In the newly built media room, lower ceilings and natural wood flooring make for a straightforward character shift. “We always liked John’s minimalism,” adds Dave, and even such slight differentiation ably signals the transition to the home’s more private spaces.

The living room TV cabinet is by Muti Kitchen & Bath. It's surrounded by a sofa and chairs from ELTE and side tables from Kantelberg + Co. Matte-finish Chantilly Lace paint from Benjamin Moore provides a bright backdrop.

Active systems, in addition to thoughtful orientation and structural planning, help the structure become ultra efficient. The primary heating source throughout the house is radiant flooring connected to a geothermal system. Tedesco specified the Uponor Climate Control Network to operate the systems. "Every heating zone can be scheduled for setback," he says. "Then, through the communication and coordination of zone operation from main control panel that monitors the entire system, equipment and zones are cycled in harmony. The entire climate control system including the geothermal, ERV, A/C, and heat pumps is balanced to maintain optimal performance and occupant comfort. The Lutron Maestro lighting control, home entertainment, and security system can all be monitored and controlled remotely through a web-based program provided by the equipment supplier. The entire system has wireless access points throughout the house to ensure conductivity." The media room sofas are Ikea's Karlstad model, the rug is by Bev Hisey Textile Design, and the pendant is the Caprice by Viso.

An original Eames shell chair manufactured in Gardena, California, before production moved to Michigan.

Averse to the idea of a television being the centerpiece of a space, the owners instead opted for a clever alternative in the library/media room. Continuing the theme of movable and multi-functional design elements, a rolling chalkboard panel was designed to conceal the TV when not in use. Throughout the home, the family’s furniture is an eclectic mix of purchased, custom built, inherited, and self-made pieces. The room is accented with a reclaimed red office chair with custom white oak armrests made by Scholz.

Warm white oak flooring is used in the kids’ media room, a place for casual lounging. It is here that Kopel’s favorite architectural detail can be found: the full-height light slot between the lounge and the entrance vestibule to the apartment.

In the living room, a Lake credenza by BDDW is topped with a Bauhaus chess set and a portrait of Ernest Hemingway by the artist Yuriy Rudnev.

Architect Tamira Sawatzky used Ikea components—one-inch Lagan butcher block countertops and inexpensive Ekby Lerberg brackets—when designing the bookshelves along the living room wall in the home/studio he designed for himself and his wife in Toronto.

White oak flooring continues into a media room with furnishings by Knoll. The space has a sliding door that flows into the outdoor deck.

Jacobson lowers a panel of the CSS to expose a series of neatly-kept cubbyholes. The orange piece in the corner is a Lagardo Tackett design for Architectural Pottery.

Located on the ground floor, the family room has a large barn door that can be closed to create a guest suite for visitors.

Downstairs in the basement, an entertainment room is inspired by the idea of an English pub. Dark, rich wood tones are favored in this popular meeting place for friends. The space was designed to be soundproof in order to maintain privacy from the two older children's bedrooms, also on the basement level. A wine bar, flat screen TV, and stainless steel table complete the space.

The Kelleys furnished the cottage with help from Suzanne’s daughter Betsy Burbank of Betsy Burbank Interiors. Classic modernist icons, such as a Saarinen Womb chair for Knoll, a Herman Miller Eames lounge chair, and an Eileen Grey E1027 side table look at home alongside present-day pieces such as an Encore sofa (which handily folds down into a sleeping surface) from Room & Board and a Doka rug designed and produced by Stephanie Odegard. The Wohlert pendant lights from Louis Poulsen were designed by Vilhelm Wohlert in 1959, but grouped as such, they appear distinctly contemporary.

The media room is all about relaxing, whether in the nine-foot-long, extra-deep sofa from Minotti or the lounge chair from B&B Italia.Photo by Ben Mayorga Photography

Piet Hein Eek's wooden chairs add a touch of color to the monochromatic Amsterdram apartment of Hunter Hindman and Shelby Carr.

In the dining room, which opens to the backyard terrace, original tilework on the floors and walls complement decidedly modern counterparts—an original 1938 Butterfly chair by Antonio Bonet, Juan Kurchan, and Jorge Ferrari Hardoy, and a 1983 TMC floor lamp by Spanish designer Miguel Milá.

Two San Francisco art and travel addicts overhauled a loft—and customized a pair of shipping containers—to accommodate their collection and reflect their passions. The shipping containers were stacked, joined with steel tubes, and lashed to reinforced floor joints to make them earthquake-safe.

This innovative family home in San Francisco’s Mission District includes a library/media room where a rolling chalkboard panel conceals the TV when not in use.

The dining room.

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Custom details designed by Studiopietropoli include a sculptural fireplace/media center in the living room.

The acclaimed Italian designers Ludovica + Roberto Palomba carved a serene retreat out of a 17th-century oil mill in Salento.

In the living room, spare Scandinavian design takes center stage. Hans Wegner’s Wishbone chairs surround an Essay dining table by Cecilie Manz for Fritz Hansen; a mostly wood palette is enhanced by slate-gray brick around the fireplace. The paper lanterns throughout the home are a mixture of classics by Isamu Noguchi alongside those picked up in Japan and France.

“What often happens in our relationship is I come to Funn with an idea and he makes it into something livable.” —Vincent Kartheiser

The architects stuck to a gray-scale color palette, installing slate tile floors that softly contrast with the white walls and Eames dining chairs. “It lets the views out the windows become the focus,” Dworkind explains. Doses of pure black accent important features, like the central wall that divides the kitchen and master bedroom behind it from the main living space.

The new volume houses the dining area, which includes stairs to the bedrooms. The table is from Blake Avenue and the walnut chairs are from Room & Board. “You don’t want bright colors to take away from that relationship between the interior and the exterior,” Walker says.

In the living area of actor Vincent Kartheiser’s Hollywood cabin, redesigned by Funn Roberts to maximize every last inch of space, an Eames lounge chair and ottoman mix with a couch and coffee table by Cisco Home from HD Buttercup. The table in the main room is from West Elm.

At the client’s request the kitchen contains neither upper cabinets (Shino can’t reach them) nor an oven (they only used the old one once—to reheat a pizza). A modular Roche Bobois Mah Jong sofa adds a decorative flourish to the living area while maintaining as low a profile as the traditional Japanese furniture.

Pitchfork Media's design and development teams work out of the Chicago office.

In the house’s front room Monkman relaxes on a stool from local retailer Andrew Richard Designs. A new window system draws in sunlight and views of the front courtyard designed by local landscape architect Terry McGlade, the building’s former owner.

The interior of Pitchfork Media, located in the city's Logan Square neighborhood.

Van Dusen began making her own clothing as a teenager after convincing her mom to buy a sewing machine she'd use to reconstruct her closet full of thrift store garments. Color was her primary muse, often favoring bright hues in unexpected combinations and graphic patterns. What she couldn't find, she created, albeit inefficiently — the only way she knew how — by assembling her own printed textiles, one element at a time.

The exterior of Pitchfork Media's offices. The respected music publication moved its editorial office to Brooklyn, but still has businesses offices in Chicago.

“We didn’t go out and buy a living room collection,” Sofie explains. “In our home, we tried to avoid trends. The furniture we have are things we have collected over many, many years.” Vintage Eames for Herman Miller lounge chair; Isamu Nuguchi table; and Rocking elephant by Rocking Zoo.

The media room features a herringbone patterned flooring made of reclaimed barn wood.