A family of cost-conscious Hamburgers converted a kitschy turn-of-the-century villa into a high-design home with a strict budget in place. To unite the quaint masonry of the original villa with the squat, ugly add-on built flush against it, the architects decided to paint the old-fashioned facade graphite gray and then covered the box next door in plain, light-colored larch. Photo by Mark Seelen.

Lisbeth Juul and Laust Nørgaard drew upon their years of experience living on the water to design and build an 860-square-foot floating home in Copenhagen Harbor. The home’s minimal form and furnishings reflect the residents’ desire to downsize following three years on land.

Here, one of El Cosmico's three teepees is a lantern for desert travelers.

A family in Hamburg, Germany, turned a kitschy turn-of-the-century villa into a high-design home with a few exterior tricks, including sheathing the exterior in one-dimensional, murdered-out black.

This open-concept Amsterdam loft features soaring 15-foot ceilings, an Eames lounge chair and ottoman, and a Jielde light. Throughout the home, Standard Studio architects Wouter Slot and Jurjen van Hulzen favored raw materials, including concrete, oiled oak, and hot-rolled steel, all of which complemented the original space's industrial feel. Tucked smartly underneath the loft, a compact home office features functional built-in shelving and an Eames DSR chair.

The kitchen features custom cabinetry and a large sliding door, both made from oak, that provides recessed storage space. The black theme continues with the furniture, including HAY About A Stool (AAS 38) models around the kitchen island and the HAY About A Chair (AAC 22) set.

With its green features, durable materials, and clean-lined minimalism, the house represents the new generation of building for its mostly colonial neighborhood.

While it's not your traditional backsplash material, when properly prepared and treated, wood can make for an effective, functional, and beautiful backsplash. Here, the wood backsplash matches the wood of the nearby kitchen island in an otherwise white kitchen with white cabinetry.

According to Paul Raff, the biggest design challenge was creating a functional home that would accommodate the family's regular activities (dining, music, play, homework) all on one level. This was solved by "collaging spaces of different shapes and sizes together, and by interconnecting them all with a very open and seamlessly integrated kitchen." The airy family kitchen features Loire limestone floors, BassamFellows Tractor stools, and an Eames molded plastic chair.

The smooth, raven-hued island in this kitchen is made of oak with a thin stone countertop. A Foscarini Gregg Pendant hangs overhead.

The newly built house, just feet from the water’s edge, occupies the space where a decaying farmhouse once stood.

“Keeping the kitchen and bathrooms simple saved money for the important things,” Harkness explains. They went with a soothing color palette and hardware from Reece.

The staircase leading to the master suite features aluminum treads supported on stainless steel tubes. "We wanted something that would allow the resin panels behind it to reflect the light from the windows at the top of the stair," Slade says.

Infinity House Exterior

Jaunts through nature are a great way to exercise, relieve stress, and get some vitamin D.

Maja demonstrates another use for the guest bed: a trampoline. Behind her is a wall of storage, an essential attribute in the 1,260-square-foot house. Extreme editing of material possessions also helps.

Furniture adds a dose of texture and color to the minimal space. The living room features a HAY Mags Module sofa, Moroso Take a Line for a Walk fauteuil, Moroso Phoenix Table, and Flos Glo-Ball Lamp.

The adjoining master bathroom is connected by mirrored pocket door with bronze trim at the frame. The graphic space features a Kaldewei tub, Domus tiles, and Dornbracht faucets and fixtures. A marble vanity top and medicine cabinet sit against the far wall; a compact wood bench slides smartly under the vanity.

Here's what you need to know before undergoing a building project with a contractor but no architect.

In Hamburg, Germany, a cost-conscious couple renovated a tiny home with an adjacent minimart. To transform it into a minimal, modernist home, the architects decided to paint the old-fashioned facade graphite gray and then covered the box next door in plain, light-colored larch.

When not in use during winter, the tub is hidden from the home’s view. The entrance has a sheltered overhang for car parking.

Playful stylistic details, such as two-toned dining chairs from Latitude Nord and a creative lighting fixture from Au Courant, are juxtaposed with the rest of the home’s tranquil elegance.

On the side of the home that faces the canal, the main kitchen’s aesthetic is decidedly elemental. Custom Eginstill hot-rolled steel cabinetry with recessed Gaggenau appliances surround a Carrara marble island.

Connected to the kitchen by a flight of stairs, the bar features cohesive custom fittings and furniture by Eginstill. Each living area flows freely into the next, in effort to “make the space as open as possible, just like it used to be when it was a sugar refinery” says van Hulzen. “We wanted to [return] the building to its old glory.”

Nature Framed: At Home in the Landscape by Eva Hagberg (Monacelli Press, 2011). A selection of projects that blur the boundaries between architecture and nature.

The Conservatorium is outfitted with furniture by Cassina, Kartell, and Living Divani.

The atrium features a wealth of materials: the brick of the original structure, a glass roof, and steel beams supporting the new structure.

Escape made a splash by launching a property in Tampa Bay filled with its trailers. But you don’t have to live there to own one.

Three’s Company Inspired by the minimal color scheme of a hotel they stayed at in Bali, Winterhalder and Ehlers decided to limit their palette to three colors: anthracite black, concrete gray, and a light larch wood. The first move was to paint the backyard wall gray. Next up for a coat of dark paint was the villa’s old-fashioned wooden staircase, which the couple didn’t like but didn’t have the budget to replace. The consistency works to unite the different styles found in the house. “Somehow,” says Winterhalder, “it all fits.”

Obligatory tourist shot. Gorgeous day in Amsterdam!

Amsterdam’s fertile and relatively tight-knit design community provides the ideal setting for Wiet Hekking’s longtime passion project, WonderWood.

In the bathroom, a chrome waterfall faucet by LightInTheBox tops a 12.6-inch-square Mini Nova basin by Barclay; a retractable Ikea mirror is the only concession to vanity.

With its vertical wood slats, the garden fence helps unify the main house and the smaller shed.

Just like the exterior, the interior rooms feature a mix of design influences: traditional blue plates hold court with minimalist furnishings.

The rooms feature 100-percent Egyptian cotton bedding, flat-screen TVs, a deep soaking tub and separate shower, safety deposit box, complimentary WiFi, and a prime view of the cityscape.