For Gabriel Ramirez and his partner Sarah Mason Williams, following the Sea Ranch rules—local covenants guide new designs—didn’t mean slipping into Sea Ranch clichés. The architects love Cor-Ten steel, with its ruddy and almost organic surface, and they made it the main exterior material, along with board-formed concrete and ipe wood. The Cor-Ten, which quickly turned an autumnal rust in the sea air, and the concrete, with its grain and crannies, mean the house isn’t a pristine box, Ramirez says. His Neutra house “was very crisp and clean,” he says. “This house is more distressed, more wabi-sabi.”

The architect placed the windows at Sabrina’s eye level so that she’d be able to see her son, Rocco, playing in the yard outside. "You can feel the seasons changing here," says Chiavelli. "I grew up three miles from here, outside in nature. This is a house for experiencing life."

Udechuku and Smith consider the rare rosewood-and-black glass dining set by Joaquim Tenreiro the highlight of their Brazilian Modern exhibition. "It's a true masterpiece, and the only piece I have felt really nervous about using," admits Udechuku.

Shophouses are a staple of Southeast Asian urban architecture. A team of designers including Yong Ter, Teng Wui, Andrew Lee, and Edwin Foo renovated this shophouse into a contemporary sanctuary over the course of two years. They left the roof completely open from the beginning of the original airshaft to the back of the house. The heart is a cooking/dining area with a 13-foot-long Indonesian table made from a single piece of teak.

The dining table, a custom design by Formwork, and red Non chairs by Komplot complement the addition’s cypress cladding.

Buser made the dining table which is surrounded by Chair 611s by Alvar Aalto for Artek.

Full Bloom The white Vico Magistretti dining table is a focal point when you enter the house--"and a great spot to create assemblages of some of my favorite objects," says Neely, who changes the display every few weeks. Set atop a reversible Finn Juhl tray are ceramics from Heath and a Carl Auböck fruit knife with a cane-wrapped handle. Notes Neely:"I always keep a handful of tillandsia around--air plants soften and warm up the space."

Designer Christiane Hogner, Bruxelles

With the help of architect Bart Lens, Veerle Wenes and Bob Christiaens merged a 19th-century building with a 1970s one to create a combined home and art gallery in Antwerp. In the dining room downstairs, Wenes entertains family, friends, and gallery visitors. The yellow chair is by Jens Fager.

Located just off the kitchen, this room was originally designed for dining—the adjustable Ligne Roset Crescendo coffee table can be raised to 28.75 inches—but most days Bill and Abbie prefer to eat outside or at their casual Caesarstone-topped kitchen island. Today the space serves as a sunny reading spot and guest room, with a convertible futon (from Ligne Roset, since discontinued) and a set of leather-and-steel Paulistano armchairs from Design Within Reach.

Purdy, Eva Luna, and Simon play cards under a Louvre Light by Established & Sons.

The Blues Are Still Blue Grinding down the concrete floor was too costly, so the Benoits had it painted blue with inexpensive Benjamin Moore latex floor-and-patio paint and then sealed with Zinsser shellac—a natural, nontoxic product that brushes on and can be easily touched up. It darkened the blue paint a bit and gives the floor a hand-worked luster. benjaminmoore.com rustoleum.com/zin... Scandinavian Grace The Benoits bought their Scandinavian modern table from Klassik Living in Berkeley. “Their prices are very reasonable for the uniqueness and quality offered,” says Peter. They chose teak since it darkens nicely and naturally when exposed to sunlight—–helpful since their table gets blasted by morning rays. klassikliving.com

Glass doors printed with a serigraphy technique (above) are on two sides of the house. Jacquot sits at a dining table and benches designed by Arba and built by Menuiserie Ressy.

The family sits around, and under in the case of four-year-old Kaz’ma, the sunken table for a snack. Makiko made the covers of the mats her mother sent from Japan by hand. The black lamp is from Ikea.

A Bay Area landscape designer works her yard like a jigsaw puzzle, packing a bevy of distinctive destinations into a steep and diminutive plot. Photo by: Morgan Rachel Levy Read the entire article here.

This walnut table presents a welcoming canvas for an autumnal tablescape. The Catalina Extension Table is an elegant round table that maintains the simplicity of midcentury modern design with its simple tabletop and trestle-legged structure. The table features an easy-stow retract and expand leaf within the table, making it simple to extend the table and close it to its smaller stature.

The materials palette is similarly restrained, making the only natural piece of wood in the house—the almost 14-foot-long walnut slab in the kitchen—really stand out. "If there was wood everywhere it would lose its gravitas," notes Chris.

The couple gather in the central dining room, with a bamboo table by Greenington and chairs from West Elm. The pendants are by Mark Chai Arts; the tapestry is by Máximo Laura.

