Exposed boards that were salvaged from the original apartment were installed into the master bedroom. They provide a rustic atmosphere, enhanced by the addition of DIY industrial lighting. The bedding, curtains, and bedside tables are all from IKEA.

The kitchen occupies one corner of the L-shaped structure. As throughout, the floors are made up of reclaimed eucalyptus that Chris planed himself.

Crafted from olde growth pine salvaged from antique flooring from a 19th century home, the Reclaimed Wood Tree Swing from Peg and Awl adds a vintage, charming look to a backyard or garden, and works best when hung from a large tree branch. The thick slab of wood is finished with hand-rubbed natural tung oil, which makes the seat water resistant and durable.

A best-selling product at the Dwell Store, the Reclaimed Wood Tree Swing instantly exudes a charming, rustic feel. Each of Peg and Awl’s tree swings is made from olde growth pine that was salvaged from 19th-century homes in Philadelphia. Difficult to find now, olde growth pine is characterized by its visible grain, knots, and thickness, making it a durable and sturdy material—once ideal for flooring, and now perfect for a tree swing. The wood seat is finished with a natural tung oil to maintain the rich color. Each side of the swing includes 25 feet of rope, along with hand-drawn diagram instructions for easy installation. Best used on a thick tree branch, the charming swing is the perfect perch for a summer afternoon.

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.

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.

Photo by Laziz Hamani

“It was a natural choice,” says Adrian of using reclaimed and rescued wood. “I didn’t want to chop down a whole lot of trees.” The walls and ceiling are lined with planks of butternut harvested from diseased trees in Vermont.

Tom Givone sits at a table of his own design, which he had fabricated from reclaimed wood by a local carpenter.

Inspired by skateboards, the swing seats are made of European oak. “At first we tried bigger boards, but you can’t sit on them,” Parzyszek says.

All of the Jenn-Air appliances, including the washer and dryer, are electric, as the owners asked the city to cut the gas line to the house. The kitchen cabinetry is from IKEA and features custom, matte-gray doors and Silestone countertops. The floorboards are reclaimed maple from an old tire factory, sanded and stained gray.

On a trip to Naoshima, Japan, the Houston newlyweds behind Robertson Design fell in love with Tadao Ando’s concrete-composed museums. This led the couple to create a residence of their own comprised of a low concrete wall, concrete cube, and box clad in Siberian larch. The indoors are rounded out with white oak, marble, and leather-finished granite.

This door with space-age knobs is painted with Behr's Flaming Torch. The brass wall hanging above the landing is by C. Jeré.

Designed by Jagoda, the door swings open to fit in front of a bookshelf.

The entrance is an artistic mix of midcentury lines and features globe pendant lighting.

Fifty miles north of New York City, a controversial home and guesthouse were built from Frank Lloyd Wright’s drawings on a private island. Intriguingly, the main home was completed in 1996 following Wright's original sketches for the 1950s owner of the island, who ultimately instead commissioned a 1,200-square-foot home on the island because of the high cost. Today, that 1,200-square-foot home serves as a three-bedroom guesthouse—the perfect space for extended family to stay.

A medley of Ariele Alasko's headboard and wall panel designs displayed in her Bedstuy studio. Photo credit: Ariele Aslasko

An oversized mahogany door provides a grand entrance to the complex.

Klopf Architecture preserved the vertical “thinline” wood siding, and matched it in kind at the front addition.

The ten-by-six-foot solid wood door has a traditional "waving wood" pattern to the surface.

Throughout Thornbury House, Olaver Architecture was deliberate about applying "minor alterations to simple forms," to make the so-called "box" addition feel more special. Starting at the entry, a timber-clad, curved corner creates flow.

Access

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

Using lumber milled from dead and diseased wood gives a second life to blighted forests, and the worm infestations result in beautiful hole patterns in the timber.

Reclaimed Wood Hydroponic Planter, $159 at the Dwell Store This hydroponic planter blends a rustic reclaimed wood box with innovative technology. he system has different settings based on the plant type, ensuring that plants will receive the proper amount of nutrients from herbs to flowers.

The window and door frames have also been built from untreated yellow cedar, which will weather to a gray patina.

Shane Michael Pavonetti, an Austin-based architect and contractor, and his wife, Holly, built their eco-friendly home on a lean budget of $175,000. The cedar siding used on the exterior reappears throughout the house. Keen on recycling the wood, the couple added shelving to their kitchen as well.

The Inside Out residence has narrow, sheltered ledges along its perimeter where cats can nap in the sun.

The open plan living room and kitchen areas utilize natural materials, from reclaimed oak flooring to custom-made cabinetry. The Oscar sofa by Matthew Hilton from Future Perfect marks off the living room area.

The door to Eoghan Mahony’s office is set on a caster and has a hinge that runs the entire ten-foot height.

In Yuen Long, Hong Kong, a 452-square foot residence is designed to accommodate a young couple, one of their mothers, and their pets: a cat and a parrot. The home features transforming furniture and nooks and crannies that are perfect for the pets. A bench by the door doubles as a litter box.

Featuring reclaimed wood from the original house, a single sliding door covers only half of the kitchen pantry. As the door slides, china and glassware are revealed on one side; the other side holds Anne’s design library and favored heirlooms. The sliding door follows a track installed in the concrete underfloor; the shelves are supported by recessed steel brackets, strong enough to hold the weight of a man—or a baby. An additional full-size pantry is located inside the laundry room, toward the original bungalow.

This tree house in Sweden with a mirrored exterior by Tham and Videgård Arkitekter is just large enough to host two people.

Showroom One floor below the house, the showroom hums with activity, especially during the winter season, when next year’s new products are being shown. The modular track lighting can be adjusted to fit any presentation. The wood core ceiling panels, taken from reclaimed material from the snowboard production process, add to the industrial aesthetic. Photo by Morlen Sinoway