Mint green-painted ironwork and tiles connect the indoors to the outside more fluidly.

The Max-A studio is also built with a pine frame, though it has pine panelling on the ceiling, while the main house ceiling is painted a warm white.

“The home is quite small, but designed in such a way that you don’t feel it,” Herrin says. Lift-slide openings by Quantum Windows & Doors, which were fabricated fewer than 50 miles from the house, make the main living space seem larger.

In the house’s front room Monkman relaxes on a stool from local retailer Andrew Richard Designs. A new window system draws in sunlight and views of the front courtyard designed by local landscape architect Terry McGlade, the building’s former owner.

Tall indigenous wetland grasses grow fecund, right up to the border of the saltwater swimming pool.

Kartheiser's courtyard also includes a dry sauna with a ceiling made from 2,500 pieces of wood.

Maggie Treanor waters plants around her rural home.

Mila designed the home’s concrete pool, which is finished with a custom plaster. The pool area includes sleek chairs from Cast + Crew.

Wood decking extends out to the yard.

Amending Meeuwissen’s early request for an open bathroom space, the architects devised a more private chamber with an overhead skylight and walls in stone tile from Intercodam Tegels.

A 41-foot-long heated saltwater pool includes a submerged tanning ledge. The hot tub was created using concrete and stucco. The outdoor area includes lounge chairs from Jøna’s curatory, Cast + Crew.

After - living room (Rubio monocoat floors, Chantilly lace walls, used fireplace)

O’Sullivan designed the ceiling “to have a knitted or woven quality like that of wool or silk.” It dives down over the kitchen and dining area, eventually reaching a point at the entry that is low enough to touch. Here, resident Jes Wood leans against the onyx kitchen island while her daughter Ruby hangs out. Replica Jean Prouvé chairs surround the dining table; a vase by Bruce and Estelle Martin for Kamaka Pottery sits on top. The Reel table under the television is by Atelier Oï for B&B Italia.

Arbel’s projects—both products and architectural commissions—follow a chronological numbering system. The house itself is his 23rd design, while the one-of-a-kind glass pendants that accent nearly every room like a starscape are called “28.”

Architect Bruce Bolander made the most of a limited footprint in a house he designed in a Malibu canyon. With the small bedroom unable to accommodate any "normal" size desk, the architect designed a very thin custom steel desk where resident Heidi Wright works. The floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors from Metal Window Corporation open the entire corner of the room up to the outdoors. “The mountains across the way are almost like another wall—they contain the space to the point that you feel like you’re in a much bigger space, that you’re part of the overall landscape,” says Bolander. Photo by J Bennett Fitts.

“We’re here for almost three months every summer—and it works so well that you never feel it’s a small space. The separation and steps between each perfect little box create a great flow.”—Nadja van Praag

At one end of the space, which is topped by a barrel ceiling, a hammock offers a tantalizingly cozy place to nap.

99 by Von Tundra and Lydia Cambron $13,000 Oregon-based Von Tundra’s unit combines three different storage options—a rack, drawers, and boxes—into a multipurpose dresser.

The renovated home maintains its original layout. To refresh the dated appearance of the space, Stonefox added cedar tongue-and-groove panels to the ceiling and refinished the floors. The living room rug is from Creative Matters, the WL Daybed is from Niedermaier, and the circular coffee table is a Tie and Die model from Holly Hunt.

Recessed ceiling lights, speakers, and the range hood ductwork are all concealed by the dropped ceiling. The stools are West Elm.

Mary Henning and Ann Wansbrough's renovation of a semidetached cottage enables them to use 75 percent less town water than the average two-person home.

Floor-to-ceiling windows, complemented by a wood-burning stove from Jøtul, bring the outdoors in. “Movement throughout the house—down the hall, through a doorway, or across a room—is always toward a view of the outdoors, creating a connection between the inside and outside,” Hart says.

This is Unit 4, the only one with a redwood dividing wall between the kitchen and the living room (the rest have open concrete islands).

Located in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, the original 1916 factory building was converted to rental units in the 1980s and condominiums in 2005. The extensive drop ceilings were probably cost-saving heating measures by the original owner. With the apartment facing the less-exposed North and West elevations, the architect had to maximize the amount of sunlight the space could admit.

Floor-to-ceiling windows front each unit, with sections of container wall folded out and fixed in place as part of the shading strategy.

The home's windows are from Fleetwood Windows & Doors, while the sofa is from Teak Warehouse.

The Best Watering Can Although they admit that a watering can is a luxury (any old pitcher will do the trick) having a good watering can does make the chore easier. They recommend the Haw Bosmere V115 5-liter because it “produces a gentle rain the spindliest seedlings could love.”

Eujin: Soma Water Move aside Brita and Bobble, because there's a new water filter in town. And it's 100% biodegradable and sleeker than that decorative object perched on your living room table. The simple and elegant design (which immediately reminded me of Dieter Rams) is all thanks to great talents Markus Diebel, IDEO's design director, and incase's cofounder Joe Tan, who designed the curved beauty and Manual's Tom Crabtree who took the helm on packaging. The release date is near, so I'd hop to it if I were you.

In the backyard, Umerani and Fashandi decided to limit the lawn to minimize water consumption.

Dylan, 10, and Zoe, 13, have a lazy float down the creek, Huck Finn–style, in a steel horse-watering tank.

This children’s room and playroom caters to one family’s young kids with built-in cabinetry that allows the mess to be hidden away. Hufft designed this marker-board table, which was cut in the shape of Missouri. The ceiling features abstract details from Thomas Hart Benton paintings.

Concerned about the chemicals involved in laminate flooring, the couple chose to leave the concrete slab, the foundation of the home, exposed, almost eliminating flooring expenses. A local craftsman made the windows, using Texas pine for framing. The floor-to-ceiling windows, Pavonetti says, reduces the couple's need for lights.

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.