Jaguar XK120 by Renaud Marion

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.

Onstage, green lifestyle expert and media personality Danny Seo will speak about sourcing American kitchen products, and preview the kitchen renovation inside his 1950s rural Pennsylvania home, to be featured in the July/August issue of Dwell. Photo by David Englehardt.

Originally designed by Alvar Aalto 1935, the Aalto Chair 66 ($446-456) for Artek is a classic example of Scandinavian simplicity.

Hailing from Seoul, Jeonghwa Seo studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

JLR Classic Works spent 2,700 hours restoring this Jaguar XK120 for British model David Gandy.

“I didn’t want marble or granite because they aren’t sustainable,” says Seo. “Laminate is one of the few surfaces recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council toward LEED certification. Plus it’s affordable and I liked the way it looked—a triple whammy.”

Danny Seo replaced the wood cabinets of his kitchen with stainless-steel models. As a professional photo stylist, he needed to accommodate a vast collection of kitchen items, such as multiples of plates, wooden bowls, and utensils.

The sunken living room is just one of many grade changes inside the structure. “We were adamant that we didn’t want something domestic,” says Andrew. “We wanted something surprising, that was hyper-animated, and that, when you moved through it, changed all the time.” The sofa, designed by the couple and Levenbetts, is upholstered in cotton velvet. The Habibi side tables are by Philipp Mainzer for e15, the fireplace tools by Fort Standard, and the doors by Fleetwood.

The 260-square-foot Hytte module features tall ceilings of up to nearly 12 feet. Multiple windows fill the interior with natural light and frame views of the outdoors.

Stepstone's narrow concrete pavers add a graphic touch to the garden.

When designer Hilton Carter furnished the industrial-style Baltimore apartment and work studio he shares with his wife Fiona, their dog Charlie and two cats Zoe and Isabella, he created a wondrous indoor woodland that offers all the benefits of being outdoors without leaving home.

The colors used in the interior were inspired by the surrounding landscape. The kitchen island is clad in solid timber fluting crafted from durable plantation-grown iroko with with a granite top. “The green-blue-brown color of the granite benchtops very much reminded me of the colors of the water in the nearby harbor of Tutakaka,” says architect Belinda George.

A custom sofa was installed on the far side of the bathroom for even more space to relax.

"A well-performing house extension facing south on a small inner-city block built in rammed earth is not easy to achieve," said Welsch. "However, in this challenge was our opportunity: We decided that our extension will curl around to capture the sun, creating a communal courtyard and allowing the occupants to look at their own house rather than a paling fence."

The Material Container series also includes tables.

Double doors connect the outside to a main living space in this “garden cottage” ADU.

A small dining space and kitchen area blend into the expansive wood paneling used throughout The Barn.

Jeonghwa Seo's Material Container stool in brass.

Rosewood Material Container stool.

The Obstruction tea set in brass by Jeonghwa Seo.

As its name suggests, the Obstruction series two-spouted pitcher is deliberately difficult to use.

The W.W. Stool by Philippe Starck.

Deluxe Bird Blue Mobile, $66.