Ryan Anderson of RAD Furniture designed the stools as well as the table and benches on the pool deck.

Yang Yeo and his girlfriend Ching Ian relax on the back stoop of their renovated and radically updated Singapore shophouse—an archetypal building type in this busy port city. “Shophouses brought back memories of our childhood,” says Yeo.

The beanbag chairs and outdoor sofa and chairs are from West Elm and the Case Study Museum Bench is from Modernica.

Brooklyn-based design trio Egg Collective has been on our radar for some time now, and the studio continues to impress. The Ritter chest is made from lacquered wood, features a stone top, and bronze detailing.

Builder Ross Percival helped finesse the finely tuned detailing that separates the internal slope from the rock outside (opposite). The Pedro wire stool is by Craig Bond for Candywhistle.

An Egg vase.

A departure from the mod-meets-baroque dining room, Turin’s breakfast area is far more sedate. She and her daughter, Helena, have a chat at a Progetto 1 table by Monica Armani for B&B Italia surrounded by four Lia chairs by Roberto Barbieri for Zanotta. The painting behind Helena is by Ricci Albenda.

The Bradford table plays to the theme of individual pieces that can be grouped as a whole. Prices range from $610 for the triangular wood-topped table to $1,290 for the stone hexagon; the bases are blackened steel.

"In general, we're inspired by things that are well-crafted and beautiful," says Ellis. "That could be an Art Nouveau cabinet, a Shaker chair, a building by Peter Zumthor, an image of a quarry, a sculpture by Donald Judd, or the pattern on a quilt. We are always looking and absorbing."

The home’s original living and dining rooms were updated with custom cabinetry and new fir floors. The living room sofa, coffee table, and lounge chair are from Blu Dot.

While Brooklyn brownstones conjure up memories of their turn-of-the-century roots, they also remain the modern-day face of New York’s coolest boroughs. With brownstone living, however, comes responsibility—many of these classic beauties are in need of renovation and restoration. Here are 10 standout, renovated brownstones that retain their original charm with added contemporary cool.

The 12-sided Haynes mirror ($2,800) slips into solid brass or nickel-plated brass brackets. "Many of our designs are made with materials that will patina over time," says Ellis. "For example we intentionally don't laquer our brass pieces so that they will age as they are used. We think this speaks to the lifespan of our objects."

"We want to make contemporary heirlooms because we believe that if an object is well designed, is warm, and is beautiful it will be cherished," says Ellis. The Margot chandelier ($11,300) has a solid brass armature and blown-glass shades made by a craftsman in Queens.

The formal lounge plays host to Angelucci’s collection of mid-century modern furniture. A pair of Leather Sling chairs by Aussie-born sculptor Clement Meadmore sit under the window; a black Snoopy lamp by Achille Castiglioni for Flos is on the mantle.

Kitchen & Dining Room “This room really became the heart of the space,” Dawn Casale says. “If people are sitting at the dining table or in the living area, you’re able to have a really free-flowing conversation and there’s a nice dynamic happening on the entire floor.”

Morten Bo Jensen, the chief designer at Vipp—whose headquarters are located in Islands Brygge—and his partner, graphic designer Kristina May Olsen, bought a loft space in the former Viking pencil factory in 2011. They bought the loft from its previous owner, one of five investors who purchased the circa-1910 factory building, roughly a decade ago, in a very raw state.

Tagliabue made sense of the soaring volume in the library by installing double-height custom bookcases that can be accessed via a catwalk.

Walsh and Strongin's living room strikes a more rustic note.

The sofa is a prototype that never went into production—the base slides out and the two cushions become flat for sleeping. Today, one can buy Risom furniture from a variety of sources, including Knoll, Design Within Reach, and Ralph Pucci.

Smitten Kitchen's Baked Eggs with Spinach and Mushrooms: A last minute Easter Brunch solution and gorgeous food photography.

A low stone wall surrounds the perimeter, which Jens planted with trees in order to create a buffer between the house and the surrounding vista.

Bill Thompson’s Hollywood home exudes modern cool with a custom walnut dining table and chairs from Modernica.

The clients had an impressive collection of Scandinavian midcentury teak furniture that now pops beautifully against the concrete floors, white-painted brick, and pine v-joint walls.

Salvage Garden Driftwood that Tershy, Zavaleta, and the kids spent years collecting from local beaches makes up the pickets of the backyard fence, a pillar outside the front door, and the railing on the upstairs hallway. But it’s a Pacific madrone that puts a rustic exclamation point on the interior. The tree fell on a friend’s land, and the couple, after hauling the best boughs into town, turned it into the centerpiece of the double-height dining room.

Croyle reclines on a Soft Dream sofa by Antonio Citterio for Flexform. The coffee table is by One & Co, where Croyle was formerly a partner, for Council, the rug is Kymo, and the side chairs are Cappellini.

Atomium egg cup by Christian Ghion for Alessi.

James's bedroom furniture was custom designed by Hatch Workshop.

When curating the rooms throughout their house, Udechuku and Smith mix borrowed pieces related to the temporary exhibition—such as the playful sculptural lamps crafted from found materials by Brazilian artist Rodrigo Almeida—with vintage American and European classics from their personal collection, such as a Florence Knoll sofa designed in 1954 and newly re-upholstered in a yellow Kvadrat fabric. "We have no opening hours but people call or knock and—if we are home—we welcome them in and put the kettle on." —Ike Udechuku

"Three minds and a pad of paper" is how Ellis says Egg Collective begins to design an object. "There's a lot of sketching, drawing, and re-drawing. From the initial brainstorm we then break off into our individual roles: Hillary is the face of Egg calling subcontractors and keeping us moving forward, Stephanie is the head of production and fabrication, and I am head of creative development." The Oscar table ($12,000) shown here is made from two of Egg's signature materials: travertine and brass. It also comes in a nickel– or copper-plated base and custom materials for the top are available. At Egg's ICFF booth, the table had a stunning breccia marble surface.

Having lived, he says, in “a number of houses where the living room is the most adorned and the least used,” it was important for Lazor to create a functional family living space. As the gathering above attests, it worked. The carpet is by InterfaceFLOR, and the armchairs by Blu Dot.

Tall, sliding glass panels extend along the west side of the house, including into the living area, which has views across the terrace and 35-acre wooded property. Built-in bookshelves, part of Dynia's thick-wall strategy, keep with the orderly design. Photo by Ron Johnson.

Thanks to a contemporary interior that she’s been updating for a decade, modern architect Abigail Turin has learned to love her traditional 1925 San Francisco home. Rather than indulge her impulse and strip away the home’s traditional flourishes, Turin embraced the dark in her striking living room—the deep paint is Le Corbusier’s 4320J from Les Couleurs Suisse. An iconic Arco lamp by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Flos, Charles sofas by Antonio Citterio for B&B Italia, an Extra Big Shadow floor lamp by Marcel Wanders for Cappellini, and a painting over the marble fireplace by Martin Barré shed a little light.

Pictured here, from left to right, are two Bob XL chairs, with and without arms, around a Bob High table; a Bob Low table with two Aia poofs; and a Bai chair with steel supports.

Magenta Togo sofas by Ligne Roset, a red Eames molded plywood chair, and wire Bertoia Diamond chair provide seating around the hearth.