The kitchen features a porcelain tile backsplash and a quartz countertop.

The new master bathroom features matte-black quartz countertops, a Cube sink, and a Scala wall-mount faucet. A Hansgrohe showerhead is surrounded by bold Gelsomino glass mosaic tile.

Conserve water and energy by swapping your regular kitchen and bathroom taps for more efficient faucets.

Pros: Concrete countertops are durable, resistant to heat, and can be less expensive than natural stone, especially when completed as a DIY project. Cons: Concrete must be sealed before being used; otherwise, its porous nature means that it will stain very easily.

In the kitchen, interior designer Emily Knudsen Leland replaced purple laminate cabinets with flat-sawn eastern walnut, and added PentalQuartz countertops in polished Super White for contrast. The cooktop and oven are from Miele.

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

“One large room is overrated, and a bedroom opening off a great room doesn’t work well if someone sleeps in or goes to bed early,” Jones says. “So there are halls, which I think need to make a comeback.” Quartz countertops and Douglas fir cabinets surround the kitchen sink and faucet by BLANCO Canada.

A Carrara marble backsplash adds cool contrast and a sense of drama when set against the custom oiled-steel black cabinetry in the renovation of the kitchen in this A. Quincy Jones home in Los Angeles.

For the kitchen, Tyler hired David Restorick, a furniture maker and friend, to build an island for storage and to wrap Ikea cabinets with oak for a customized look. He also built a staircase that doubles as display space for Tyler’s vast collection of colorful cookware by the likes of Finel, Copco, Cathrineholm, Jens Quistgaard, and Stig Lindberg.

The budget was nearly as tight as the space in this cheerful renovation of a 516-square-foot flat in Bratislava. The centerpiece of Lukáš Kordík’s new kitchen is the cabinetry surrounding the sink, a feat he managed by altering the facing and pulls of an off-the-rack Ikea system. The laminate offers a good punch of blue, and in modernist fashion, Kordík forwent door handles in favor of cutouts. “I wanted the kitchen to be one simple block of color without any additional design,” he says.

White tiles envelop the en suite master bathroom.

A dramatic black island is expertly balanced by a wall of white cabinetry and a refrigerator that blends perfectly. The kitchen’s black countertops were cut from Nero Assoluto granite. The sink and faucet are from Quebec-based company Rubi. Appliances are from Wolf.

The kitchen is outfitted with a duel-fuel range by Bosch, a Diamonte Canopy hood by Faber, a LaPerla dishwasher by Miele, French-door refrigerator by LG, Blanco sink, and Compact Smart overn by Breville. Catifa 46 stools by Arper are stationed at the bar. The counters are quartz and the cabinets are solid maple. "Given that the owners’ intention was to stay and age in the house, we decided that the materials needed to be elegant and timeless and, in essence, could also age well in place," Tedesco says. "This led to devising a refined and warm palette of natural finishes. White carrara marble, oiled clear Douglas fir, and maple floors and millwork create a light, warm interior with a reddish hue that emanates when the sunlight washes the woods. The selection process included R-and-D on the materials to assess their ability to be both robust enough to handle every day wear and tear in the short term and acquire a beautiful patina long term. We also researched MSDS charts to ensure they were safe, non-toxic, and would not off-gas."

“Knowing that the kitchen would be where the family would spend most of their time, it was designed to have a variety of seating and really good views to the beautiful forest and field outside,” says Lewis. IKEA bar stools line up against white quartz countertops, and lighting by Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co. shines overhead.

Sarah Magill and Copa, her golden retriever, relax in the kitchen of her home in Kansas City, where an eco-quartz-topped island can be used as a dining table—one of the home’s many adaptable features. The Akurum cabinets and handles are from Ikea, as are the Franklin folding bar stools, and the appliances are compact models from Summit.

The Mt. Buller Home of Andrew and Tiffany Percy and Family via the Design Files.

The smooth, raven-hued island in this kitchen is made of oak with a thin stone countertop. A Foscarini Gregg Pendant hangs overhead.

The huge island is the hub of Andrew Dunbar and Zoee Astrakhan’s kitchen. Metallic cabinetry in the kitchen complements the white cabinets that connect the space to the dining area.

