Measure, measure, and measure again. It’s worth drawing areas on paper and checking again before starting.

Founded ninety years ago in Okayama, Japan, Kamoi Kakoshi invented “washi” rice paper masking tape. Now branded as MT Masking Tape, the tape is easy to tear and can be easily repositioned without affecting the surface it is placed on. The tape is semi-transparent, which provides a nice effect when different tapes are layered on each other.

The house uses solar panels and water tanks to function off the grid. Its waste water is recycled and used for irrigation.

Magnetic Tape Cutter Sleek and minimal, this Magnetic Tape Cutter from designer Kamoi Kakoshi for MT Masking Tape adds beauty to functional office objects. A two-tone camel and cream coloring lends sophistication while the magnetized side adds unique functionality.

Masks by Jaime Hayon, glimpsed in Ventura Lambrate.

Pros: Also known as composite quartz, engineered quartz comes in a wide range of colors and textures with the general durability of real stone slabs, but with the ease of manufacturing and installation of a man-made product. As a result, engineered quartz isn’t as expensive as other natural stone countertops. Cons: On the other hand, customers can expect to see these qualities reflected in the price of engineered quartz, which can be on the higher end. Quartz also doesn’t handle extreme heat as well as granite does.

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

The transformed facade features dark gray stained-masonry.

The cement exterior walls were painted in a dark color to blend in with the forest. Aluminum window frames add some texture to the facade.

The darker gray garage door offers a chromatic and textural contrast to the concrete shell.

A solid brass cream jug by British designer Tom Dixon is the gold standard of creamers, whether or not you take milk with your tea.

Formstelle's Morph Kid chair is sleek in solid oak or American walnut, whether it is finished in blue, black, pink or a shade of gray.

Lightroom 1.0, a photography studio, is a freestanding structure on the property. “Together, they represent an autobiography of my career,” Carpenter says.

For a smattering of Huntington's different designs, try a set of coasters. Just $10 for a set of four, $15 for two sets.

A 200-year-old factory in Umbria is transformed into an inviting home by designer Paola Navone. In the seating area, a trolley found at a flea market functions as the coffee table alongside an expansive Navone-designed sofa for Linteloo. Custom pendants by photographer Mark Eden Schooley hang above the dining table. Photo by Wichmann + Bendtsen.

A original hemlock wood wall clads the corridor leading to the bathroom. Just inside, the dark gray epoxied shower area (with a Cimarron Kohler toilet) forms a solid contrast to the white walls and floors.

A large kitchen island makes up for the lack of upper cabinet space and separates the kitchen from the living room. The cabinetry is custom made by Henrybuilt, hidding all appliances other than the copper BlueStar range.

Architect Paul Syme designed custom storage units with dark-stained walnut fronts that provide a place for everything in his clients’ Toronto bathroom. The wall-to-wall mirror and the Corian counter are custom, and the faucets are by Vola.

Near the entrance is the front room, or music room, their daughter’s current favorite play area. “Every space needed to be used efficiently,” Parisien notes of the home’s remodel.

Rich, dark concrete panels and colorfully dispersed windows wrap the exterior in varying permutations.

Fashion designer Josie and her husband Ken Natori are big fans of traditional Japanese architecture, so when Brooklyn-based practice Tsao & McKown Architects designed their home in Pound Ridge, New York, they used a heavy, exposed-timber structure, and included Japanese-style gardens and landscaping.

The owners of this 2,300-square-foot converted loft in SoHo have a penchant for color and collections. To make way for these elements, BC-OA kept new materials simple and desaturated with super white walls; oil-finished, white oak flooring; and white lacquered cabinetry. In the dining area, a custom designed, built-in, tufted banquette adds soft juxtaposition against the live edge dining table. The velvet upholstery is meant to provide contrast against the exposed, white-washed original brick in both texture and era. Overhead a brass chandelier with exposed Edison bulbs references the former Swan Incandescent Electric Light Co. which occupied the loft after construction was completed in 1897.

A look at the home's front facade. In a Melbourne suburb, Splinter Society Architecture designed the versatile home for Mark and Cara Harbottle and their three young children.

Inspired by modern Japanese minimalism, Hong Kong practice JAAK demolished the walls of this two-bedroom apartment and remodelled it into a studio with an

The living area boasts nearly 10-foot-high ceilings that impart a feeling of airiness and spaciousness. Discreet, built-in storage in the floor at the top of the steps prevents clutter from accumulating.

The bedrooms feel like sanctuaries, as they’re much darker and enclosed than other spaces in the home.

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Inside the home green and blue are used for the bathroom block, dark brown for the sliding door, and orange for the wall dividing the living room from the kitchen. The floor is dark gray industrial poured concrete.

"In this project, we got so much benefit out of this 'secret garden' for the master suite along with all of these environmental benefits that the residents were excited to embrace. It's one of the pieces we are happiest about," says architect Jonathan Feldman.

Flaunt your seriousness at work with the Concrete desk set by Magnus Pettersen. $600

Living in between the woods

Along with its furniture and accessories, the Heima and My Apt. shops sell vinyl records, international design magazines, posters by Pop Chart Lab, audio gear, and more.

"My Apt. is more masculine, industrial, and a little 'Brooklyn' in terms of inspiration," Bong says of the Heima sub-brand.

Designer Jonas Damon strikes again, this time turning his eye to another oft-stashed-in-the-back-of-the-desk object: the Scotch tape dispenser. Recalling a grinning whale, Moby is bound to brighten any desktop.

Entry bench and wire-brushed fir wainscoting.