Modern Sprout’s planters were designed by Nick Behr and Sarah Burrows, two Chicago apartment dwellers who wanted to grow their own garden, but didn’t have the space. Struggling to maintain plants in their apartment, they tried hydroponic planters, which yielded results, but were expensive and unappealing to look at. As a result, they designed their own planter—a hydroponic, self-watering system that hides its mechanism beneath a reclaimed wood planter box.

Original Planter Box Yield Design Co.

At 3.5" x 3.5" with a depth of 6", these planters are specifically designed to hold starter plants you've picked up at the nursery.

Indoor Planter: Adding a touch of green makes a space feel vibrant and alive. Give one of these fun Window Planter Box's by Yield Design Co. to lend contemporary warmth to anyone's houseplants. A perfect home for kitchen herbs, sculptural succulents or flowering blooms.

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.

The backside of the lot was dug out to create a recessed garden for privacy. The mother is an active cook, so including planter boxes for herbs and hot peppers was a must.

The wooden box is as functional as it is finely crafted, with room for clothes up top. Each niche holds treasures from travels, family keepsakes, books, and more.

Made from birch plywood, the Planters are stained then cut to reveal the stack of the timber. No two are alike since the stain takes differently to each piece of wood.

Made of stainless steel and TEKA hardwood, a Curzon dining table by Modloft is surrounded by a quartet of Victoria Ghost dining chairs by Philippe Starck for Kartell. A striped Missy pendant light by Filipe Lisboa hangs overhead. Four Chill White media consoles from CB2 line the western wall.

These sweet little planters are brand new from San Francisco design outfit Yield, a company that also brought us the ingenious Picnic Bags we fetured recently.

A succulent sits atop a stool from Zone Maison, juxtaposed against a warm brick wall.

The tin panels lining the stairs are original to the house.

Clothing can play a vital part in post-disaster comfort and survival. Be prepared with lightweight, versatile items that are appropriate for the highs and lows of your region—bonus points for bright colors like neon yellow or orange that might help emergency workers spot you. Make sure you have clean underwear, layers (including a light jacket), and a hat that would protect you from the sun. Extra blankets, shoes, boots, socks, and bug spray might be necessary depending on where you live.

While its exterior may look like weathering steel, the walls are actually fiber cement coated with oxidizing steel paint. This resource-saving measure means the protective rust is real but will not compromise the exterior.

HotBox: Michaela MacLeod and Nicholas Croft (Toronto) A mysterious monolith on the landscape, this warming hut, a cubic room wrapped in rubber and egg shell crate foam, provides a space for socialization.

When the Casali family gave Michael Krus and Prishram Jain of TACT Architecture free rein to work with unconventional materials, the architects responded by creating a geometric 4,300-square-foot smart home encased in aluminum panels by Agway Metals. The front facade features Cor-Ten steel fabricated by Praxy Cladding.

The resident, a Tokyo transplant, commissioned architect Tadashi Murai to create a fully-equipped structure that comes with its own power, heating and cooling, water, and waste-disposal systems.

Berlin-based Atelier Hors-Serie’s AT collection comes in natural or contrasting engobe finishes, which give the planters unique color combinations. From $63

Wallter's powder-coated spun-aluminum planters are available at a discount on the show floor of Dwell on Design.

@mattkatzenson: #dodla #thatssopotted #mattkatzenson #succulents at the Dwell event in the potted booth, very inspiring.

The Boskke cube is filled through an opening in the corner of the plant. Simply filling the water to the marked line in the cube will enable the plant to be effectively irrigated for thirty days. Once the water dips below the line, it’s time to refill the water. If there is any sediment or dirt in the cube, the cover—including the plant—easily pops off, making cleaning the planter a breeze.

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.

The original staircase.

The original facade.

Architect Joaquin Castillo blends inexpensive materials, the odd splurge, and a refined modernist sensibility to create an affordable weekend house for brothers Alfredo and Guillermo Oropeza. The facade is a juxtaposition of rough-hewn local stone, smooth concrete, glass, and steel—the material palette used throughout the structure.

Light Box Peter created a simple uplight at the top of the wood box by wiring together energy-efficient fluorescent fixtures typically used under cabinets and countertops. “The cheaper magnetic models hum unacceptably loudly, so make sure you get the electronic ballast types,” he warns. He then painted the cavity white to reflect light and covered them with quarter-inch-thick acrylic from TAP Plastics. homedepot.com tapplastics.com

Narigua House (El Jonuco, Mexico) Architect: David Pedroza Castañeda Category: House

Garden terrace

The master bedroom includes an armoire by Kastella and a chandelier by Lambert & Fils. A portion of the ceiling was pared back to expose the underside of the original roof.

North Carolina firm Skram Furniture Company has created a flexible and functional line of containers that can be utilized in various spaces, from offices to kitchens.

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

For artist Heather Kahn, a backyard painting studio attached to her home's original garage is the perfect place to work. The light blue paneling echoes the wood paneling on the main house, but the color distinguishes it and gives it a sense of personality.

“We edit to what’s most essential and what will highlight the product best.” —Pearl Schenkel, graphic design manager at Finell

At Casa Cantellano, light is omnipresent, with vegetation-rich courtyards around every corner.

Thin legs, thick foliage, and an entirely Swedish take on the indoor planter: Stick a cover on top and this prime place for greens becomes a sweet spot for rear ends. Click here for more information on these Green Pedestals.