The former dining room is now home to Russell and Fontanez’s custom kitchen, designed by LOT-EK and fabricated by Chef Restaurant Supplies. “We love to entertain,” Russell says. “Before, the galley kitchen was in the hallway; now we can cook and still be a part of the party.” The space-saving setup, which adjoins the living room, features stainless steel–paneled cabinets, DuPont Corian countertops, Onda stools by Jesus Gasca for Stua, and fixtures and appliances by Grohe, Liebherr, and Miele. To maximize space, the designers specified that the cabinets be built around a former fireplace in the kitchen. “Because there’s a bump out where the chimney is, we turned the sink lengthwise,” Lignano says. “The cabinet directly overhead is only four inches deep, so it’s just a huge spice rack.” The island provides ample additional storage.

In the kitchen, the continuous kitchen worktop and table are made of marble from Caledonia Marble. The pink Tamatik dining chairs are by Connie Chisholm and are from the Canadian design shop Made. The Blinding Love pendant lights are by Periphere, which has shops in Montreal and Toronto. The iron rails were inspired both by screens the couple had seen on their travels in the Middle East and by the ornate wrought ironwork favored by their Portuguese neighbors. Barzel Ironworks fabricated the banister to Sawatzky’s design by slicing up iron pipe, welding it, and painting it.

The Dora pendant lights in the kitchen are from Rejuvenation; quartz countertops are by Cambria and the custom bar stools are by Rocky Mountain Table Company. In Situ Studio designed the solid walnut steps with custom steel rails, a walnut hand rail, and a removable baby gate.

The kitchen is beautifully textured and veined thanks to white Carrara marble countertops installed by New Marble Company and reclaimed cypress cabinets built by Wayne Berger.

Stacey and Doug prepare food before the kitchen's massive wall of soothing tile from Heath Ceramics.

Angelica Becerril prepares food at the kitchen island; the Carrara marble countertop is one of the few luxury materials used in the house.

Cambrian black granite countertops lie in contrast with white cabinetry below and open shelves above in this contemporary kitchen. "One of the favorite things I have to do in the kitchen is wash dishes, just because it’s such a delightful view out the window," says the owner.

Webber + Studio went with a bold, orange hue for these kitchen countertops. Past the front door and a short hallway lies an expansive living, dining, and kitchen space.

Island Life The appealing, handcrafted appearance of the concrete kitchen island is a happy accident, the result of the concrete not settling fully in its timber framing. When the framing was removed, the builder, Peter Davidson, was worried that Davor and Abbe would be disappointed with the bubbled result and offered to start the process again, but they loved its one-off feeling and persuaded him to keep it that way.

Pros: Stainless-steel countertops are used in restaurants and the food service industry because it is durable, easy to maintain, and scratch- and bacteria-resistant. Cons: Installing stainless steel countertops means being ready for louder cooking, with plates and pots making more noise than they would on other surfaces. And just because the surface is stain-resistant doesn’t mean that it’s impervious to denting and scratching.

To accommodate his passion for cooking, Renaldi insisted on the long Carrara marble countertop, a niche for cookware, and ultra-contemporary appliances.

In the kitchen, Echo pendants from Tech Lighting hang above quartz countertops from Cambria. “The cabinets were a cost-driven solution,” Moss says. “The kitchen was developed around Ikea cabinet boxes, but we sourced the semi-custom cabinet front panels through an online retailer, 27estore.com.” The range is by Frigidaire and the wall-mounted range hood is by Cavaliere. A pair of Lyra stools by Design Group Italia for Magis round out the space.

The countertop is a solid aluminum plate. The cooktop, hood, and dishwasher are Miele.

Caesarstone, a manufacturer of durable and striking quartz surfaces, showed various applications of their products (including a glimmering coffee table).

“There’s so much color around us every day, looking at ads and posters, we wanted to quiet down our space.” —Fabian Heine

A drop-down countertop conceals dishware and other kitchen belongings.

A central challenge of the renovation was to integrate lighting into the architecture in such a way that “even if the space had no furniture, you could turn on the lights and instantly get a cozy atmosphere,” says Bjerre-Poulsen. After Europe banned incandescents in 2009 Bjerre-Poulsen turned to halogen fixtures, which are more energy-efficient and give off a similar quality of light. (He won’t use LEDs until their ability to render color is further developed, he says.) In Østergaard and Olofsson’s kitchen, he embedded a halogen strip in the underside of the wooden shelf over the countertop to direct light onto the work surface.

A green laminate countertop by Abet Laminati is surrounded by Norman Foster’s Emeco 20-06 counter stools at the island in the kitchen, which has an integrated Frigidaire induction range, Faber Cylindra Isola range hood, Blomberg dishwasher, Fisher & Paykel fridge, and flat-grain fir plywood cabinets by Portland craftsman Doug Chamblin.