It was a happy accident the way that the floating Fire Orb, which was designed by architect Doug Garofalo, echoes the onion-dome-inspired architecture beyond.

A view of the kitchen's back wall shows the bright marriage of the yellow Fireclay tile backsplash with incoming light from the adjacent sliding door and the row of windows just above the hanging Boca Raton blue cabinets. Basked in light, the new kitchen displays an organized and cheerful aesthetic.

Entry courtyard

Entrance to the Post Family workspace, the design collective's home on Hubbard street in the West Town neighborhood.

The Post Family has engaged in a variety of design and printing projects, and will be curating a series of events at the Comfort Station space in Logan Square this March.

The Post Family is a seven-member design collective that built its own gallery, letterpress, and screenprinting studio.

Buendia pillow by Inigo Elizalde Rugs: Inigo Elizalde’s woven dhurries are hand-knotted in Nepal, but he’s deconstructed a few of his boldest patterns into a collection of pillows, all printed in North Carolina and sewn in New York City. From $165

Glitch Skid by Inigo Elizalde, $81 per square foot. Woven from wool, nettle, and bamboo fibers, the rug’s graphic is inspired by a computer glitch. It’s available in custom sizes.

White brick exterior of Goddard and Mandolene’s home post renovation.

Architect Brian Zulaikha.

To allude to the nearby ocean, the architects designed a seaweed patterned for the interior of the garage door (seen here raised). It successfully reads like a leather padded wall and makes “the cube” feel that much more customized.

Oman and his partner Andrej Gregoric had the cupboards, stairs, and bed all custom-made. The interior casework provides storage and adds warmth to the concrete walls.

Inigo Elizalde has based his latest rug and woven textile collection around one spectacular bamboo-and-wool carpet (at left), whose patterns he deconstructed and highlighted in coordinating tapestries (at right).

The home's exposed concrete skeleton, wrapped in oak, creates a warm, layered space for living. Oman split the floors by function, with common areas on the ground level, followed by the kids' rooms and then a third-floor suite for the parents.

Custom lamppost and railing design.

At night, Goldfarb and Landers have often held philanthropic events in the central courtyard. The pool and jacuzzi are not original.

Doug’s mother, Julie, visits with Melissa, Doug, their daughter Simms, and Birdie the dog.

Outdoor Seating Area

Lastly, a rooftop deck flanks an open-air studio. Designed to mimic the post-and-beam style, the unique workshop features accordion doors on one side and a custom-built, bi-fold garage door along another.

The facade of a house in Belgium consists of "knitted bricks." “In this part of Belgium, 90 percent of the houses are built with brick,” says architect Tom Verschueren. “It’s a classic material that we tried to use in House BVA in a totally different way.”

Nouvel Approach When the Nouvel staircase proved too costly to copy, DeSalvo designed an affordable version. The treads are perforated bent steel plates that appear to float on a support tube, while the railings are made from tension cables and galvanized handrails and posts. It offers a similar level of architectural impact and sense of transparency at relatively low cost (both stairways, plus a matching catwalk, came in at $6,000).

The Cliff House at Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, California The most epic getaway on this list, Post Ranch Inn’s Cliff House (designed by famed local architect Mickey Muennig) overlooks the Pacific and offers 960-square-feet of glass and wood surroundings. The room comes together with purposeful angles, mirroring the ocean-side cliffs below.

Sleek Architect’s Home (Sydney, Australia) Providing a modern update to the predominantly Victorian style of surrounding suburban homes in Paddington, this urban home is bathed in natural light during the day and offers the respite of a Japanese garden on property.Listing at Architect's Own Central Sydney Home

One-Family Custom Housing: Olson Kundig Architects created this home in Washington's remote Methow Valley as four structures oriented around a central courtyard, each positioned to best enjoy the surrounding vistas in all four seasons.

The entire Alexander Girard for Paperless Post collection, featuring 20 distinct Girard patterns, is available now.

Paperless Post has repurposed Girard's best-known patterns to fit different occasions. Originally designed in 1960 as branding for a restaurant, the La Fonda del Sol sun is particularly effective at enlivening summer party invitations.

The customizable greeting cards were inspired in part by Girard's personal fondness for letter-writing. Aleishall Girard Maxon, Girard's granddaughter and Co-Creative Director of Girard Studio, says, “As an avid traveler and someone who had a fascination in drawing connections between cultures across multiple continents, he would have embraced digital communication for its ability to bridge the gaps of time and space.”

The collection also includes holiday cards, such as this one bearing Girard's 1966 Merry Christmas Heart design.

Paperless Post and Girard Studio have teamed up to create Alexander Girard for Paperless Post, a collection of print and digital greeting cards featuring many of the midcentury designer's most iconic patterns and motifs. The instantly recognizable symbols communicate great sentiment with little or no text, making them a natural fit for the medium.

Buckminster Fuller, Dymaxion House, 1945–1946.

Master suite terrace.

Master suite terrace.