The Lowreys worked with architect Luis Sánchez and a team of local craftsmen to complete the build. The custom counters in the kitchen are terrazzo and granite; the oven and cooktop are from Teka.

A modular shelf system by Alu provides a more sculptural take on the classic bathroom vanity in this Toronto home.

Inside the sleeping cabin, a fireplace built of local granite marks the midpoint between two bedrooms and a bathroom. The floors and walls are wrapped in warm-hued Douglas fir.

Cambrian black granite countertops lie in contrast with white cabinetry below and open shelves above in this contemporary kitchen. "One of the favorite things I have to do in the kitchen is wash dishes, just because it’s such a delightful view out the window," says the owner.

Vera & Kyte's set of shelves, exhibited at 2013 London Design Festival, resemble a small postmodern landscape. Photo courtesy of Vera & Kyte.

A maple tree grows through an ipe deck in this garden that Mary Barensfeld designed for a family in Berkeley, California. A reflecting pool separates it from a granite patio, which is furnished with a Petal dining table by Richard Schultz and chairs by Mario Bellini. The 1,150-square-foot garden serves as an elegant transition from the couple’s 1964 Japanese-style town house to a small, elevated terrace with views of San Francisco Bay. Filigreed Cor-Ten steel fence screens—perforated with a water-jet cutter to cast dappled shadows on a bench and the ground below—and zigzagging board-formed concrete retaining walls are examples.

In Lida’s studio, terrazzo and granite floors blend seamlessly into a sunken bath, paired with a steel storage unit and a wooden Moroccan bath mat from Insh’ala, a local antique store.

Landscape architect Charles M. McCulloch designed pathways of locally sourced decomposed granite that lead to accessible, raised planting beds, a request from the Mahers, who are avid gardeners.

Alfredo chops away in the kitchen, which features floor-to-ceiling sliding glass walls.

Arched Brazilian cherry doors open to a spacious laundry room/pantry set near the kitchen.

Modex by Blanco, $1,750Rising only three inches above the countertop, the Red Dot Award–winning Modex features an integrated drainboard. The engineered material, which is 80 percent granite, is scratch- and stain-resistant.

In Roanoke Park, a neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri, architect Matthew Hufft designed a home for his family that drew on the surrounding traditional homes. In the kitchen, Bertoia barstools are tucked under a custom honed-granite two-level kitchen island by a local company, Carthage Stoneworks. Hufft’s team designed and built the larch cabinets. The appliances are by Thermador.

“I don’t paint landscapes when I’m here because I can’t compete with the natural beauty,” says Yael.

The kitchen of a home on an Amsterdam canal “is where it all happens,” says Van Zeijl. As the hub of the home, the room is situated at the front of the house and features a minimal palette and Belgian granite countertops. The table is by Pilat & Pilat and the pendants are from It’s About Romi.

Despite a predilection for pastel colors, Vera & Kyte don't shy away from bold colors and shapes in their Pedestal tables. Photo courtesy of Vera & Kyte.

A rendering of Kanye West's housing development is brutalist in form and muted in color.

In New York about two hours north of New York City, architecture and interiors firm BarlisWedlick created an eclectic compound designed to suit a client with an idiosyncratic wish list. In the kitchen, a custom Stickbulb LED lamp hangs above a kitchen island topped by concrete from Get Real Surfaces. The cabinets and island feature a modern version of a traditional board and batten siding that are given an even more contemporary feel with the concrete countertop.

The minimalist interiors showcase the simple material palette.

For places like the kitchen and bathrooms, the Huffts chose to install SAGE’s Appliance Switches and a number of Motion Sensors, which detect human motion without picking up false alarms from small sources.

The kitchen is outfitted with Akurum cabinets from Ikea. The island is also an Ikea cabinet, customized with maple panels to match the flooring.

City Cabin | Olson Kundig

The VDL Pavilion is open to nature, with no glass walls. Vertical fins provide shading along one wall.

The concrete floors are treated with a water-based epoxy that lends a matte, stone-like finish.

A brick fireplace feature creates a low window from the kitchen into the living room to keep a connection between the rooms without relying on a completely open floor plan. Energy-efficient MR16 halogen lights are recessed into the wood ceiling to further emphasize the clean lines throughout the interior spaces.

The couple requested deep drawers that would make it easy to store all of their appliances and kitchenware. "We're avid cooks," Janet says.

Cabin at Longbranch | Olson Kundig

Bespoke storage provides a convenient spot to house dishware and glasses.

This built-in storage finds use for the otherwise "dead" spaces around the appliances. A Gaggenau Vario 200 Series Gas Cooktop and a Water Kettle by Sori Yanagi are nearby.

The kitchen

A view of Sequoia's pared down kitchen, where all the magic happens. It's here that she cooked up her ideas for her meal delivery service, TAROCCO.

Red- and blue-pigmented cement augments the color palette of the courtyard.