Contemporary gardening company Boskke creates products with urban spaces in mind. The Boskke Cube is an innovative, self-watering planter that only needs to be watered once a month. In addition to this practical feature, the Cube also exhibits a distinctive design— the classic pot is deconstructed and recast as a transparent planter, revealing the plant’s water, soil, and roots.

The Boskke Planters—available in a single cube and three-cube versions—are transparent, self-watering planters. Fehrenbacher says, “I am coveting these transparent planters right now! I love the design concept of transparency; in the case of these plant pots you can see the roots and thus the inner life and health of your plants. This would make a great gift for kids or adults.”

“The home is quite small, but designed in such a way that you don’t feel it,” Herrin says. Lift-slide openings by Quantum Windows & Doors, which were fabricated fewer than 50 miles from the house, make the main living space seem larger.

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.

Once hung, the planter can "self water" by pulling from the reservoir at bottom, and aerates the plants through the holes in the BPA-free plastic shell.

Keep your foodstuffs neatly stored and labeled in a chalkboard jam pot by Terrain.

Encourage a friend or loved one to finally grow that kitchen herb garden with this planter from Bosske. With a self-watering mechanism, the planter makes it easy to care for herbs, flowers, or grasses.

Tall indigenous wetland grasses grow fecund, right up to the border of the saltwater swimming pool.

Maggie Treanor waters plants around her rural home.

Mila designed the home’s concrete pool, which is finished with a custom plaster. The pool area includes sleek chairs from Cast + Crew.

In addition to its fleet of cube planters, Bosske designed the Sky Planter, which can be hung from a ceiling or covered porch. The interior of each planter includes a self-watering reservoir, limiting the amount of time one needs to spend watering. The hanging model also limits the amount of floor or table space that traditional planters take up, making them perfect options for small apartments.

Metropolis Pots: Hand-built porcelain planters with a glazed interior and bisque exterior.

A 41-foot-long heated saltwater pool includes a submerged tanning ledge. The hot tub was created using concrete and stucco. The outdoor area includes lounge chairs from Jøna’s curatory, Cast + Crew.

This Pleated Planter is sized to hold one plant and includes a self-watering wick to ensure that the plant does not need to be watered as frequently as typical earthenware planters. The earthy color of the planter makes it a neutral accent that will complement a dining room table, side table, or even the corner of a room.

Mary Henning and Ann Wansbrough's renovation of a semidetached cottage enables them to use 75 percent less town water than the average two-person home.

Located in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, the original 1916 factory building was converted to rental units in the 1980s and condominiums in 2005. The extensive drop ceilings were probably cost-saving heating measures by the original owner. With the apartment facing the less-exposed North and West elevations, the architect had to maximize the amount of sunlight the space could admit.

The Best Watering Can Although they admit that a watering can is a luxury (any old pitcher will do the trick) having a good watering can does make the chore easier. They recommend the Haw Bosmere V115 5-liter because it “produces a gentle rain the spindliest seedlings could love.”

A collaboration with Charlotte Perriand, this space-saving lighting solution suspends an incandescent bulb above a room via a nearly seven-foot metal rod. Considering it was created for the Maison Tropicale, a prefab housing unit meant to be manufactured in France and assembled in Africa, the small profile makes sense. The lamp can be adjusted and aimed via a wooden handle.

Eujin: Soma Water Move aside Brita and Bobble, because there's a new water filter in town. And it's 100% biodegradable and sleeker than that decorative object perched on your living room table. The simple and elegant design (which immediately reminded me of Dieter Rams) is all thanks to great talents Markus Diebel, IDEO's design director, and incase's cofounder Joe Tan, who designed the curved beauty and Manual's Tom Crabtree who took the helm on packaging. The release date is near, so I'd hop to it if I were you.

“It has a surreal element,” says Wooten of the house, nicknamed the Skull. In the snow, the building blends into the landscape. Its tallest form holds a periscope. Inside, Guido Gambone ceramics brighten the living area.

“Get a hanging pot rack. It frees up more than one cabinet’s worth of space,” Perelman advises. The Enclume Contemporary Oval Pot Rack is available from Williams Sonoma ($700). For a more affordable option, consider this forest green rack by Old Dutch International ($80).

Boskke's Clear Cube Planter only requires watering once monthly. Giving a clear view of plant growth as it happens, Boskke's planter brings transparency to gardening.

In the backyard, Umerani and Fashandi decided to limit the lawn to minimize water consumption.

Orrill wanted the kitchen to be command central for entertaining, so everything is kept inside minimalist cabinetry—except for the copper pots and pans hanging on the back wall, painted in Pale Water by ICI Dulux Paint. The refrigerator is by Jenn-Air and the faucet is American Standard.

They installed water-saving artificial grass on their patio for pup Moxy to enjoy.

Architect Bill Yudchitz asked his son, Daniel, to help him create a self-sustaining multi-level family cabin in Bayfield, Wisconsin.

A freestanding tub from the Water Monopoly.

At night, the entire studio glows like a lantern, its light amplified by the reflection in the seasonal pond. I

Designed by Swedish designer Monica Förster, the Brushed Brass Flower Pots celebrate the shape of traditional terracotta pots and elevates the look with a luxurious material selection. Maintaining the historical production methods of the Skultuna factory, these flower pots are made through the traditional practice of metal spinning. Through this process, Skultuna is able to make a round three-dimensional object out of sheet metal. The brushed nature of the flower pot gives it a distinctive look that is at once elegant and edgy. The pot can be used for a variety of plant types, and makes a striking storage vessel when not in use as a planter.

A skylight carved into the spa building appropriately fills this relaxation zone with natural light.

The simple, pared-down aesthetic and the open-ended time frame of the project—along with the couples’ building and design skills—helped Odgård and Lyng Hansen achieve their renovation on a miniscule budget, with a project outline that ebbed and flowed with Odgård’s professional successes in product design.

Coffee makers like this Cuisinart feature smart tech in sharp packaging—but they still clutter my counter.

Antique tea and chocolate pots are juxtaposed with a 1930s painting by Jacques Villon, Marcel Duchamp’s brother.