The owners’ goal was to transform the 19th-century building into a bold single-family residence. Historical architectural details were made modern with a striking black facade, while inside, a flexible living space that opens into an exterior garden enables a simplified lifestyle.

Speaking to his original design, architect Saul Zaik says, “We were really just building boxes with a bunch of windows but experimenting with how you integrated indoor and outdoor spaces.” The house has seven different openings to the exterior, allowing different courtyard or patio settings for a range of outdoor activities, including seating for a gathering on the street-facing side. The Milfords hired Lilyvilla Gardens for the landscaping around the house, including variegated bluestone steps with thyme joints.

In paring back the home's aesthetic, Chris kept the color palette as simple as possible. Limiting the surfaces to either painted white or stained black allows colorful art, objects, furniture, and people to really pop.

Out of respect for the structure's more traditional neighbors, de Leon painted the exterior of the addition Black Forest Green, a Benjamin Moore hue commonly used on plantation shutters in the South.

By inserting a tunnel made from 36 reclaimed commercial doors and tearing down a handful of walls, LOT-EK and contractor Andreas Scholtz brought light into the formerly unused dark hallway in Maurice Russell (right) and Jorge Fontanez’s apartment. The glossy Safety Red paint by Benjamin Moore catches the light by day but “becomes a richer, darker, very relaxing red at night,” Fontanez says.

Davor and August check out the yard from the living room. “The bifold Vistalite doors allow us to open the house up completely and enjoy the fresh, warm air,” Davor says.

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Houston-based designer Barbara Hill is known for a stripped-down aesthetic that blends art-world cachet with Texas modernism. Vitra’s Slow chair sits in front of a powder-coated-steel bookcase made by Hill’s go-to fabricator, George Sacaris; it was originally built for the Houston house.

Located off of the kitchen, Vivi’s office disappears behind sliding walls covered in black chalkboard paint from Behr. This is one of the best home office setup ideas if you're short on space or if you're going for a minimalist look.

The plan is super efficient but with gracious moments. This was also family's home for four generations, so preserving the house’s original shape and honoring that history was important factor in the design process.

A dramatic black island is expertly balanced by a wall of white cabinetry and a refrigerator that blends perfectly. The kitchen’s black countertops were cut from Nero Assoluto granite. The sink and faucet are from Quebec-based company Rubi. Appliances are from Wolf.

The juxtaposition of black and white is perhaps the most notable detail of the home’s interiors. In the guest bathroom, black and white tiles provide visual interest.

When architect Antonio Monserrat transformed an old 800-square-foot Brooklyn loft into his new home, he imbued his love of colorful, multifunctional design into an eye-catching renovation. Once used as a bakery in the early 20th century, the postindustrial space came with great bones—original exposed timber beams, 12-foot ceilings and large windows—that Monserrat used as a backdrop for his playful color choices, small-scale studio prototypes, and contemporary furnishings. From the emerald-green entryway with a hot-pink ceiling to the sunshine-yellow Kartell storage pieces, the Spanish architect’s loft beautifully blends creative inspiration with functionality.

A view from the sleeping space into the living area, where Ligne Roset sofas sit on an IKEA carpet under a vintage Lightolier chandelier. A custom curtain rod bends onto the adjacent wall so that the drapery does not obscure any of the window. "There is strong light and shadows in the apartment," Antonio says.

Two pieces from E15’s Shiraz sofa flank the company’s wooden Leila side tables. Hill chose to use flat paint in Benjamin Moore’s Decorators White throughout the home because it emphasizes the chalkiness of the plaster walls, making them “look almost like slate.” The sconce shown in the foreground—David Chipperfield’s Corrubedo design for FontanaArte—gives off a soft glow and replaces the dozens of paper-lampshade wall fixtures the owners found in the house when they bought it. Stewart Cohen’s zany photograph of a gun-toting Marfa resident encapsulates Barbara Hill’s offbeat brand of decorating: bright and minimal, yet darkly humorous.

Vandemoortele worked with designer Renaud de Poorter on the interior renovations, which included opening up the heavy structure with the help of new windows and doors to the outside. They didn’t want to gut the space, and kept existing decorative motifs like the dining room’s circa-1975 painted cupboard.

Intended for a much bigger room in the family’s previous home, the bed was designed by Hill and is covered in Maharam fabric in a doily print called Intricate 001 Charcoal. The side tables are from West Elm, and the AJ table lamp is by Arne Jacobsen for Louis Poulsen.

Elbow chairs by Hans J. Wegner for Carl Hansen & Søn surround a table of the couple’s own design. By removing walls in this space, extra storage was possible. The trio of A330S pendants are by Alvar Aalto for Artek. The painting, The Look, is by Ed Parker. - Brooklyn, New York Dwell Magazine : July / August 2017

Homeowner Simon Doonan stands next to the front door. "We have flamboyance, and we’re not inhibited about anything. [Architect] Gray Organschi gave [the house] that intellectual rigor needed to make it beautiful. We were well matched."

A side view of the house and of Salmela’s signature architectural feature: the “unchimney.” All windows are from Loewen.

A vivid hallway connects the bedrooms, bedroom, and living areas.

Natural light from a wall of windows makes the second bedroom a perfect painting studio for Luis de las Cuevas.

“The kitchen is the room we use the most,” Sofie says. The dark gray walls and tonal accents make it cozy and cave-like, while natural illumination and light-toned accessories introduce airiness and circulation. Even in the colder months, the Egelunds spend most of their time there, and Sofie maintains that the stark darkness makes it a homey place to entertain guests and spend time with the family. “And,” she adds, “you can always go to the other floors if it gets too dark!” The kitchen island, shelves, glass, and ceramics are by Vipp.

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.

The floorboards are reclaimed roof beams that were sawed in half and painted White Cotton, also by Dulux. Pett Level, England Dwell Magazine : November / December 2017

A study overlooking the living room includes a Bucket Chair by Piet Hein Eek. Bedrooms are down the hall; beyond them is the open- air walkway that leads to the rooms over the garage—what Subissati calls the “hybrid space” because of its fabric cover.

The color of the Fishers’ front door was inspired by an old Land Rover Defender’s hue, which Charlie had Benjamin Moore custom-match.

The various pots placed along walls and corners make the apartment feel almost garden-like.

The stairs are made of iron, which was coated with white paint from San Marco.

Built in 1925, this Spanish Mediterranean–style home has been modernized by acclaimed fashion designer and current owner Johnson Hartig, who bought the property in 2005.

ROMA's Domus Mineral Paints are made from natural materials and are free of toxic chemicals and asthmagens.

Midcentury furniture and the vintage ceramic plates mounted on the wall are also painted white, again flattening the distinction between old and new.

The iconic waste bin that gave Vipp its start is a mainstay in the Egelunds’ home, as are many of the company’s streamlined design solutions. The waste bins, shelves, glasses, and ceramics are by Vipp.

Eazy side chairs by Whiteonwhite line one side of the custom-designed table by LOT-EK. Castore suspension lights by Michele De Lucchi for Artemide hang above, and a custom rug by Liora Manné lies below.

Unlike its next-door neighbor, R-House, TED wasn’t originally planned to meet the exacting Passive House standard. The building’s green bona fides came largely from four roof-mounted thermal solar panels and a 120-gallon water storage tank that architect Tim McDonald attests would have met nearly all of the home’s heat and hot-water needs. After submitting the proposal, though, he completed a course in the Passive House standard. Inspired, McDonald modified the original approach, ditching the tank and thermal panels in favor of a highly insulated, airtight envelope—the equivalent, he says, of shielding the house from the harsh Syracuse winter with a fur coat instead of a windbreaker.