A New York City apartment with walnut upper kitchen cabinets has a stainless-steel backsplash that ties into the finish of the fridge and the lower cabinets. The walnut dining room table does quadruple duty as a work station and storage unit, and an eating and entertaining area.

An adjustable dining-room table is relatively common in Europe, according to the couple, who ordered their hydraulic legs from Switzerland. They allow for up to four presets, so the Garneaus have one for dining, one for working, and two for cooking, depending on who’s the chef. The table itself was designed by Robert’s firm, Studio Garneau, and has five drawers in it, some big enough to store Robert’s oversize flat artwork. skf.com Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

In a space measuring just 650 square feet, multifunctionality is key.

"Many of the decisions were about maximizing luminosity within the apartment," principal James Slade says. The open-plan kitchen and dining room features a custom walnut picnic-style table.

Located just off the kitchen, this room was originally designed for dining—the adjustable Ligne Roset Crescendo coffee table can be raised to 28.75 inches—but most days Bill and Abbie prefer to eat outside or at their casual Caesarstone-topped kitchen island. Today the space serves as a sunny reading spot and guest room, with a convertible futon (from Ligne Roset, since discontinued) and a set of leather-and-steel Paulistano armchairs from Design Within Reach.

The materials palette is similarly restrained, making the only natural piece of wood in the house—the almost 14-foot-long walnut slab in the kitchen—really stand out. "If there was wood everywhere it would lose its gravitas," notes Chris.

Let them know you care without draining your bank account. These holiday gifts hit the spending sweet spot and work for just about everyone.

Cal and Macy enjoy a snack from Mom at the almost 14-foot-long walnut slab table sourced from Arborica in Marshall, California. The wood came from a tree that fell into a Palo Alto, California, street. A trio of Tom Dixon Beat Lamps provide the perfect counterpoint to a slew of black plastic Eames shell chairs from Herman Miller.

The walnut coffee table in the living room is by Samuel Moyer.

Norman Millar and Judith Sheine designed the built-ins in the living-dining area, which were made from vertical-grain Douglas fir. Vintage Dutch industrial chairs are arranged around a black walnut dining table that, like the madrone coffee table, is by Urban Hardwoods.

Udechuku and Smith consider the rare rosewood-and-black glass dining set by Joaquim Tenreiro the highlight of their Brazilian Modern exhibition. "It's a true masterpiece, and the only piece I have felt really nervous about using," admits Udechuku.

The Extending Desk is an innovative home furnishing that can be used as both a desk and dining table. The walnut table can expand from five feet to ten feet, making it easy to adapt from a casual four-person meal to a dinner party with eight guests. While most extending dining tables require removing and storing a table leaf, this table expands simply by sliding.

This walnut table presents a welcoming canvas for an autumnal tablescape. The Catalina Extension Table is an elegant round table that maintains the simplicity of midcentury modern design with its simple tabletop and trestle-legged structure. The table features an easy-stow retract and expand leaf within the table, making it simple to extend the table and close it to its smaller stature.

For Gabriel Ramirez and his partner Sarah Mason Williams, following the Sea Ranch rules—local covenants guide new designs—didn’t mean slipping into Sea Ranch clichés. The architects love Cor-Ten steel, with its ruddy and almost organic surface, and they made it the main exterior material, along with board-formed concrete and ipe wood. The Cor-Ten, which quickly turned an autumnal rust in the sea air, and the concrete, with its grain and crannies, mean the house isn’t a pristine box, Ramirez says. His Neutra house “was very crisp and clean,” he says. “This house is more distressed, more wabi-sabi.”

The living-dining room overlooks the neighborhood and the Bay beyond. The Safari chair was designed by Jens Quistgaard. Michael Thonet chairs are paired with a walnut table by Anthony Marschak for Original Timber Co.

