Here's a detail shot of the stool. The leather comes in four options—black, chocolate, tobacco, and saddle—and the brightly hued backing fabric comes in ten—sky, radish, egg yolk, cream, camel, charchol, sand, mocha, chocolate, and black.

Architect Ulrich Hamann's rendering of the new addition to the Lenbachhaus Museum and Gallery; the Stadtische Galerie Im Lenbachhaus. Image courtesy of Lenbachhaus Gallery and Museum.

Because their loft is a rental, David and Im Schafer built everything to be removable.

I.M. Pei, Luce Memorial Chapel (1963) When architect I.M. Pei designed this chapel for Tunghai University in Taiwan, he had to take local conditions, like typhoons and earthquakes, into account. His plan, which, included a curved roof of glazed, diamond-shaped tiles and interior ribs of reinforced concrete that run like ribbons towards the cross mounted on the roof, was an elegant solution to the challenges of the local environment. Photo courtesy Valter Wei, Creative Commons

Broken, 2014. I.M. Pei's Fountain Place in Dallas, Texas, built in 1986. “He used angles, triangles, planes and prisms to create a seemingly impossible visual space with this building,” says Olic. “The view from the east makes the structure seem broken and folded down the middle.”

In the bathroom, they did "basically surface things," says Im.

Luce Memorial Chapel in Tunghai, Taiwan, 1963, by I.M. Pei.

Here's IM Pei's Meyerson Symphony Center done up for the holidays.

Piet Hein Eek's wooden chairs add a touch of color to the monochromatic apartment. "I'm a fan of simple modern furniture, with a twist," says Carr. "I wanted to buy everything from Piet Hein Eek."

Local sailboat shops wanted thousands to make the 13-by-13-foot curtain that hides the Wall of Storage. "We we called my parents in Bangkok, gave them the dimensions, and they got it made for 150 bucks." says Im.

The Schaffer's furniture includes an Eames Aluminum Group lounge chair ("and ottoman!" adds Im.) A coffee table made of glued, corrugated cardboard was the couple's first project together, when they met in college eight years ago.

“I don’t paint landscapes when I’m here because I can’t compete with the natural beauty,” says Yael.

One of the more understated of the series, I'm quite fond of the rough ropey texture against the leather.

“I studied architecture as an undergrad, and even though I’m in interiors now, that education of not overpopulating spaces, of letting the building be seamless, has always carried through for me,” says Caroline.

"I'm not trying to do anything new in my work," Spellman states. "I'm simply trying to do it in my own way, and I'm still figuring out what exactly 'my own way' is."

Since the photo shoot, the couple have placed a desk in the triangular window nook and use the perch as a workspace. “There’s just something about it that hugs you,” says Shelley. “I feel very focused and relaxed when I’m here.”

The split-level roof deck was splendid. And the views of the city, which I'm taking in here, are pretty stellar too.

In the rear courtyard, Steve spent three days demolishing a rock grotto, which had been installed in the 1970s, with a jackhammer. Its boulders found new life as hardscaping near the pool. “I’m glad we could repurpose those boulders,” Jessy says, “I hate adding to landfill.”

Here's Phillipe Starck's Dr. Skud fly swatter. Nice enough, but I'm far more into the leather action at Lehman's.

Inspirational spaces

"We give every client a questionnaire," Kevin says. "The first question asks what they need in their home. No compromise. The second question asks what they want in their home. And the third question asks what would blow their mind. At the end of the day, I’m looking to fit all of those things into their tiny home."

Artist Christopher Florentino created this studio to be a source of inspiration. "This space is for me as an artist—to create in, to keep me inspired," he says. "I don’t think there are many spaces that have a Keith Haring and Shiro Kuramata chair in the same space. I’m trying to show who I am as a designer and as an artist."

One of the main draws of Kevin Freeman and Jen Feldmann’s house is its connection to the neighborhood, which is why the front porch was a must. “Homes that have a door but no outside space say, ‘I’m not interested in you,’” designer Christopher Robertson explains. “This says, ‘I’m here to be part of the community.’”

Bestor consulting with her demolition crew, in her kitchen-to-be. I'm hoping to get Bestor blogging about her renovation on Dwell.com—so stay tuned for that!

This is taken from another angle and really shows the degree of detail in the paint job. I'm still flabbergasted looking at the images now.

Cash and Rock are shown here in front of a blackened steel “fireplace wall” that was designed by Hufft Projects. Matthew explains how he’s learned to design things that are durable and safe. He continues, “You never realize how destructive kids are until you have them. I’m continuously learning from them and how they interact within architecture.”

I'm not in the market for dolls these days, but I'll be damned if these plush gals from goodbyebluemonday weren't adorable.

"The apartment put me on the path to what I’m doing for a living now, which is so cool,” says Nolan.

"I'm into special little accessories. I have a collection of bud vases from Heath Ceramics on our mantle."

"I'm a foodie, so this kitchen [holds] a lot of fun dinner parties," Nadarajah says. The island is a deeper shade of birch.

I'm more fond of the kitchen, which shows quite a bit of restraint, letting the silverware on the wall do most of the aesthetic heavy lifting.

I especially enjoyed the smaller tiles with the colorful, gasoline in water look to them, I'm sure they'd look beautiful in the sun.

British artist Hannah Sawtell and technologist Avi Flombaum created sawbaum.com, where users can create visual collages using multiple vine streams. "We wanted it to look like a visual comic book, with overlapping panels," said Flombaum. "And we wanted it to be fun!" Photo courtesy Rhizome.

Achieving such efficiency and maintaining the integrity of the wetlands and woodlands on the property meant more research for both the designers and the resident—just getting approval for the siting of the buildings and the driveway took eight months—but Hague is hardly one to do things half way. “A lot of times couples engage in house-building, like birds. I'm doing this solo, more like a monk,” he says of the deeply personal undertaking.