A New York City apartment with walnut upper kitchen cabinets has a stainless-steel backsplash that ties into the finish of the fridge and the lower cabinets. The walnut dining room table does quadruple duty as a work station and storage unit, and an eating and entertaining area.

Chef Alfredo Oropeza wanted the kitchen to be the heart of the house. By saving money on building materials elsewhere in the project, Castillo was able to indulge in cabinetry by Porcelanosa, bar stools by Ligne Roset, and a granite island, making this the crème de la crème of kitchens.

The drawing room, the couple’s principal entertaining space, contains many highlights of the exhibition, including two Tonico lounge chairs by Sergio Rodrigues; a jacaranda bench by Alberto Reis; a leather-and-rosewood sling chair fabricated by Liceu de Artes e Oficios de São Paulo; and drawings by the contemporary Brazilian artist Paulo Climachauska. "Furniture is more beautiful with a patina—and this comes from years of careful and loving use." —Kathryn Smith

For the outdoor dining room, interior designer Damon Liss selected a Soho pendant lamp by Joan Gaspar, Trennza chairs from Janus et Cie, and the Portica outdoor table from Room & Board. The sliding glass doors are by Arcadia.

In the kitchen, the continuous kitchen worktop and table are made of marble from Caledonia Marble. The pink Tamatik dining chairs are by Connie Chisholm and are from the Canadian design shop Made. The Blinding Love pendant lights are by Periphere, which has shops in Montreal and Toronto. The iron rails were inspired both by screens the couple had seen on their travels in the Middle East and by the ornate wrought ironwork favored by their Portuguese neighbors. Barzel Ironworks fabricated the banister to Sawatzky’s design by slicing up iron pipe, welding it, and painting it.

An Alvar Aalto table is surrounded by a quartet of the designer’s Chair 65.

In 2006, Claus—director of Claus en Kaan Architecten, one of the Netherlands’ top architectural practices—finally got inside Perret’s apartment. He was duly impressed. “It’s the sheer abundance with which limited materials are used here that first struck me,” he says. “The wall-to-wall French oak paneling, combined with materials that were ahead of their time—columns made not from marble but from stone-blasted concrete, the extraordinary round plaster ceiling inset, and the fiber-wood paneling—and his attention to the tiniest of details.” He tracked down the organization that owns the apartment, the Association Auguste Perret, to see if he and his wife could rent the unit as a pied-à-terre. To his surprise, they said yes. In the dining room, a marble-topped table by Eero Saarinen is ringed with Eames wire chairs. Through oak accordion doors, the atrium beckons with red Utrecht armchairs by Gerrit Rietveld and a yellow Diana table by Konstantin Grcic.

When the family wants to eat meals inside, they can sit around the dining table on Eames chairs.

An adjustable dining-room table is relatively common in Europe, according to the couple, who ordered their hydraulic legs from Switzerland. They allow for up to four presets, so the Garneaus have one for dining, one for working, and two for cooking, depending on who’s the chef. The table itself was designed by Robert’s firm, Studio Garneau, and has five drawers in it, some big enough to store Robert’s oversize flat artwork. skf.com Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

Elsewhere, the blocks accommodate other uses, like support for a built-in table and benches in the kitchen and a rooftop observatory (next slide) for watching the sun set over the Ilaló volcano.

The kitchen is “the most exciting room [in the house],” in Sofie's mind. However, the minimal gray interior makes choosing furnishings and accessories extremely important. “You have to be very careful setting the scene, like in a theater.” The dining table and chairs are by Poul Kjaerholm and the light is Ingo Maurer's Zettel’z chandelier.

In a space measuring just 650 square feet, multifunctionality is key.

Sheetrock surfaces comprise many of the interior walls, including one situated between the kitchen and dining area, which is furnished by benches and a table designed and built by Baumann, alongside HAL chairs by Jasper Morrison for Vitra.

In the dining room, a Poul Henningsen lamp hovers over a table by Philipp Mainzer for E15, surrounded by Hans Wegner Wishbone chairs. The artwork is by Maria Sanchez. The designer added a Banco kitchen by Dada with Jasper Morrison stools.

With Control4 automation, everything from music to lighting can be managed with the tap of a touchscreen. The Casalis balanced their home’s high-tech features with rich materials including a marble backsplash by Ciot, a wood table from Kantelberg + Co., and quartz countertops by Caesarstone. The casual dining area features Kartell Masters chairs and an airy Triumph chandelier by Eurofase.

Wardle’s firm also designed the dining table, where up to ten guests can gaze out at the Southern Ocean. The solid-oak Hiroshima chairs are designed by Maruni.

Part of the Pedestal collection introduced by Eero Saarinen as an answer to "the ugly, confusing, unrestful world" that lay beneath the surfaces of chairs and tables, this 42" round dining table comes in both Arabescato marble (shiny or matte finish), and a white laminate.