Sullivan, a contractor, owns the remodeling company Impact Construction. He designed and performed the work in several stages, with collaboration from friends Kevin Nigri, AIA, and Stephen Strasser. The dining table, the Parsons model from Room & Board with a walnut top, is surrounded by Adelaide chairs from BoConcept. The Random pendant light is by Moooi.

Bill Thompson’s Hollywood home exudes modern cool with a custom walnut dining table and chairs from Modernica.

Shophouses are a staple of Southeast Asian urban architecture. A team of designers including Yong Ter, Teng Wui, Andrew Lee, and Edwin Foo renovated this shophouse into a contemporary sanctuary over the course of two years. They left the roof completely open from the beginning of the original airshaft to the back of the house. The heart is a cooking/dining area with a 13-foot-long Indonesian table made from a single piece of teak.

When the family wants to eat meals inside, they can sit around the dining table on Eames chairs.

The kitchen is “the most exciting room [in the house],” in Sofie's mind. However, the minimal gray interior makes choosing furnishings and accessories extremely important. “You have to be very careful setting the scene, like in a theater.” The dining table and chairs are by Poul Kjaerholm and the light is Ingo Maurer's Zettel’z chandelier.

Sheetrock surfaces comprise many of the interior walls, including one situated between the kitchen and dining area, which is furnished by benches and a table designed and built by Baumann, alongside HAL chairs by Jasper Morrison for Vitra.

The walnut staircase and slide in a Chicago town house leads from the main level to the basement. To protect people on the ride down, a “crash pad” fashioned from a standard gymnastic mat covers the wall at the slide’s base.

A pair of matching Idea lights by Vesoi over a dining room table and chairs, both locally-made.

Handcrafted from rich American black walnut wood, the Santa Monica Dining Table calls to the streamlined and elegant look of dining furniture from the midcentury modern period. The tabletop marries both hard lines and gentle curves and is supported by angled legs.

Modern furniture brand Brush Factory was founded by Rosie Kovacs and Hayes Shanesy in 2009. Their lineup includes streamlined wood pieces, like this walnut dining table with a solid leg base.

With the help of architect Bart Lens, Veerle Wenes and Bob Christiaens merged a 19th-century building with a 1970s one to create a combined home and art gallery in Antwerp. In the dining room downstairs, Wenes entertains family, friends, and gallery visitors. The yellow chair is by Jens Fager.

"By providing a clean modern base of crisp white walls, the more rustic and industrial materials stand out and give warmth and nostalgia not found in a starkly modern home," Pavonetti says.

In the dining area, a one-of-a-kind table with a reclaimed Carrara marble top by NET—themultidisciplinary design firm of architect Alejandro Sticotti, with whom Nicolas works—is surrounded by prototypes of the company’s Board chair. The family dog, China, sits on a floor made of travertine tiles.

The dining table, a custom design by Formwork, and red Non chairs by Komplot complement the addition’s cypress cladding.

Vipp's prefab Shelter requires a delivery time of six months and costs $585,000. Pricing includes interior fittings, all by Vipp, including bathroom vanity, lighting, leather daybed, kitchen island, dining table (pictured), bedding, storage, and even kitchen utensils.

The central, welded-iron staircase is the house’s most striking contemporary feature. Beyond it, more large sliding doors conceal extra storage and the home entertainment system.

In the Norton family home in London’s Stoke Newington district, Jamie Norton and his sons, Miller, 3, and Ned, 7, enjoy a meal at a salvaged table and chairs found at a local vintage shop. The ceramics are by Richard Batterham.

The screen porch serves as an auxiliary dining area and is furnished with a Teak outdoor table from Ikea surrounded by three chairs, including two vintage chairs and a silver 1006 Navy chair by Emeco from Design Within Reach.

Buser made the dining table which is surrounded by Chair 611s by Alvar Aalto for Artek.

Of the Caesarstone counter, which extends to a built-in steel dining table with a detachable leaf, he says, “The total length is just over 16 feet, which gives it a really beautiful, sleek proportion.” Chairs are from IKEA.