Suzanne and Brooks Kelley at the back of their 1,100-square-foot guest cottage.

The owners toured this home, which surrounds a mature tipu tipu tree, while visiting relatives for the day. The brick is original to the 1947 construction.

Sliding doors by Quantum were made to look like the original panes that couldn't be saved, and they lead to a fire pit outside.

“A building can have far greater impact than the space it stands in.”—William Carpenter, architect and resident

New zoning allowed for a zero-lot-line structure, but required a public storefront, which Carpenter uses as an art gallery.

Vila D’Acosta-Calheiros hung a space-saving wall shelf in the library. The table is by Eero Saarinen; the Tolomeo lamp is by Michele de Lucchi for Artemide. The red beanbag-like Sacco chair is by Zanotta, as is the Sciangai coatrack in the hall, beyond.

In the master bedroom, a Droog Milk Bottle lamp hangs next to a Fluttua Bed designed by Daniele Lago. An artwork by Brooke Westlund hangs over a custom pet door for the client’s dog, Kona.

A black side table rests outside the bedroom hallway.

See Arch restored the exterior fireplace wall and painted it a deep blue hue to match the repainted blue timber cladding.

“At first we thought we might not need that much space, but then we started thinking long term. We look at this house as the home of our lifetime.” —Guido Chiavelli

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.”

Brammy and Kyprianou hung Koura pendant lights by New Zealand designer David Trubridge above the dining area. Their organic forms and diamond-shaped shadows create intimacy in the vast space. Among Bilardo’s contributions were the black tulipwood cabinetry and ceiling and the cantilevered concrete countertop that appears to go through the glass wall.

Designer Christiane Hogner, Bruxelles

For the dining room, Freeman and Feldmann swapped their tiny table for developer John Walker's larger one since he was moving into a smaller space. They topped it with a $12 pendant lamp from Ikea and finished the "room" with a counsel from West Elm.

Mays chose Graham & Brown’s Verve Stripe wallpaper for the downstairs bedroom. The chrome lamp is vintage.

A vintage lamp and George Nelson’s Marshmallow sofa and Spool clock embody the mid-century feel of Soheil and Nima Nakhshab’s design for a California family home.

The living room is populated with a molded plywood Eames chair and a vintage Italian lamp.

We have been fans of Brooklyn-based Workstead for years, and we wouldn’t turn down their wall lamp (or any of their lamps) if it wanted to stay at our place. $475

More prized possessions that made the cut: A George Nelson Half-Nelson lamp sits atop an Alexander Girard bedside table.

Anglepoise’s Original 1227 was launched in 1934, and is considered the archetypal lamp from the British company. The lamp took off where other contemporary task lamps left off, using a newly developed constant spring technology to create a lamp that was extremely flexible and adjustable, while also maintaining a consistent balance and stability.

Pulpites Lamps Made from shredded and recycled cardboard but fashioned like a piece of wet clay, the Pulpites lamp serves as an object lesson in paper’s potential to not only record ideas, but also to become the raw material of good design. Photos courtesy of Dear Human.

"When you buy something from us, I want you to keep it forever, because that's how long it's going to last."

The brainchild of Cincinnati-born and Brooklyn-based designer Paul Loebach, Areaware's Shanty Lamp ($75) is crafted from pine and references "Shinto temples and humble wooden cabins." We think it's more the latter than the former, and love that it has a scrappy sensibility and affordable price tag. More a showpiece than a streaming light source, the table lamp illuminates with a five-watt bulb.

The Wobbelhead Lamp A stack of gently swaying organic curves, this lamp prototype by Norwegian designers Morten & Jonas is held to a table b a small magnet hidden underneath. Photo provided by Morten & Jonas

Pulpites Lamps The Dear Human studio shares a building with a garment factory, so when the duo began playing with paper, there were plenty of cardboard dress forms and packaging material to use. Pulping, molding and shaping the geometric molds resembled creating with clay; they even dry the finished product in a computer-controlled industrial kiln. Photo courtesy of Dear Human.

Canasto Lamp by José Roberto Paredes (2013) Another Carrot Concept piece, the flexible lamp, which can be easily moved from desk to side table with its wooden handle, derives its silhouette from traditional woven baskets.

The bath’s Kohler Purist fixtures and Frederick Weinberg animal figures sit on a Corian countertop

In true mid-century fashion, a George Nelson Bubble Lamp is paired with an Eames Lounge by Charles and Ray Eames in a corner of the living room. The glass walls and mitered corner are original features of architect Saul Zaik’s 1956 design.

The Airstream Haus’s interior is minimalist, but comfortable, boasting a fully functional kitchen and queen-size bed that doubles as a couch.

Lara's home office consists of a MacBook Air and Ferruccio Laviani Abat-Jour lamp for Kartell.

At a renovated farmhouse in the Italian countryside, a crisp, modern white plaster fireplace and hearth infuse the interior with coziness and warmth. The firewood is stacked in a nearly-frameless niche next to the fireplace that is lined with metal, adding a bit of shine that contrasts with the rustic firewood and wood ceiling and beams above.

The Kelleys furnished the cottage with help from Suzanne’s daughter Betsy Burbank of Betsy Burbank Interiors. Classic modernist icons, such as a Saarinen Womb chair for Knoll, a Herman Miller Eames lounge chair, and an Eileen Grey E1027 side table look at home alongside present-day pieces such as an Encore sofa (which handily folds down into a sleeping surface) from Room & Board and a Doka rug designed and produced by Stephanie Odegard. The Wohlert pendant lights from Louis Poulsen were designed by Vilhelm Wohlert in 1959, but grouped as such, they appear distinctly contemporary.