Make sure your kitchen fits seamlessly with the rest of your home. A good entertaining space should have a look that's consistent with the overall design, so use finishings, colors, and other elements that compliment the rest of the space.

Melanie Maher sunbathes beneath the lattice of a pool house, which is clad in Cor-Ten steel.

A barrier-free house enables a family to come together amid the vineyards in Northern California. The kitchen is fully accessible and yet not institutional, with room for both extended family and a caregiver, and the ability to move between indoors and out without having to negotiate a single barrier. The island contains a micro kitchen for the family’s daughter, who is in a wheelchair, with a sink, refrigerator, and warming drawers within easy reach. The pendant is from Global Lighting.

Architect Erick Mikiten helped Melanie and David Maher build a house in Livermore, California.

Covered terraces take advantage of the temperate Northern California climate and respect the local vernacular. A rear sleeping porch is the perfect place to enjoy warm summer and fall nights.

So Melanie Maher could access the kitchen, Mikiten created a station with a KitchenAid cooktop, a refrigerator and freezer drawers from U-Line, and a Sharp drawer microwave. He also adjusted the height of the PaperStone counter to allow Melanie to roll her chair underneath.

The Asia Society Texas Center, which was established in 1979 in part by former First Lady Barbara Bush and former Ambassador Roy M. Huffington, is today housed in an otherworldly, Yoshio Taniguchi–designed building. The Japanese architect is best-known for his renovation of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

The renovation focused on connecting a production facility and tasting room with the agricultural landscape.

By balancing the light from a variety of sources and ensuring that every corner was illuminated, Terry Ohm increased the feeling of expansiveness in the 12-and-a-half-by-14-foot kitchen.

In Montara, California, architect Michael Maltzan designed a home for, his sister and brother-in-law. From certain vantage points, the home’s unique angles result in M.C. Escher–like optical illusions.

Melanie and David spend a lot of time outside, so indoor/outdoor accessibility was key.

This former horse stable in Marin County, which was built beside the old Northwest Pacific Railroad in the early 1900s, was used as a guesthouse and garage until recently, when its water pipes burst, resulting in significant damage. Architect Heidi Richardson then stepped in to repair and elevate the historic barn. Today, it is wrapped in recycled redwood, some of which was reclaimed from the original structure.

A row of clerestory windows run beneath the peaked ceiling in the kitchen, permitting natural light to bisect the heart of the home.

On a windswept plot on Northern California's Point Reyes Peninsula, architect Gustave Carlson integrated a three-bedroom home into the landscape using rough and earthy materials, like Western cedar, concrete, and stucco.

The dining room table is often used for rousing games of cribbage, but cleans up nicely when it's time to eat. The small balcony outside is home to a collection of plants (which get watered more often than the succulents inside).

The top floor opens onto an expansive deck on the north side of the house. An entry yard on its east side provides a seamless connection to the outdoor environment, while ensuring adequate shading and screening for privacy.

“In consideration of the context, the design aimed to reinterpret the traditional beach shack vernacular in a contemporary way by embracing traditional materials, including corrugated metal, fiber cement sheeting, and timber elements,” Rathmayr says.

A Bay Area landscape designer works her yard like a jigsaw puzzle, packing a bevy of distinctive destinations into a steep and diminutive plot. Photo by: Morgan Rachel Levy Read the entire article here.

The architects’ inventive use of resources helped keep costs down. “We gave the facade’s ribbed metal cladding, commonly used in neighboring beach shacks, a metallic finish that provided a cost-effective solution and an upscale appearance,” Rathmayr says.

In the kitchen, a Blanco exhaust fan is surrounded by a stove, oven, and dishwasher by Westinghouse. A series of pendants by She Lights are equipped with LED fittings.

The largest portion of the living area is supported by cross-braced columns. Flanged steel beams create a strong, lightweight frame.

A Seattle family tasked Atmosphere Design Build with creating a sustainable dwelling in Nevada City, California, the matriarch's hometown and a historic mining community. The firm's material-driven approach channels the pioneer spirit of the gold rush, without compromising comfort or high-efficiency standards.

Linens from Society Limonata hang in the shop.

Makeshift Society is opening a Brooklyn outpost in early 2014, which will feature co-working spaces for creatives.

Taking inspiration from Arlberg Valley, Austria to classic Nordic materials, the Troll Hus certainly adds a European touch to the California landscape. “The inspiring concept is that of a treehouse that, as if suspended between treetops, seamlessly and ingeniously blends with its surroundings.” Casper says.

TEEMA DINNER PLATE $24.00 Adaptable to any style or use, the Teema Tableware collection designed by Kaj Franck for Iittala is based on the fundamental shapes of circle, square, triangle, and rectangle. From these enduring forms, the designer created a range of functional dishes for the home that can be used in myriad ways: from preparing the meal, heating and serving, to storing and freezing. These timeless and sophisticated pieces provide an essential form to allow the food, family, friends, and conversation to shine.

An open-plan kitchen, living, and dining area runs along one side of the upper floor. A study is situated next to the kitchen, while the other half of the building houses the two bedrooms. Black matte bamboo flooring by Silestone and birch ceilings, finished in a walnut stain, add warmth and texture to the interior.

All openings are shade-protected with wide overhangs that prevent overheating and allow maximum light to enter into the living space. Natural ventilation, created by openings in the facade, negates the need for air conditioning. The firm developed a custom joiner for the powder-coated aluminum window frames, providing floor-to-ceiling views without the use of costly commercial window systems.

Architect Douglas Stockman says the building's charcoal-and-orange exterior coloring was "intended to reflect the dynamic character of the neighborhood." Here, it provides a festive backdrop to the residents' semi-annual Finn Lofts community party.

Simpatico Homes founder Seth Krubiner has lived in the prefab company’s nearly net-zero prototype since it was customized and lifted onsite in 2011.

Joined by architect Michael Lee and friend Gus McConnell, Jacobson shouts up to Dukes that they’re headed out for an impromptu surf session.

The kitchen and dining area opens onto a patio. Photo by Ken Pagliaro Photography.

“Shophouses brought back memories of our childhoods, of open back doors and neighbors and relatives wandering in and out of the kitchen and cooking and eating and coming and going whether you liked it or not.”—Yang Yeo

Family retreat in Northern California.

The 16,000-square-foot home base for the Boston Society of Architects features a grand green staircase that connects levels and is visible from the exterior.