Custom kitchen cabinets designed by Pulltab and fabricated by Maciek Winiarczyk hold mostly vintage ironstone that Geiger has found at flea markets and estate sales over the past 20 years. "I love white," she says, "because I think food always looks better on it." She also collects vintage wooden cutting boards, shown resting against the marble tile backsplash from Stone Source.

It might not make you popular with your contractor, but for a more streamlined look, Chris recommends forgoing trim. "It lends a clean look with less visual clutter," the architect says. In their house, the doors, lights, cabinetry, and even wall sockets (all 22 by Bocci) are installed without trim. This allows the planar surfaces to recede and do their jobs without unnecessarily distracting the eye.

For a Toronto couple with a love of minimalist Japanese architecture, a sleek, storage-packed kitchen was the first priority in their home's renovation. In the kitchen, white oak used for the cabinets, kitchen island, and dining table is finished with double-boiled linseed oil, which can be reapplied by the homeowners as the wood mellows and patinas. The custom beveled edge for the island's "Blizzard" white Caesarstone countertop forgoes the standard one-inch countertop overhang to save on space and maintain a sleek feel. A Vola faucet is used with a sink by Mekal.

To maximize light, Dana opted for white surfaces, from the custom cabinetry to the Silestone countertops. “You can’t put a lemon or a Popsicle down on marble, so we got quartz, which is virtually indestructible,” she says.

Inspired by mid-century furniture designer George Nakashima, Seggerman crafted the components by hand in his home studio. The cabinetry in the kitchen and shelving in the bedroom seamlessly flow, adding the impression that there is more space. Photo by David Engelhardt.

On the side of the home that faces the canal, the main kitchen’s aesthetic is decidedly elemental. Custom Eginstill hot-rolled steel cabinetry with recessed Gaggenau appliances surround a Carrara marble island.

Brightened by light from the backyard, the built-in credenzas and kitchen cabinetry are by JKK Woodcraft. A Kartell FL/Y pendant lamp bridges the glass and wood details.

In the Spotlight“I’m a huge proponent of lighting as architecture,” says Nix, who suggests illuminating objects instead of empty space. “Light on an object creates ambiance.” In their apartment, they’ve trained track lights from the Polish company LightArt on the Cube, as well as on the handmade cabinetry. The fixtures, which Novak-Zemplinski describes as “good quality and inexpensive in comparison to more well-known brands,” are also installed at the MoMA in New York. lightart.pl Practical DecorationOne of the secrets to living neatly in a small apartment, says Nix, is lots of storage space. To that end, the couple built big cabinets along the walls. To create a sense of visual unity throughout the eclectic but compact space, the couple hand-carved the tree pattern from the kitchen into these cabinet doors (from a template) using an electric router. It’s more than ornament: The cutouts eliminate the need for jutting cabinet pulls. biolinia.com

Big Branch Woodworking and Lackey Construction fabricated the cabinetry throughout the home, including the birch built-ins in the mudroom, designed by Jessica Helgerson Interior Design. Each family member has his or her own cubby with storage for coats, shoes, hats and gloves, with built-in outlets for charging iPhones.

The cabinetry in the kitchen and elsewhere is crafted from discarded, chopped-up billboards. White paint camouflages their fronts, but when pulled open, their colorful sides offer a glimpse of their previous life as streetside advertising.

In addition to Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances, the kitchen features an on-demand hot water recirculation pump that reduces wasteful water heating. Schwinn cabinet pulls adorn the custom cabinetry and the K7 faucet is from Grohe.

By designing the custom cabinetry themselves, and journeying outside Houston to have them made, the Fords saved a bundle—money that they invested in appliances such as this highly efficient dishwasher from Asko, a Professional Series range from Bertazzoni, and an Energy Star–rated BI-30U fridge by Sub-Zero.

The new kitchen includes walnut cabinetry, a Bertazzoni range, a Futuro Futuro range hood, a Nespresso coffee system and convection oven from Miele, and a Jenn-Air refrigerator. The faucet is by Grohe; the sink is from Ticor. “The kitchen is in the same spot as it was,” Julien says. “We kept the plumbing fixture locations, but enlarged it.”

