Worship the sun.
Natural daylighting can have a transformative effect in the tiniest and most awkward of spaces. Skylights do the trick in this renovated attic, which was previously unusable and now serves as a serene home office. Architect Todd Ray of Studio 27 Architecture kept the row home’s original pine beams and oak floors, offsetting their rusticated look with bamboo wall panels, frosted glass, and stainless steel.
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Credit: Brian Vanden Brink
Design: The Green Company
Formal living rooms and dining rooms are dust collectors that more and more buyers seem willing to forgo in the new era of efficiency. Single-use rooms are giving way to flexible realms that do double or triple duty. Consider the kitchen island that facilitates food prep, casual dining, homework, and happy hour. Or the study that morphs into a painting studio or sleeping porch--like this New England charmer by the Green Company.
Bring the outside in.
Architect Darrell Russell’s custom-built Florida home is a tidy 1,000 square feet, but it doesn’t skimp on views. The big windows were a splurge, yes, but look what they deliver: sight lines that extend far outside the house and into the lush landscape. The result is a small envelope that costs less to air-condition and maintain, but offers the feeling of openness and light.
Jenny Sullivan is a senior editor covering architecture and design for BUILDER.