Concrete stairs leading up to a sleeping loft are illuminated with wall sconces.

For one of two sleeping areas flanking the main living space, Wooten placed tatami from Miya Shoji on the cork floor. “With the radiant heating system, it’s fantastic to be in this glass box looking out at a blizzard, walking barefoot on the warm floor,” he says. “Tatami are not for everyone, but they are really comfy to me. Before we built the house, I stayed at a traditional bed-and-breakfast in Kyoto, Japan, and had one of the best nights of sleep ever, so I decided I wanted to do that style of bed. On top is a 150-year-old Japanese denim patchwork quilt I bought from a friend who took me to Japan. I’ve always admired Japanese design—Noguchi is one of my favorites—so I was inspired to have that spirit in the house.” miyashoji.com

Upstairs is a sleeping loft, accessible by a spiral staircase. A digital projector makes it possible for the couple to watch movies against the opposite wall.

Covered terraces take advantage of the temperate Northern California climate and respect the local vernacular. A rear sleeping porch is the perfect place to enjoy warm summer and fall nights.

Designed by Tham & Videgård Arkitekter, this house is located in the outer region of the Stockholm archipelago. To keep expenses low, the architects opted for a simple gabled design and simple materials—the sheet metal facade and OSB walls within, for instance.

In the sleeping loft, floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the fir canopy of the surrounding forest. "The house faces east, so the sun and moon rise and reflect on the water," Hoover says. "The moon rising with the fire crackling is a delight. And on sunny summer mornings, the sunbeams magically shimmer off the Puget Sound and reflect onto the ceiling of the bedroom, we could never have planned this."

The auxiliary cabins contain the sleeping quarters. A ladder leads to a sleeping loft underneath a gabled ceiling. The cabin’s bathroom is situated beneath the loft and features clean white fittings and tile.

Key to the space-efficient floor plan is a strategically placed set of recessed areas, includingthe sleeping nook and writing desk.

The ultra-compact "sleeping berths" are a couple of steps up from the ground. Deep frame windows mediate views to the outside and the white walls bounce diffused light to illuminate the space as if it were a light box.

Balearic Beauty in Boxes (Palma de Mallorca, Spain) Situated in a more relaxed part of Spain, this converted container hotel offers a condensed rooftop escape, a quiet private pool and crisp, unobtrusive design. The flat includes a pair of cycles to simplify your stay. Listing at Container home, a unique house!

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The sleeping cabin perches on a rocky rise near the Floating House; Meredith imagines these two as a start of a string of buildings that will wrap around the island.

With two sleeping lofts and a convertible daybed, the Traveler can accommodate six.

"Beauty," Olafur Eliasson, 1993. In this work, a spotlight shines through a layer of mist to create a rainbow that's only visible from certain angles.

Beauty parlor, Osu, Accra.

50th Anniversary: Gold Beauty Mirror by Michael Anastassiades, $2,656

Sleeping Lamp, 2013, white oak and black aluminum. Photo by: Gilad Langer

Inspired by Swiss Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor, the Yudchitzes designed and crafted an exquisitely precise interior. As they report in this Dwell article, “It cost at least $100,000 to build because the materials were crafted to within .002 inches, so it’s expensive for what it is."

Angus opts to sleep on top of the bed rather than beneath it.

The sleeping loft is fitted with mahogany rails.

Photo by: rauchdickson.

Photo by: TheSchoolofStyle.

A mezzanine level is accessible by a ladder, and sliding panels are integrated into the design so that occupants can peer outside.

S Plus sleep monitor by Resmed, $150 at resmed.com Sync this bedside device with a smartphone and answer a few simple qusetions about your day at bedtime, and wake up the next day with a detailed sleep-cycle breakdown, complete with suggestions for how to get a better night's rest.

Sleepbox (Moscow, Russia) Another effective cost coup in an overpriced capital, the Sleepbox in Moscow brings a stylish, plywood aesthetic to the microhotel category. Near the Kremlin, the hotel is built around modular Sleep Box units created by the Arch Group that fit together like a set of rectangular Tetris pieces.

In the tiny sleeping loft is a platform bed with two drawers beneath it. In place of wallpaper, Schönning enlarged a photograph he snapped in Rio de Janeiro. The inset spotlights and a small shelf at the end of the bed offer light and additional storage. Photo by Per Magnus Persson.

An adjustable ladder, which blends in with the walls in Vipp's signature ebony powder-coated steel, leads up to the sleeping loft.

Moe stands in front of the circular opening between the living area and the sleeping/bath quarters.

SleepiQ Smart Bed by Sleep Number In a perfect world, bedtime for kids means junior falls asleep before you reach the end of Goodnight Moon. If reality is more of a pain, getting the right bed might alleviate some of the stress of getting a full 10 or so hours (the recommended amount for nightly sleep for children). Sleep Number developed a smart bed that tracks the quality of a night's slumber, features lights that shine down on the floor to unobtrusively illuminate midnight trips to the bathroom, and there's also a "Monster Detector" for those afraid of what goes bump in the might. Expected retail is $1,000.

Accessed by a ladder with alternating treads, the sleeping loft features custom casework by Kevin P. Clarke Custom Woodwork that holds Kid Robot figurines, Hopi baskets, and an iPhone gramophone by Lawrence LaBianca. Lights by Pablo Designs are perched atop a bed that Baker designed. Peeking out from under the rug (made by Baker’s mother, Emilie) is a salvaged maple floor, which was finished with VOC-free flaxseed oil.

The lower portion of the structure contains a glass-clad sleeping area, while the upper portion contains a study. A staircase and small passageway connect the two parts.

Goolrick designed sliding partitions that when closed still allow light to flow through her 560-square-foot space, and when opened reveal cocoonlike sleeping quarters.

The low-slung Strata sofa by King Furniture is perfect for “sleeping.”

TRANSFORMATIVE The seventh and final section features knitted garments by Laduma Hgxokolo (front); behind them are architectural furnishings by designers Dokter and Misses, which were inspired by painted African houses. "This one comes from a whole village of pieces," says Lupton, "and they all have hidden storage that's part of them."

TRANSGRESSIVE "They're just stunning, weird, otherworldly, and completely intricate," says Lupton of the Afreaks collection by the Haas Brothers, who hand-beaded each piece in collaboration with South African craftswomen, affectionately referred to as the "Haas Sisters."