Bates Masi designed the two-inch-thick Carrara marble countertops and white fiberboard cabinetry in the kitchen.

Laminated-MDF cabinetry helps to hide clutter in the kitchen.

Top designers give their advice about how to choose a stylish, functional faucet and what it will cost. Hint: it’s more than you may think.

Custom kitchen cabinetry was designed by Workstead and fabricated by the firm’s go-to woodworker Bartenschlager.

Built-ins in the bedroom echo the cabinetry from the great room.

The architect at home in his kitchen with cabinetry that he also designed.

Virginia. Furniture-maker Todd Leback avoids stains and paints, preferring instead to let high-quality materials speak for themselves. Here, however, the grain of a custom cabinet is complemented by restrained use of black and red.

Brisbane-based studio Owen and Vokes and Peters designed a modern kitchen addition for a traditional Queensland-style timber house. Glossy Vogue Ghiaccio kitchen tiles set off custom cabinetry built by Cooroy Joinery & Woodworks using American oak veneer and Centor doors. The dishwasher is by AEG.

The firm also designed the kitchen, which was fabricated by Thomson Cabinetry.

Architect Darrick Borowski, designed the nearly wall-size custom cabinetry.

A narrow band of ceramic tiling delineates the compact kitchen from the rest of the room. Built-in cabinetry doubles as seating to help integrate the kitchen into the dining area. The table from Maison du Monde spans the subtle divide.

This house in Carmel by the Sea is enlivened by its very red kitchen cabinetry. By knocking down a dividing wall, the architects opened the kitchen up to the rest of the living space. Ikea red lacquer cabinetry and Caesarstone countertops replace dingy cupboards and old-fashioned finishes. Stainless steel appliances help ground the airy, open space.

To avoid formality, Phillips created a different environment for each room. The kitchen, for example, is understated by virtue of its simple cabinetry by Boffi, and its white walls that flow with the rest of the house. “What we love about living here,” says Judith, “is that it works well with our young family. There is plenty of daylight, all the latest technology, and we don’t have to worry about sticky fingers destroying anything.”

In this truly tiny apartment, a 240-square-foot shoebox of an apartment in NYC with a sleeping loft over the kitchen, architect Tim Seggerman went straight to his toolbox to craft a Nakashima-inspired interior. Photo by David Engelhardt.

Wherever possible, Shively looked to work with local craftsmen. For example, all of the cabinetry was made by Lambright Woodworking, an Amish company in Indiana, and custom doors and trim were made by Jarzab Construction, a team of local Polish carpenters.

The galley kitchen, in classic white, is the one splurge within the interior: it was custom made by Bulthaup from their B1 series. A narrow window, with a frosted bottom panel, balances views and privacy.

The kitchen looks out onto the courtyard. Inside the house, the floors are heated polished concrete. "For the interior, we kept everything as uniform and unarticulated as possible in the living spaces and bedrooms: pale concrete floors to match the walls as close as possible, no baseboards, etc., allowing the focus to be on the objects the house would contain: Tuan’s paintings and photos, the furniture and millwork that they chose," Balaban says.

All the cabinetry in the kitchen/dining area, including the door into the parlor bathroom, is of FSC-certified maple. Hand-blown lights of recycled glass hang over the dining table.

Salminen chose flame birch for the cabinetry for its remarkable wavy wood grain.

Almost every element of the interior—from the kitchen cabinetry to the art on the walls—was created by Dollahite himself.

To detail to the kitchen cabinetry and shelving, plywood sheets were turned on their sides to expose multi-toned striations.

Abodian built the cabinetry in the kitchen, which features the same sapele wood used throughout the home.

Broom stacking chairs by Philippe Starck face Caesarstone countertops in the kitchen. A Liebherr refrigerator and Wolf stovetop are on the opposing wall, alongside bleached white oak casework that was custom made by Hutchison and interior designer Carla Allbee.