Dodocase products are entirely handcrafted here in our own city. The new iPhone wallet is an attractive option for protecting your phone and storing your cards in one. ($50)

The kitchen opens to the elements thanks to sliding doors from C.R. Laurence. The anigre in the kitchen is the same employed in the master bedroom.

At a seaside New Zealand house, the simple kitchen has strandboard cabinetry and an MDF island that conceals a fireplace at one end. The bright green cabinetry of the island are a happy pop of color that references the native greenery outside.

Sliding doors cast shadows across the concrete floor.

While modern in style, Heva channels the beauty of nature.

This writer’s studio features ample lighting and carefully chosen windows and openings—essential elements of an uplifting she shed or other outbuildings.

Miguel Angel Aragonés is seen in the cantilevered second-floor bedroom that overlooks the rear courtyard.

Canary yellow doors keep the house from feeling austere. The sliding function also saves space.

To further connect the indoor spaces with the New England landscape outside, glass walls in the living and dining areas slide open to eliminate the barriers between indoors and outdoors. Green slate tiles compose the flooring inside.

"The kitchen is pretty astonishing, really, considering it’s 40 years old," says resident Louise Jenkins. Large square tiles in green with sunflowers compliment the cabinets' natural wood finish.

Even in cold weather, they open the sliding doors to let the fresh air in.

“Before, the house turned its back on the landscape,” said Parish. “This renovation and addition really animates the garden.” Sliding glass doors match those of the living room beyond the deck, and both can be completely open to the yard.

Open enclosures and connections to adjacent living spaces keep the home inviting and airy rather than densely packed—a key feature for an owner of two dogs: Ben, a whippet, and Flynn, an Irish gypsy dog.

Douglas and Derek’s shared taste is on display in the dining area, with its mix of timber, steel, and slate. “Everything was selected to exude warmth and tactility and to offer splashes of color,” Douglas says. The solid oak table is also by Mudge, and the chairs are from South African furniture company Houtlander.

The subdued palette blends warm timber tones with white interiors and stone accents.

Opening to the home's main entrance on the upper level, a large red sliding door—one of three—is painted Gypsy Red by Sherwin-Williams. To the left is the kitchen and dining space, and to the right is the living room and studio.

Lift-and-slide doors open the ground-floor living space up to the outdoor courtyard. The exposed concrete floor of the interior is echoed in the courtyard by linear concrete pavers to emphasize indoor/outdoor living.

Sliding fritted glass doors provide privacy and sectioned-off spaces when needed.

The lower level is clad in locally sourced stone. The punched windows feature weathered steel accents.

Play area

David Baird designed the custom sliding doors with materials and hardware from Home Depot. The doors also act as a makeshift critique wall for Bo and Sky’s artwork.

Glazed sliding doors blur the lines between indoor and outdoor living and help bring in cooling cross breezes from the coast.

Villa H | sliding doors blend in- and outdoor space

The sliding doors to the deck are made by Dynamic Architectural Windows & Doors and the sofa, on which Chapoton and Buser sit is from Dellarobbia.

The custom sliding laundry room door by Dotzler Designs was made from glass and steel to allow natural light into the laundry room, and doubles as a ladder to access storage space above.

Mobile sustainability: The sliding doors were made in Syracuse by CabFab with a formaldehyde-free plant-and-soy-based composite board manufactured by e2e of Ithaca, New York. The mobile partitions were fashioned from TimberStrand, an engineered lumber made from younger trees rather than old-growth timber. cabfab.com e2ematerials.com ilevel.com An unconventional exterior: The solar screen is made from medium-density overlay plywood, a widely available and relatively affordable material whose traditional use for highway signs testifies to its durability.

Any Pantone aficionado would surely appreciate these fun cases by Case Scenario that add a hit of color to any iPhone 5. ($32)

Architect Bruce Bolander made the most of a limited footprint in a house he designed in a Malibu canyon. With the small bedroom unable to accommodate any "normal" size desk, the architect designed a very thin custom steel desk where resident Heidi Wright works. The floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors from Metal Window Corporation open the entire corner of the room up to the outdoors. “The mountains across the way are almost like another wall—they contain the space to the point that you feel like you’re in a much bigger space, that you’re part of the overall landscape,” says Bolander. Photo by J Bennett Fitts.

With his son, William, watching, architect Noah Walker tries out the floor-to-ceiling Schüco glass doors he integrated into a guesthouse he designed off an existing barn for Nathan Frankel, an amateur violinist, in Beverly Hills, California. The new portion features an open living-dining area. See more glass houses we love!

In the living and dining area of Jean Risom's Block Island family retreat, mostly vintage Risom furnishings share space with a few new additions, the view facing north is framed by the wall of glass. Photo by: Floto + Warner

In Yuen Long, Hong Kong, a 452-square foot residence is designed to accommodate a young couple, one of their mothers, and their pets: a cat and a parrot. The home features transforming furniture and nooks and crannies that are perfect for the pets. A bench by the door doubles as a litter box.

The two bedrooms are located down the hallway from the common areas. Each room has its own fully equipped bathroom.