For a cost-conscious 2,000-square-foot renovation located 30 minutes outside of Austin, Texas, architect Nick Deaver took a look around for inspiration. He spied galvanized metal cladding on the region’s sheds and co-opted the inexpensive, resilient material for his own design.

The 925-square-foot house Maggie Treanor calls home blends into the landscape somewhat; with a galvanized steel shed roof and siding, it looks like a high-design little brother to the barns on the surrounding farms.

“There’s a presence to that place—it’s vast, and constantly shifting,” Moffitt says. “It was clear that this house should be an observation shed for the changing landscape beyond.”

@amyraegerber: #dwelloutdoor

Architects Alice Fung and Michael Blatt designed their own home in Los Angeles, complete with a modern fireplace design clad in galvanized steel.

Cadrona in Red from Mailboxes.co, $150-A powder-coated zincalume body and marine plywood front means zero rust and mold from this New Zealand-made mailbox; a locked lower half keeps mail and packaged protected while the open upper half holds newspapers.

This "local prefab" home on the Isle of Skye is made mostly from materials sourced in northern Scotland. The timber-framed model, meant to evoke the simple agrarian barns of the area, can be constructed on-site in as little as a day and is designed for affordability.

Asked to find an ecologically sustainable building solution, blaanc turned to a vernacular building technique that still thrives in certain pockets of rural Portugal, rammed earth.

Container Store finds, like galvanized-steel shelving in the kitchen, maximize storage.

The Premaydena House by Misho+Associates was designed as a "box within a box," in which two interior structures—an open-plan living space and two en suite bedrooms—sit within an exterior envelope. Inspired by the region’s fiery orange lichen and the indigenous waratah shrub’s bright flowers, the colorful exterior panels are made of heavy-duty galvanized steel to guard from Tasmanian winds, which can reach up to 60 miles per hour.

Rural and urban sensibilities mix indoors. The double-height living room nods to the loft-like spaces the family was accustomed to in Seattle; rough-hewn wood boards appeal to their "wabi sabi" taste in design.

The house's L shape permits a considerable courtyard, and plenty of space for lounging behind the rain screen. The stairs sit at the intersection of the two volumes and lead down into the more social of the two: the dining room, living room, and music room.

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).

These sleek, affordable planters from CB2 work well inside and out. From $7.95

Here's a rear view of the mailbox.

Comprised of the same material that 1950s–70s mailboxes used, the mailbox is made from powder-coated 20 gauge cold rolled steel that has been baked at 400 degrees to ensure resilience in all types of weather. The steel used in the modbox is thicker than steel used in mailboxes today, making it a more durable option.

“The owners were looking for a relaxed, welcoming environment,” says architect Sylvain Bilodeau. They wanted something “conceptually similar to a cottage, yet more refined, particularly in the relationships between spaces and between people. The goal was to have a present, living, and enthusiastic architecture that engages the senses.”

Rural Studio Graduation in Newbern As Alabama’s famed rural studio begins its twentieth year, the site-specific, community-based architecture program continues to expand its vision with an added focus on farming and the community. Photo by Tim Hursley

Construction of the Rural Studio Farm Elena Barthel: “The idea is to design and build our own farm with the students as a prototype to extend out of the academic community. We’re building an irrigation system based on gravity; water is collected off the roof in cisterns, then pumped up into a smaller water tower, then gravity will feed a drip irrigation system. The greenhouse as a whole is a manifesto of sustainable farming.” Photo by Tim Hursley

Envelope Mailbox in mint by Goodwin + Goodwin from Bouf, $69.59-Made in England, this simple, glossy envelope can hold sorted mail and other assorted household papers.

NB-2 wall-mounted mailbox in red from Neutra Box, $149-The wall-mounted version of Neutra Box’s NB-1, the NB-2 is made to order using leftover galvanized sheet metal and acrylic from fabrication shops.

Transit Mailbox in Dundas Yellow by Stephen Hugo-Seinader for Centrifuge, $180-Inspired by the Toronto Subway system, each colorway is based on and named after a particular station’s colored tilework.

modbox Midcentury Modern Mailbox, $320–$380 at the Dwell Store This mailbox is inspired by mailboxes that were produced in the 1950s and 1960s. Designer Greg Kelly was frustrated at being able to find a mailbox to complement his newly renovated midcentury home and decided to design his own. Now, the colorful mailbox is available for midcentury lovers everywhere.

The After Kelly’s successful Kickstarter campaign, the first modboxes were produced for the public in 2014. The modbox design is characterized by its use of color, line, and geometry, and features an easy-open door and cheerful red flag. Although originally designed to complement a midcentury modern home, the colorful mailbox will also look striking at a contemporary, modern, or any other home.

The Midcentury Modern Mailbox uses some of the same bright colors from the 1950s and 1960s, alongside neutral hues. The mailbox is available with a white or black base, and can add a cheerful pop of color in a yard or near a walkway. This retro mailbox is a solution for modern home dwellers, and will help celebrate the integrity of the home itself.

"I really love concrete, raw brick, rusty metal and galvanized steel,

Kakslauttanen (Saarriselka, Finland) True, these glass-covered igloos are built for two, but as far as small dwellings go, there are few that can boast such commanding views of the Northern Lights. So remote that it has a section on its website to reassure potential guests that it does, in fact, get phone service, the glass rooms looks like a grid of dots (or perhaps umlauts) against the snow-covered wilderness. Photo by Kakslauttanen

According to DIGSAU, “after reading many issues of Dwell” this client enlisted them to break them out of tract house living. Sourced wood from a nearby barn helped to create a modern yet rustic space. 2011. Photo by Todd Mason/Halkin Photography.

Letterman IV in orange by Michael Rösing for Radius-Design, $225 (without post)-This best-selling model is made to meet the deutsche post standards, but we bet it would be equally suitable on this side of the pond.

The Mason's Bees Community Center by Rural Studio

The black roof and siding is all galvanized sheet metal painted black.

TuboHotel (Tepoztlan, Mexico) Based on a similarly tubular take on hotel construction found in Germany, the TuboHotel turns recycled concrete tubing—stacked in pyramids—into outdoor dwellings with commanding views of the Sierra del Tepozteco archeological site. Firm T3arc arrayed the pipes in a random order to showcase the topography of the area. Photo by T3arc

"Bathroom #interiordesign in Barryville, NY, at the Stickett Inn."

A vintage looking mailbox resides inside the carport. Mail is still delivered by foot in this 1950s enclave.