In 2005, Gretchen Rice and Kevin Farnham acquired a 1908 home in San Francisco that had been remodeled in the 1940s by well-known local architect Henry Hill. Their series of small interventions have kept the design intent of the 1940s renovation—including an enclosed atrium, wood wall paneling, and unusual built-ins—while updating the home for contemporary living. In the dining area, Metropolitan side chairs by Jeffrey Bernett for B&B Italia surround a Surf Table designed by Carlo Colombo for Zanotta.

Rice surfs the net at the built-in desk.

Windows and glazing were one of the largest overall costs, setting Geo and Zoe back €10,306.

McMurtry, Duncan, Baker, and Will Rices Colleges at Rice University were designed by Hanbury Evan Vlattas Rice Company.

The master bedroom. The coverlet is from Urban Outfitters. The painting is by Helen Rice.

“Design is such an enormous topic that it takes multiple voices to address it,” Zoe Ryan says. “You never know what ideas you’ll ignite by creating a safe place for people to come and talk and ask questions that seem simple but which open up huge areas of discussion. So I see myself as the facilitator.”

The rice cooker garage.

Among her latest products is an upholstery line, including the Rowridge pattern, shown on a circa-1960s chair by Liverpool company Guy Rogers.

London-based designer Eleanor Pritchard sources Shetland lambswool from mills across the United Kingdom for her blankets, pillows, and upholstery. She designs the fabric patterns in her Deptford studio, near Greenwich, in a converted warehouse called Cockpit Studios.

Eleanor Raymond, Dover Sun House (with Maria Telkes), 1948.

In her studio, a hank winder spins bundles of wool yarn that are then used to stitch blanket edges.

Pritchard uses her 30-year-old George Wood dobby loom to make in-house samples. The loom is of the “peg-and-lag” variety, in which a pattern is made by a machine that works from a binary code. “It’s an old workhorse,” says Pritchard, “and has done a lot of mileage over the years!”

“Design needs to have a connection to where it’s made.”—Designer Eleanor Pritchard

Patterns match those of the pillows (625 Line, Signal, and Northerly).

It was important to Rice and Nissenboim to find a house with a large yard. They worked with Remark Landscape Architecture to remove three large hackberry trees to make way for a vegetable garden, while three citrus trees on the western line of the property produce oranges and lemons.

The rice cooker, featuring a built-in spoon rest, will retail for $195.

The calming grey colour scheme continues in the guest bedroom. Cushions by Eleanor Pritchard.

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.

Merlin Eayrs and Zoe Chan Eayrs with their daughter.

An aperture in the floor of the master bedroom leads down to a sitting room via a ladder.

Rice and Nissenboim found the mirror atop the fireplace along the side of the road.

Montreal designer Zoë Mowat offers a geometric take on the traditional desk in this colorful, sculptural piece.

Another similar tool that designers might use is a mood board, which seeks to convey the feeling or vibe of a space with images instead of the exact fabric or colors that will be used in a space. A mood board abstractly conveys inspiration, ideas, and connections that would otherwise be hard to explain using just color or words.

Art by Zoe Pawlak sits on the mantle with an Eames Bird from Herman Miller.

Furniture by Joan Lao design studio for Alternative.

The Allstone Kitchen Collection designed by Joan Lao Design studio.

Interior of Izakaya at Sir Joan

The Allstone bathroom furniture collection designed by Joan Lao Design studio.

A table and chairs designed by Joan Lao design studio for Alternative.

The Hidden Light Collection designed by Joan Lao Design studio for Fambuena.

Ecospace classrooms, like this addition to Eleanor Palmer School in London, can address the urgent need for additional music or art classrooms or perhaps a science block, in a warm and bright space.

Collection Natural Textures, designed by Joan Lao Design studio for Barcelona Rugs.

Architects Joan Soranno and John Cook of HGA developed five site-specific cabins that tread lightly on the land at Marlboro College in rural Vermont. These deceptively simple structures update the regional vernacular. Every year, Marlboro College hosts the Marlboro Music Festival in which classical musicians join together to hone their craft. These cabins help support the musicians that live, work, and rehearse together.

The kitchen, located behind the stairs and underneath Max’s bedroom, is all electric, with two burners, a rice cooker, a slow cooker, and a toaster oven. Max added industrial shelving and a butcher block. “Vertical storage,” he notes, “is very important.”

Founded ninety years ago in Okayama, Japan, Kamoi Kakoshi invented “washi” rice paper masking tape. Now branded as MT Masking Tape, the tape is easy to tear and can be easily repositioned without affecting the surface it is placed on. The tape is semi-transparent, which provides a nice effect when different tapes are layered on each other.