Ultra-tactile upholstery on the Nest sofa by Paola Navone for Ercol.

The world of smart home technology is rapidly changing. We'll call upon the greatest minds in the industry—and draw on what we learned at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show—to sort out what will become integral to the 21st-century home. For more information on Dwell on Design, visit our Onstage schedule.

The kitchen table.

The courtyard acts like an outdoor living room, where the Arnolds’ daughter, Josie, plays freely, safe from nearby traffic. The family dines here most of the year at the custom-designed wood-and-steel table. The picnic table set reappropriates the century-old eucalyptus tree that once grew on the site.

Small Scale to Big Ideas: Technology in the Modern Home Even those homeowners who haven’t embraced complete home automation systems now have their pick of simple product upgrades that pack a major impact. Join three vanguards in the home tech industry: Matt Rogers, co-founder of Nest, Phillip Prestigomo, director of industrial design for Legrand, and Richard Gresens, senior director of North American design for Whirlpool. We'll delve into how these design-forward companies are shaping the smallest details to the broadest concepts surrounding what it means to have a smart modern home for today and tomorrow. Catch the lively discussion Saturday, June 22, at 1:00 p.m. on the Sustainable Design stage.

When Willson is within 30 miles of the house and the temperature is below a certain level, his Nest Thermostats are programmed to heat it up to 70 degrees.

Nest There is not other smartphone-controlled device as successful as the Nest thermostat. It is as the forefront of a new smart home industry, and looks amazing while at it. For more on the nest, read Dwell's previous coverage and check out how readers like you nest. Photo by: Nest

Smart Temperature Control–Like Goldilocks’ porridge we want the temperature of our homes to be just right, all the time. Enter the smart thermostat, a hot little high-tech gadget that is almost too cool for the room. Many smart thermostats have the ability to learn your preferred home temperature habits and then program themselves accordingly. While you’re away, a smartphone app allows you to remotely dial the thermostat up or down, so you’ll never waste money and energy heating or cooling an empty house.

Smart Thermostat Sure you already have a thermostat, but does your thermostat measure your energy usage and tell you where you can cut back? Does your thermostat remember when you turn the heat or air conditioning on and off, and adjust automatically? If you answered no to any of these questions, you are missing out on one of the coolest gadgets of 2013.

Opening up the doorway made space for a designated dining area, which has a vintage Ercol table and chairs. Ferm Living Socket Pendants hang in the kitchen and over the table.

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

Oregon designer Robert Johans came up with the initial idea for Nest.

Located just off the kitchen, this room was originally designed for dining—the adjustable Ligne Roset Crescendo coffee table can be raised to 28.75 inches—but most days Bill and Abbie prefer to eat outside or at their casual Caesarstone-topped kitchen island. Today the space serves as a sunny reading spot and guest room, with a convertible futon (from Ligne Roset, since discontinued) and a set of leather-and-steel Paulistano armchairs from Design Within Reach.

The Pixo Desk Lamp is a consistent Dwell Store best seller. Designed by Pablo and Fernando Pardo with sustainability in mind, the lamp was created with a small footprint and a compact, energy-saving LED light. The ultra-efficient lamp features a swiveling light shade that makes it easy to focus and redirect light as needed. The Pixo Desk Lamp is currently on sale for 15% off at the Dwell Store until 10/23/2014.

The ground floor’s adjoining staircase, as well as the kitchen cabinets and tables, can be adjusted depending the homeowner's preferences. “The design of the house is an attempt to respond to [French novelist] Georges Perec’s question, ‘We should learn to live more on staircases. But how?’” Simpson says.

Elsewhere, the blocks accommodate other uses, like support for a built-in table and benches in the kitchen and a rooftop observatory (next slide) for watching the sun set over the Ilaló volcano.

If their everyday mantra sounds something like "reduce, reuse, recycle," these eco-conscious gifts won’t weigh on their conscience.

A black side table rests outside the bedroom hallway.

Matthew Hilton's new Rho seating collection for Ercol is available in a range of Hallingdal fabrics from Kvadrat.

For Gabriel Ramirez and his partner Sarah Mason Williams, following the Sea Ranch rules—local covenants guide new designs—didn’t mean slipping into Sea Ranch clichés. The architects love Cor-Ten steel, with its ruddy and almost organic surface, and they made it the main exterior material, along with board-formed concrete and ipe wood. The Cor-Ten, which quickly turned an autumnal rust in the sea air, and the concrete, with its grain and crannies, mean the house isn’t a pristine box, Ramirez says. His Neutra house “was very crisp and clean,” he says. “This house is more distressed, more wabi-sabi.”

The dining and coffee tables are from Ercol. The chairs are from HAY.

A New York City apartment with walnut upper kitchen cabinets has a stainless-steel backsplash that ties into the finish of the fridge and the lower cabinets. The walnut dining room table does quadruple duty as a work station and storage unit, and an eating and entertaining area.

In the living room, guests gather on a matching ebony sofa and daybed from Hudson and a pair of Jorge Zalszupin lounge chairs. An Yves Klein coffee table—filled with the artist’s signature International Klein Blue pigment— provides a vivid burst amid otherwise organic tones. The walnut-and-bronze cabinetry is a custom design.

The dining room leads onto a terrace with a built-in concrete table and barbecue that are original to Raman and Schaffrath’s design. A pair of Hardoy butterfly chairs from Knoll are positioned by the pond.

In the kitchen area and throughout the home, Mads Odgård, shown here, and Mette Lyng Hansen mixed Odgård’s pieces, such as the Odgård kettle for Raadvad and custom table, with Ikea basics and the Workshop pendant lamp by Louis Poulsen.

A custom table surrounded by NET’s Museo chairs and poplar stools provides a space for the Sarmiento Tovo boys, Manuel, 5, and Julián, 3, to play with the toys their mother makes.

On his patio are a table and chairs from the 1968 Ozoo collection by Marc Berthier for Roche Bobois.

You'd never designed for special needs children before the Bancroft residence, how did you interpret the clients' needs? Jack Hawkins, architect: I would like to say I did tons of research, but I didn't. I went with the parents' lead. I took most of my design cues from them. They're the immediate caregivers, they know their children and about autism. They did all the research and told me what was important.

“There are a lot of well-loved, well-used pieces that were destined for this house,” Andrea says of the couple’s furniture collection. They placed a solid alder Homestead table from Whittier Wood Furniture in the office, which also overlooks the pond.

Jasper and Maeve take five. One of their requests was for their dad to create a secret door to connect their bedrooms together.

When the family wants to eat meals inside, they can sit around the dining table on Eames chairs.

Often, the text that accompanies the images will provide information that is otherwise unable to be communicated through a photo—the thickness of a mattress, the way a fabric shimmers in sunlight, even suggestions on how to pair the item with other pieces.

An adjustable dining-room table is relatively common in Europe, according to the couple, who ordered their hydraulic legs from Switzerland. They allow for up to four presets, so the Garneaus have one for dining, one for working, and two for cooking, depending on who’s the chef. The table itself was designed by Robert’s firm, Studio Garneau, and has five drawers in it, some big enough to store Robert’s oversize flat artwork. skf.com Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

Designer Christiane Hogner, Bruxelles