The open-plan area is lined with custom plywood cabinets.

This Victorian-era home in Melbourne, renovated by OOF! Architecture, maintains privacy from the street, but does so in an unusually "friendly" manner—with a giant brick wall that spells out "Hello," a collaboration with local artist Rose Nolan. The residents wanted their house to appeal to passersby, since it sits on a well-trafficked block near a café.

A garage-style door separates the patio from the street.

The front of the house was originally a storefront, with large windows overlooking the street.

This "local prefab" home on the Isle of Skye is made mostly from materials sourced in northern Scotland. The timber-framed model, meant to evoke the simple agrarian barns of the area, can be constructed on-site in as little as a day and is designed for affordability.

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.

While the back part of the house originally housed the bathroom and laundry rooms, all but making the adjacent garden inaccessible, the new design places the living and dining spaces in this area to maximize natural light. Commonly available materials are used throughout the home, such as plywood and the industrial tresses that criss-cross the open-plan living area.

A polished concrete floor adds an industrial touch. The oven is Siemens, and the cooktop and dishwasher are Miele. The kitchen island is a concrete benchtop resting on a custom steel frame. The pendants are refurbished “Saturn” pendants by Fog & Morup. Curtains allow the residents to divide the space.

Black and white kitchen cabinets painted with a triangular pattern add a whimsical touch to this funky kitchen.

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.

Coccola Table for David Design – A small table made of sand-casted aluminum and solid oak legs. This piece is a collaboration with young French designer Marion Gros. Photo courtesy of: David Design

When Abbie and Bill Burton hired Marmol Radziner to design their prefab weekend home, their two requests were “simple-simple, replaceable materials,” says Abbie—such as concrete floors (poured offsite in Marmol Radziner's factory) and metal panel siding—and “the ability to be indoors or outdoors with ease.” Deep overhangs provide shade and protection from rain, so the Burtons can leave their doors open year-round and hang out on their 70-foot-long deck even in inclement weather. They visit the house once a month, usually for a week at a time, with Vinnie and Stella, their rescue Bernese Mountain dogs. Their two adult children occasionally join them. The couple hopes to one day retire here.

These trays designed by David Rasmussen are functional Danish modern art for your table. Available in hard walnut and maple, each plate is trimmed with a slick pop of color and finished with food-safe oil. Use this tray as a sleek way to serve up holiday hors d'eouvres or simply as a centerpiece for the table.

The concrete wall mimics the slope of the hill outside as a reference to early Maori structures that were dug into the land. The simple kitchen has strandboard cabinetry and an MDF island that conceals a fireplace at one end. The ceramic works on the built-in seat at right are by Raewyn Atkinson and Robyn Lewis.

After living on and studying a woodsy acre of land in North Zealand, Denmark, architect Jesper Brask cleared a stand of pine trees and, from the timber, built a getaway open to its surroundings. The house, which Brask shares with his wife, Lene, and sons, Kristian, Jens, and Niels, is used mainly in summer, when the weather is optimal for throwing open the glass doors.

Mami and Goo the Kishu dog return from a frolic in the forest, which the couple, along with Hideaki, has thinned and trimmed back over many weekends. It’s an idyllic escape and a world away from the concrete expanse of Tokyo.

In Seattle's rapidly developing South Lake Union neighborhood, the Art Stable is a classic example of urban infill. Built on the site of a former horse stable, the seven-story mixed-use building carries its history into the future with highly adaptable live/work units.

The Lais designed their house to be theirs forever. As such, they were able to make design moves that made sense for themselves but that wouldn't have high resale value, like the Japanese-style master bathroom in the middle of the second floor instead of off of the master bedroom. The traditional setup features bath stools from Muji for washing off.

Japanese showers are usually set low down so the bather can sit on a stool and scrub, then pour cedar buckets of hot water over their heads for a refreshing rinse. This homeowner in Venice, California mounted a handheld shower head on the wall for added flexibility. The drain is under the removable cedar floor slats, keeping the room design uncluttered. Wood tubs are cleaned with a simple rinse and last for decades, as the antiseptic properties of cedar guard against mold and rot. This ofuro was designed by Santiago Ortiz and fabricated by Bartok Design.

The clients selected a Coral pendant light by David Trubridge Design for the center of the room. Their souvenir from Norway, a reindeer pelt, is spread out in front of Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chairs with metal bases from Herman Miller. The wood-burning stove is a Monet from HWAM.

Choosing a kitchen or bathroom countertop can be nerve-wracking, and we understand why—they can be one of the most expensive aspects of a renovation, with the added responsibility of impacting the aesthetics of a space. Read on as we work our way through the pros and cons of seven of the most common countertop materials.

Tanya, Chris, Jackson, and Zeke spend much of their day outside.

Because the house is narrow and long (16 by 68 feet), the design team decided to create a huge open-air space to light the interior naturally. Two retractable motor-driven canvas canopies shelter the space during Singapore’s frequent rains.

The luxe prefabricated hotel offers an almost off-grid experience and is fitted with a curated collection of Vipp products.

Maple and walnut trays by David Rasmussen Design.

On the outskirts of Austin, Texas, author Chris Brown and his dog Katsu head to the river; the path was once a dumping ground on top of a long-defunct underground oil pipeline. The green roof was conceptualized by John Hart Asher of the Ecosystem Design Group at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin.

“Before, the house turned its back on the landscape,” said Parish. “This renovation and addition really animates the garden.” Sliding glass doors match those of the living room beyond the deck, and both can be completely open to the yard.

Tom Givone’s clients, Rose and Steve Smith, teach overseas and have owned their house for 26 years. They intended to fix it up slowly and retire there. As one problem led to another, they reached a point when they felt their only option, as Rose put it, was to “burn it down.”

David and Mayuko Lai designed the home to transform and evolve for their family of five.

Maple cafe plate by David Rasmussen Design.

New Zealand–based lighting designer David Trubridge will give a lecture, sign his new book and exhibit his new design, Manuka, at the show.

In the photos that follow, we take a look at the product offerings inspired by the house, which Yeon designed when he was only 27 years old.