The walnut staircase and slide in a Chicago town house leads from the main level to the basement. To protect people on the ride down, a “crash pad” fashioned from a standard gymnastic mat covers the wall at the slide’s base.

Built in the early 1970s, the house's kitchen, living, and dining areas were originally divided into three distinct zones. In order for this great room to flow as one, Klopf Architecture removed the glass doors and solid walls separating the enclosed atrium from the kitchen and living room. A Herman Miller trade poster, Design Within Reach book tower, and IKEA sofa mingle in the space.

The firm also designed a slatted screen next to the staircase.

Light cascades into the living room through a row of six insulated timber windows on the south wall. The north wall flares out to create what Schaer calls a sunset scoop. “It grabs the late afternoon and evening sun and brings it deep into the space,” he explains.

Bamboo flooring and custom built-ins—fashioned from medium-density fiberboard with a white-lacquer finish—brightened Gavin and Sheila Smith’s 650-square-foot attic. Gavin Smith designed the blackened-steel balustrade, which has cable inserts and a walnut handrail.

The compact rental features plenty of wooden ledges, nooks, and shelves for keeping belongings organized. In the living room, a low white wall is capped with fir wood salvaged from the garage’s former posts. On the east wall, a half-door made of reclaimed cedar looks out on a garden. “It looks and lives a lot bigger than it is,” Schaer says.

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The master bathroom gains light through the skylight as well as morning light through windows on the east side.

The table’s base, which itself is an additional storage container, rolls easily into place to support the surface.

You can set the schedule up to a week in advance, and get push notifications when a fresh pot is ready. It brews at about 205 degrees Fahrenheit, and you can adjust the strength. You can also pause in the middle of the cycle in order to pour a cup.

The updated kitchen features a bright white palette. The countertop is Caesarstone's Blizzard surface and the stools are Crate and Barrel. The range hood is Futuro, the refrigerator is LG, and the dishwasher is Bosch.

Drawing power from integrated solar panels, both devices connect to Wi-Fi to relay relevant information about the soil to your phone or tablet. It will even automatically water from the hose using weather forecasts.

The Silent History is an app for your iPhone, a multi-author dystopian sci-fi novel, a mobile storytelling experiment, and a sprawling work of geo-located literature that its makers don't even fully understand. It's out there, man. Buy it! ($2)

Studio VARA explains “the project’s success lies in the judicious use of carefully executed moments," such as wood screen that recreates the privacy of now-trimmed tree branches. Studio VARA also cites a "subtle palette of ‘warm’ mixed with ‘cool’ that recurs in both tone and materials: wood juxtaposed with glass, metal against stone.”

All the floors were redone in a light ash hardwood. The crisp interior paint is Benjamin Moore Super White. The kitchen cabinets are from Artistic Kitchens. A frosted glass door leads to the laundry room.

The modern layout creates a fun place to get ready each day.

Open risers and glass railings maintain an open flow of space.

The master bedroom takes advantage of the extra high ceilings in order to create a quiet retreat space.

A custom staircase with wood risers is encased by glass panels. A wall of Henrybuilt's kitchen system adds storage to the hallway.

When you’ve got your stamp the way you want it, you’re ready to ink it up.

Laminated-MDF cabinetry helps to hide clutter in the kitchen.

"Maps to Help you Navigate Milan Design Week" by Craighton Berman.

Have your children help you go through their book collections and pick out what books they haven't read yet. If you are able to safely leave your home, you can coordinate curbside dropoff book exchanges with friends.

A Boston loft in a former textile factory receives a minimal, efficient kitchen at the hands of Bunker Workshop. In the kitchen, the island features a stainless-steel countertop with a gas cooktop, oven, and a brick half wall.

Smith designed the custom cabinets, which were fashioned from medium-density fiberboard with a white lacquer finish. There are three drawer heights. "The faces are consistent but some, when you open them up, are triple-height," Smith says. "So that helps with things that are really large, like sleeping bags or camping stuff or whatever. They're three feet deep, so it goes into the knee wall, which is really handy. So you get lots and lots of storage."

Keeping and eye on costs - the kitchen remained in the original location, but was updated to fit the new aesthetic. The kitchen maintains a visual connection to backyard through the adjacent dining room.

Store magazines and more in this sturdy felt tote. Leather laces and handles create a sophisticated mix of materials. The tote stands upright so you can easily place it next to your sofa or under your desk.

During the historical review period of the permitting process, Curtiss learned the house was previously owned by three generations of the same family — a fact that deeply informed how she approached the remodel. “We wanted [the family] to drive by and feel like, ‘Oh cool, look what they did to our old house,’” she said, explaining her decision to preserve the house’s original shape. As a reminder of its previous life, workers sandblasted the original floorplate and left it exposed to reveal “the history of little conduit holes drilled before.” They also utilized old framing members when molding the concrete retaining walls in the yard, literally “imprinting the building’s history into the walkways.”

3. "Can I afford the payment on the home?" "Although lenders are not handing out money as easily as they did in 2006, it's very important to know that you can afford your house payment and live your life in other areas,” states Hoffman.

The superimposed images of the furniture look slightly surreal, as expected, but the ability to furnish a room with multiple items and choose from such a large array of brands makes it superior to the Home Depot’s similar app.

This staircase connects the common area to the guest suites above and the wine cellar below. The interplay of glass and metal on the handrails is a one of the architects’ favorite details.

Timer-activated coffee makers have been around for years, so it's almost hard to believe it took this long to make the device smart. Finally, Belkin made one from a partnership with Mr. Coffee, and it goes beyond scheduled brewing.

OfficeIQ, which is iOS and Android compatible, measures how many calories are burned and can sync with third-party fitness apps. Users can also just use a desktop interface if they prefer. The OfficeIQ system sends notifications to your screen when it's time to move from sitting to standing.

Regular intervals of standing reportedly reduce fatigue, minimize injury, and improve long term health. The information collected is aggregated and individual data is anonymous. Part of the goal is to measure healthy habits of an office, which could potentially be used to lower the cost of health insurance for the business.

The Museum of Modern Art added their first app to their collection, Björk's Biophilia app that interacts with the listener.

Seventy percent of smartphone and tablet owners say they'd like to control something in their house remotely from bed, such thermostats, lights, or coffee makers (an appliance 27 percent named specifically).