The Andersen Architectural Collection’s Eagle windows and doors provide the panes and passageways of the home.

Second ComingIt took multiple weekend trips, but the couple finally landed upon enough green tiles to cover their kitchen wall. Overstock tiles and seconds can be purchased from Heath Ceramics in its Sausalito showroom. Though the surfaces aren't as uniformly colored nor as flat as first-run tiles, they offer a unique tone ans texture when the tiles are laid out.heathceramics.com Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

The cabinets in the master bathroom are made of kirei board, a material produced from the stalks of sorghum.

The entire cabin is powered by the rooftop solar system from Solarwinds Northernlights. "I still can't get over the fact that I can get an ice cube from the sun," Bruce says.

The Lai family—Mayuko, baby Shota on her lap, David, Maya, and Yumi sitting on a cushion on the deck—relaxes in their indoor-outdoor living space, made by opening the glass sliding doors to connect the living room and engawa deck.

The most sustainable element of all is the Lais’ intention to make their first home their last home as well. “Some people have this mentality of getting a starter house, then upgrading from there,” David says. “We just wanted to find a place to live in and then stay there forever.” Eventually they imagine passing the home down to their children.

This story originally appeared on Matador Network, a Dwell partner site. Abbie Mood is a Denver-based writer for Matador Network. Read all her posts here.

A new kitchen system by Nendo for Scavolini.

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

The house that Fleetwood Fernandez Architects designed for contractor Mehran Taslimi and his wife, Laila, embraces its surroundings. “They wanted doors that they could just throw open,” designer Hunter Fleetwood says of the retractable wall system from Vitrocsa.

The rain-catchment system next to the outdoor shower collects and disposes of the first five gallons of rainwater to ensure that the cleanest water is diverted into the cistern.

The open observatory.

A collection of flea-market finds and personal keepsakes sit perched upon a shelf in Austin’s studio.

Textured concrete walls are a signature of Cho’s work.

“Your first impression is that the house is very closed,” says David Barragán of the building he designed with Jose María Sáez in Quito, Ecuador. Stacked concrete forms, developed by Barragán and Sáez and used as planters along the front facade, offer privacy and integrate the building with the site.

It’s a good idea to read reviews about specific pieces before buying them, which can help prepare you for the unexpected.

Lara and Ethan Pagnier have hosted over 40 travelers since joining Airbnb, and it's easy to see what attracts them. Apart from owning a spotless home in San Francisco's coveted Mission district, the pair are natural hosts.

Urbem lighting collection by Jenner Studio at Area Sciesa.

Much of the 1950s and '60s furniture collection comes from Denmark, the Czech Republic, Poland and the Netherlands.

Geraldine and Kit Laybourne remodeled the kitchen in their High Line apartment with yellow and gray interiors. The kitchen features an Artematica Vitrum glass system from Valcucine, artwork by Craig Kucia, and banquette cushion fabrics by Hella Jongerius for Maharam.

A pressed-steel Parallel shelving system by Terence Woodgate holds books and mementos.

The bedding is intentionally simple, without layers of unnecessary pillows, and the “non-headboard headboard,” as Santos describes it, is a loose macramé wall hanging by Sally England. The built-in storage wall that defines the space is painted Kendall Charcoal by Benjamin Moore in a matte finish—a shade used on millwork throughout the house. The Isaac brass sconces are from Schoolhouse Electric, and the floor lamp is from Crate & Barrel. The rocker was custom made by Onefortythree in Las Vegas.

Distinguished crystal manufacturer Saint-Louis charged three female designers (Paola Navone, Kiki Van Eijk, and Ioanna Vautrin) to design a lighting collection. The designers visited the Saint Louis archives to draw inspiration. Here, Kiki Van Eijk used a former mold to develop an interactive light that opens and closes to your desired brightness.

Designed by Renzo Piano, the Menil Collection contains some 17,000 works by a wide-array of 20th-century modernists, from Man Ray to Mark Rothko.

Eales tells us the Sealand products are headed to France and New Zealand in 2016, and that he has been working on designs for some hemp and cotton apparel.

For more information on Sealand products, see their website.

Eales, a 2013 Design Indaba Emerging Creative whose surfboard rack won Most Beautiful Object in South Africa two years ago, is a product designer with a focus on the integrity of the raw materials he uses. Together, with a shared passion for the water and creating environmentally friendly products, he and Schlebach hope that Sealand will help keep litter from South Africa’s shores.

VIPP's kitchen line launched last year.

FlatBoxLed Contact Track Spotlight by Dinnebier + Blieske, produced by Mawa Design Licht- und Wohnideen GmbH.

Crafted from Hasami’s custom blend of porcelain and clay, this plate is softer to the touch than traditional porcelain, ensuring a positive tactile experience when passing a companion her plate or serving a dish. With a lovely matte finish, this plate is sophisticated enough to serve to a distinguished guest, and simple enough to use every day. This natural hue is the perfect choice for a fall meal.

Albed's very chic closet systems put regular old coat hangers to shame.

A detail of Midas, a textural wool and bamboo silk rug from Tsar. The pattern was inspired by the play of light on cracked lines of ancient porcelain mosaic.

The United States' National Park Service collateral (which won the US Presidential Design Award in 1985). The Unigrid is a modular system meant to save costs by predetermining everything from "paper size to graphics to cartography and illustration."

The Cocoon wireless sound system for Denon, whose form-meets-function shape is partially inspired by the work of Constantin Brancusi.