An example of one of Nakashima’s most iconic designs, this large piece was crafted from walnut.

The Conrad coffee table has a solid walnut top and legs; each leg snaps into the stamped steel bracket without the use of hardware.

This is the Low Cabinet with Table.

Cal and Macy enjoy a snack from Mom at the almost 14-foot-long walnut slab table sourced from Arborica in Marshall, California. The wood came from a tree that fell into a Palo Alto, California, street. A trio of Tom Dixon Beat Lamps provide the perfect counterpoint to a slew of black plastic Eames shell chairs from Herman Miller.

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.

The materials palette is similarly restrained, making the only natural piece of wood in the house—the almost 14-foot-long walnut slab in the kitchen—really stand out. "If there was wood everywhere it would lose its gravitas," notes Chris.

Let them know you care without draining your bank account. These holiday gifts hit the spending sweet spot and work for just about everyone.

A Nelson sofa sits on a handmade Persian Mahi rug in the living room.

Home Renovation Tip: Make a Realistic Budget

An oldie, but goodie from Arik Levy, the Geo Low coffee table is available in three sizes. Arrange an archipelago, or leave solo. We love that this design comes in a powder-coated aluminum version for outdoors, or a more classic wood finish for interiors.

Saigon Lacquer low tables by Arian Brekveld for Imperfect Design. A meticulous 16 coats of lacquer are applied to several layers of wood beneath for this modern rendition of a traditional technique.

A longtime crafter, Leen worked primarily with clay and did bookbinding. But a decade ago she saw the work of the Dutch felt artist Claudy Jongstra and was drawn to the felt-making process. She experimented by dragging loose sheep’s wool, wrapped around a concrete roller, behind a tractor along the harborfront; after an hour, the fibers would interweave and create a fabric. More recently, following three years of trial and error, she built a large steel machine in her workshop that streamlines the way she creates the material.

Vertical slabs under consideration for a project by Nakashima, among the horizontal wood-piles of the Pole Barn. Photo courtesy of Mira Nakashima, George Nakashima Woodworker, S.A. Read the interview.

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.

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.

Hampton low table by Eric Jourdan for Ligne Roset Referencing Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, this architectural piece marries cherrywood and laminated glass.

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.

"Our contextual approach to individual projects seeks to produce unique architectural experiences," says architect Konstantinos Karampatakis of K-Studio. In this project, the proportions of the c. 1800 building was the bridge between its old form and new iteration. The architects kept the high ceilings, thick walls, and tall windows of the original, and combined those features with contemporary details and finishes.

The far wall with the bank of windows is curved—part of the building's original design. The sofa is by Muuto, the chair is by Skandiform, and the rug and coffee table were sourced from the local flea market.

A black side table rests outside the bedroom hallway.

In this neoclassical home in Oslo, a reclaimed Indonesian hardwood slab from Buka Design + Hardwoods is the de facto coffee table.

A sliding partition separates the living room from the dining room.

K-Studio sought to disguise much of the apartment's lighting and ventilation. Local architectural lighting firm Halo helped devise the plan.

Here's a view from the hallway of the closed partition. The hanging lights are from Vesoi.

Two of Llot Llov's Matt pendants snake around Muuto wall hooks to provide bedside lighting.

A limited edition of 13, the Slab Light is all lacquered wood with a long lighting rod on top.

The bathroom features a cast-concrete floor and shower by Gessi.

Though compact, the kitchen and dining room still manage to fit a full-size table, which is from Habitat. K-Studio designed the pendant lamps made from reclaimed conductors from Hellenic Telecommunications.

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.”

A pair of lights from IKEA hang above the first floor, which houses the living room, kitchen, and bathroom. Pine floors, painted black, run throughout the residence.

Using a combination of post consumer waste and natural materials, Svjetlana Despot’s Covert stool is manufactured by utilizing simple fabrication methods, cutting and overlapping.