Overhead cabinets now can be easily swung open for ease of access. The kitchens are priced at IKEA’s usual retails. A 10 by 10 foot kitchen fitted with Sektion cabinets will range from around $1,300 to $2,200, excluding appliances.

Black and white kitchen tiles add visual interest to this stunning modern kitchen by IKEA.

A view across the display island to a breezeway betweent the house and the garage that Pacek and Roynon created as part of their home addition. They use the space for entertaining and food service when the weather cooperates.

In the kitchen, the cabinetry is walnut veneer with a weathered finish applied by cabinetmaker David Rogers. “The process involved sanding and rubbing in stain as well as adding a clear finish,” project architect Eero Puurunen says.

Much of the cooking and cleaning takes place at the rear counter, which is outfitted with an Evoke faucet by Kohler.

Keeping the original mottled, worn-brick walls and outfitting the kitchen with their own custom cabinetry were among this couple’s cost-saving measures.

Six-inch-square blue tiles cover the walls and floor of the girls’ upstairs bathroom. The towels and rug are also by H&M Home.

One of the system's best new features are the interior drawers, which can now be as detailed as the most expensive high-end systems, providing a place for everything with drawers for pots, knives, tablelinens, and dinnerware.

Grant Mudford, New Orleans, Louisiana.

The New Orleans BioInnovation Center is a nonprofit incubator for biotech startups. While labratory buildings are among the most itense users of energy of all building types, NOBIC measures just 1/3 of the energy use of a typical lab.

The large, naturally lit kitchen is the heart of the house. Messmate-clad cupboards and huge expanses of glass dominate the space where Angelucci uses the sink, Gorman works at the kitchen island, and Pepa and Hazel look on. Play in the courtyard between the kitchen and garage is easily supervised and enclosed from the alley behind the house.

Some companies offer specialty self-leveling paints that are designed specifically for repainting kitchen cabinets.

More traditional cabinet cup pulls from Ikea can still have a modern sensibility when paired with other sleek finishes.

Peace Industry, Booth 1621 Spy San Francisco–based Peace Industry's hand-felted 100-percent wool rugs in Booth 1621.

An onsen, or Japanese soaking tub, with a private garden abuts the master suite.

At a home about half an hour from Lake Tahoe, architect Jack Hawkins and interior designer Cheryl Chenault built a house that would support their clients’ unique requirements in a home that would be 8,000 to 10,000 square feet. In the kitchen, two islands, one in the shape of an L and the other a smaller rectangular island, are layered table over one portion create generous space to spread out. Norman Cherner barstools from Design Within Reach line the island in the kitchen, which is crowned by an open loft office. The faucets are from Dornbracht; the countertops are Caesarstone. Hawkins integrated a steel-clad casual eating nook, at left.

In northern New Jersey, a cramped kitchen is reborn as a welcoming space for cooking and entertaining. Decked out in a subtle yellow, the kitchen houses a Wolf drawer microwave tucked unobtrusively under the counter in the display island.

A post-renovation view of the kitchen shows it opening into the family room. Replacing the former white cabinets are Island drawer fronts and wall panelling of teak wood and reclaimed American elm countertop, milled by Vintage Material Supply. The differing grains of the teak veneers and elm countertop vadd complexity and rhythm to the kitchen's wood motif. Stuc Pierre plaster ceiling selected by the homeowner, Sloan Houser, adds an airy feel to the opened space.

Offering a completely different look, this svelte version features an exhaust hood and modern hardware.

Black and white kitchen cabinets painted with a triangular pattern add a whimsical touch to this funky kitchen.

Get the whole family involved in the kitchen, whether it be teaching young ones a tried-and-true recipe or exploring a new dish together.

In this kitchen, an exposed brick wall stands out against the milky smoothness of the marble tile floors.

The clients and design team chose to forego an open floor plan in favor of defined, separated spaces. In this scheme, the vertically oriented spaces act as a cinematic "hard-cut" to their horizontal counterparts. The custom hot rolled steel kitchen, one of these vertical transition spaces, receives light from above through a Velux skylight. A GE Profile Induction cooktop and oven and Miele refrigerator complete the space.

Jean-Christophe Aumas’ multihued Paris apartment houses both the highly sought artistic director and the stunning assemblage of furniture he’s brought back from his travels. Aumas designed the kitchen island, which is covered in marble tiles from Carrelages du Marais—the geometric floor tiles are from the same place—and strung the matrix of lights up above it. The barstools by Charlotte Perriand were discovered in a vintage store in Antwerp, Belgium. The green wall is covered in paint from Emery & Cie.

In this kitchen and dining room, architect Bergendy Cooke rethought traditional wood panelling using black pigment-stained veneer. The kitchen has expansive surfaces, including a long, wood-topped kitchen island where the couple cook and entertain, and where the children eat and play. "All of the materials were selected for their integrity and longevity," says Bergendy.

At breakfast, Arthur multitasks while seated at the dining table. He hand-stenciled the pattern on the wall in the background.

The April 2013 “Outdoor” issue is available on newsstands now.

A Wolf E-Series steam oven with convection capacity occupies the opposite end of the island. "It's great," Pacek says. "You can steam a whole tray of vegetables at the same time, and it's very quick for reheating. Even though we have a built-in microwave, we often use this for reheating; it's just as quick."

House Industries kitchen towels, $30 for a set of three, available from Heath Ceramics. These 100% flour sack kitchen towels depicting ampersands, koi, and kokeshi will brighten any chef's day.

Artist Miranda Lake’s surreal home in New Orleans, via Apartment Therapy.

Living small is par for the course in New York City, but accommodating a family of four in under 700 square feet rarely looks as effortless as in this storage-smart renovation. Scott Oliver and Margarita McGrath of noroof architects created many clever built-ins and transformable furniture in this apartment. Photo by Raimund Koch. See how the rooms transform in this extended slideshow.

The Guillen Residence in New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo via Architecture for Humanity.

O’Sullivan designed the ceiling “to have a knitted or woven quality like that of wool or silk.” It dives down over the kitchen and dining area, eventually reaching a point at the entry that is low enough to touch. Here, resident Jes Wood leans against the onyx kitchen island while her daughter Ruby hangs out. Replica Jean Prouvé chairs surround the dining table; a vase by Bruce and Estelle Martin for Kamaka Pottery sits on top. The Reel table under the television is by Atelier Oï for B&B Italia.

A salvaged 19th-century soaking tub wrapped in stainless steel is topped by Hudson Reed faucets.