The bedroom is located on a mezzanine just below the roof of a church. The minimal decor and simple arrangement of the room reflect the client’s modest tastes. The small pewter spotlights and pendant by Holloways of London connect to an exposed galvanized conduit that is set against the brick above the bed.

The bathroom integrates a sense of the outdoors.

The Trues host parties in the glass-walled structure, located steps from their vacation home, or they escape to it to catch some rays and read a book. Bill reclines on cushions hidden under the reclaimed-fir floorboards that are propped up with Sugatsune hinges.

On Vashon Island, about 20 miles southwest of Seattle, architect Seth Grizzle designed a 440-square-foot multiuse structure for his clients Bill and Ruth True.

Upstairs is a sleeping loft, accessible by a spiral staircase. A digital projector makes it possible for the couple to watch movies against the opposite wall.

Located in the renovated barn, the living room can be transformed into a performance space that seats 80. The art piece is from South Africa. Accompanying the Steinway piano is a sideboard from Restoration Hardware; the pendants are from Cisco Home.

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

The lush backyard garden, with therapy pool in the foreground, hosts the green wall, which reduces the house’s drain on city water by 75 percent. Hidden behind the stone feature wall are three 800-gallon rainwater tanks that store whatever water falls from the skies.

"When I was furnishing the place, I made sure it’d also be a good place for art," Judin tells FvF. "After that, I considered my other passions: cooking, for example. My kitchen is the heart and center of the house."

Censer by Apparatus Ritual meets Platonic forms in this incense burner made of hand-cast porcelain and brass.

When he moved in, Judin noticed that his existing furniture fit right into the new space—many pieces are also from the '50s. See more images here.

This home in a former Chicago church fully utilizes an original stained-glass window in its light-filled kitchen.

Because this house, in a converted 19th-century Singapore shophouse, is narrow and long (16 by 68 feet), the design team decided to create a huge open-air space to light the interior naturally. Two retractable motor-driven canvas canopies shelter the space during Singapore’s frequent rains. Photo by Richard Powers. Learn more about the challenges of the renovation.

Converted Gas Station (New Orleans, USA) For those journeying to the Crescent City, this may be the perfect place to refuel. The 2,000-square-foot station turned open loft space in Bayou St. John has been retrofitted with gas station-chic furnishings (sconces made out of headlights, drawer pulls created from hood ornaments) and boasts a hot tub and a rooftop deck. It’s self service, but it’s unlikely many guests will complain. Listing at Gas Station Modern Renovation Look

Kevin Conger, project director and principal at CMG, shows how it's done.

Image converted using ifftoany

"Kitchen and bath giant @kohlerco is introducing new finishes and focusing on water conservation."

In an effort to conserve space, the hoodies are stacked to the ceiling.

The Purist kitchen faucet by Kohler

The bathroom features white ceramic glazed penny tile and a Duravit toilet with a custom vanity.

Seeking more space and a connection with the city, an artist and a designer turn an old Toronto storefront in Dundas West into a home and studio. Photo by Naomi Finlay.

Folks from the Iceland Design Centre tend to identify the “Design District” as starting at least several blocks west of the magnificent Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center.

The Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center was designed by Ólafur Elíasson together with Henning Larsen Architects and Batteríið Architects. It opened in 2011. Photo by: Tiffany Orvet

Kyle Durrie (Brooklyn, New York) Another of her favorite spaces belonged to Kyle, who converted an old linen truck into a traveling letterpress studio. “She drove around the country for a year in the Type Truck, teaching people how to make prints,” says Hollander. “Every inch of that truck had a purpose and was so well designed, from her bunk to the drawers of type.”

Minta Touch by Paul Flowers for Grohe, $679 The faucet turns on or off with a simple tap—a boon for those afflicted with arthritis (or dirty hands). Available in Grohe’s Starlight chrome or SuperSteel InfinityFinish.

Get into the Valentine’s Day spirit while you cook or bake with the Falcon Enamelware Prep Set, shown here in bold red. The set includes five mixing bowls and a colander.

Helen Nissenboim washes produce at the sink, which, along with the faucet, is made by Vigo and sourced from Overstock.com.

Lawrence and Alice confer in the ground-floor kitchen. Traces of color are visible everywhere, including the orange-and-yellow curtains and pink coathooks.

The silo was transported to Phoenix in a pickup truck. Grain silos have an oculus at the top that allows air to move through the grain; Kaiser converted that into a retractable skylight.

Kaiser added ten inches of spray foam insulation between the exterior shell and the interior of the house. He also fabricated all of the doors and windows in the structure.

Architect Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall was among the catalysts for downtown L.A.’s recent revitalization.

Standing-seam copper siding accentuates sections of the structure that provide shear support for the steel moment frame.

Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California (2003)Frank Gehry's striking concert hall, with its saddle-shaped seating deck that envelopes the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is considered one of the most acoustically sophisticated music venues in the world. As stated in the documentary, the structure set a new model for successful public buildings that embrace experimental shapes. Be sure to tune into PBS to learn more about the 10 Buildings That Changed America.

Conserve water and energy by swapping your regular kitchen and bathroom taps for more efficient faucets.

The Conserve Insight from Belkin rings in at $29.99, with other energy-saving products priced in the same range. The Conserve socket costs $9.99 and the Conserve Smart AV (an auto-off surge protector) costs $29.99. For a full list of electricity-saving product offerings, visit belkin.com/con...