In the kitchen, the custom cabinets contain special compartments that hide appliances from sight. The room draws in natural light from the balcony.

The residents use either the black steel staircase or a glassed-in elevator by Wittur to get around the house.

The fourth-floor kitchen features appliances by Miele, and Heracleum II pendants by Bertjan Pot for Moooi hang over both the kitchen island and the dining table.

Architect and designer Roy David was tasked with renovating a 1,184-square-foot apartment located in a luxury tower in Tel Aviv. The remodeled living room features a Gus* Modern sofa and an Eames lounge chair.

In the bedroom, black blinds and a headboard together form a single rectangular block that anchors the space. The pendant lamp is from Exclusive Lighting.

Previously, the apartment featured a substantial balcony that David converted into additional living space. Cherner bar chairs pull up to the island. The dining table is surrounded by Wishbone chairs by Hans Wegner and Tom Dixon pendant lights.

The designers played with temperature in their selection of materials, contrasting glass with white-painted wood, and gray cement tiles with oak. They also mixed natural colors with bolder ones—black, yellow, turquoise, and even small pops of pink. “They create a luxurious look while opening up the space, providing a clean and fresh feel,” Zusman says. The living room couch is custom and the chairs are from Habitat.

“Apartments in Tel Aviv are usually in old buildings with some history,” Zusman says. They chose to reveal some of that by leaving sections of brick exposed. By the window, an Elephant chair by Kristalia tucks into a custom desk.

On the other side of the apartment, a bedroom doubles as a workspace.

Originally designed as two separate apartment buildings in 1925, The Norman hotel brings them together: one half features Renaissance and oriental influences, while the other is a clean-lined, modernist structure.

As part of the update, the two bedrooms were expanded, and a number of smart features were added: automated lighting and curtains, along with double glazed windows with an electric shading system.

A custom media unit with hickory detailing features built-in shelves for displaying objects.

The architects describe the home as one that "emphasizes the difference and the tension between romantic historical design and an industrial approach."

In the bedroom, floor-to-ceiling cabinets with depressed handles serve as a de facto wall leading out to the main area. They contain spaces for hanging clothes and storage. Track lighting eliminates the need for floor lamps.

The raw industrial aesthetic gives way to a more livable space. The living area, featuring a B&B Italia Bend sofa and a Hans Wegner Shell Chair, flows into the open balcony that overlooks an adjacent courtyard.

While the lower floor was the site of more extensive work, the entire interior was redressed in a raw, industrial style, heightening the contast between old and new.

An outdoor courtyard is a classic touch from the original structure.

The new 860-square-foot basement contains a bathroom and additional living space. The designers chose to use pivoting glass doors so as to not cut into the space.

Pitsou Kedem's unique twist in the new basement is a two-part metal staircase with a gap in the middle. A slim Parentesi Floor Lamp illuminates the space.

The narrow balcony helps shade the residents while funneling the cool ocean breeze from the west.

From street level, the home maintains its historic facade. Keeping up with the neighbors is important when your neighborhood is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Formerly the home of David Ben-Gurion, the country's first prime minister, the apartment had both historic significance and severe restrictions awaiting the design team of Irene Goldberg, Tamar Berger, and Pitsou Kedem. To add space yet save the facade from the risk of damage, the architects came up with a novel solution: aim lower. A set of temporary beams and pillars allowed them to engineer and excavate a new basemant and create a massive well of open space, framed by the steel beams that define each floor.

A black glass cube at the center of the flat adds a touch of drama. “The box protrudes into space, but with elegance,” Zusman says. It contains the guest bathroom, outfitted in fixtures by Hezi Bank, a custom sink stand, and custom cabinets.

In the living and dining area, what appear to be walls are actually specially designed cabinets and black glass. The television is mounted on a central pole, allowing it to be swiveled around and viewed from all parts of the home—even the outside deck. “Everything is connected,” Zusman explains. “One can step into any room from the other.”

The architect chose glass to segment space because it takes up fewer centimeters than constructed walls, thus helping the room feel larger. Curtains can be drawn closed for privacy. The bed and side table are custom, while the pendant light is from Exclusive Lighting.

The flat’s quirky door handles were custom-made from recycled wood. They offer another example of “cold” glass meeting “warm” wood.

The Diaghilev hotel is located in a 1934 building that served as the first printing house for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Changing art exhibitions throughout the hotel ensure that the guest experience mirrors Tel Aviv’s constantly evolving creative scene. The hotel includes its own studio to nurture young designers; every handmade decorative piece on display in the hotel is for sale.

On the ground floor of the new 23-room Hotel Berdichevsky—named for the philosopher and writer Berdyczewski, born to Hasidic Rabbis in the Ukraine in 1865—a 1920s-inspired cocktail bar and lounge takes center stage; the reception is tucked off to the side.

Each suite at The Norman is one-of-a-kind, showcasing an aesthetic that blends old and new.

A family of cost-conscious Hamburgers converted a kitschy turn-of-the-century villa into a high-design home with a strict budget in place. To unite the quaint masonry of the original villa with the squat, ugly add-on built flush against it, the architects decided to paint the old-fashioned facade graphite gray and then covered the box next door in plain, light-colored larch. Photo by Mark Seelen.

While it's not your traditional backsplash material, when properly prepared and treated, wood can make for an effective, functional, and beautiful backsplash. Here, the wood backsplash matches the wood of the nearby kitchen island in an otherwise white kitchen with white cabinetry.

According to Paul Raff, the biggest design challenge was creating a functional home that would accommodate the family's regular activities (dining, music, play, homework) all on one level. This was solved by "collaging spaces of different shapes and sizes together, and by interconnecting them all with a very open and seamlessly integrated kitchen." The airy family kitchen features Loire limestone floors, BassamFellows Tractor stools, and an Eames molded plastic chair.

The Rothschild Hotel, which opened in a historic buliding in December 2013, is an homage to the Zionist vision of its legendary entrepreneurial namesake, Baron Edmond de Rothschild. Every room is adorned with paintings of the Baron’s accomplishments, from his Tantura glass factory to Israel’s first winery.

At the back of the living room sits a custom sofa that Reik designed. Bookshelves are built into the sofa's base.

Livinghouse Idelson Street 29, Tel Aviv, Max Liebling, architect Dov Karmi, 1935/36.

No whiteware here. In this moody apartment in Berlin, multi-toned charcoal gray subway tiles make up the backsplash, which contrasts with the pop of rosy color on the kitchen cabinets.