to add to PS 196Q's existing 1952 building in Forest Hills, Queens. The new building houses a new cafeteria and play yard deck and space for 644 additional students.

Hackney sofa by Wrong for Hay. See it at Via Ciovassino 3a.

The naturally formed bricks that comprise the structure are made of a corn byproduct and a material from mushrooms.

The winner of the 2012 MoMA/PS1 Young Architects Program, this structure by HWKN has a titanium-nanoparticle-coated skin that absorbs carbon dioxide.

"There aren’t many row houses that treat vertical circulation and the relationship between public and private spaces the same way as [this house]," Shane says. White oak treads and a painted steel handrail make up the home's signature staircase.

Interior designer Cathie Hong transformed the kitchen of this San Jose Eichler into a bright open space, but kept the wood paneling in the adjacent room, to preserve the warm, midcentury feel.

In 2003, Resolution: 4 Architecture was one of 16 firms who participated in the Dwell Home Design Invitational—a competition to design a modern prefab home for $200,000. Their winning design, constructed in Pittsboro, North Carolina, is a groundbreaking case study that combines prefabricated construction with contemporary, modern design.