Love It or Hate It? Green Interiors

interior office with kitchen

Kate and Gerald enjoy the view up there most nights. The chair was salvaged from the original bach on site and reupholstered.

Kate’s father predicted they would never use the crow’s nest–like tower, which is reached by climbing a narrow staircase.

Pros: Laminate is at the low end of the price range for countertops, is scratch- and stain-resistant, and comes in a tremendous range of colors. It’s also easy to install, making it a viable DIY option for the handy crowd. Cons: Because laminate countertops are created by layering pieces of plywood and plastic, edges can chip off easily, and the surface can even melt if too much heat is applied directly.

A look at the open-plan living space.

The tiny budget still allowed room for some strategic splurges, such as the vivid green Verde Ming marble in the house’s only bathroom

Two El Dorado principals, Douglas Stockman and David Dowell, enlisted the elbow grease of students in their fifth-year design studio at Kansas State University to help design and fabricate the bunkbeds that line the cabin walls.

A workspace within Wenes's Antwerp house and gallery features splashes of color.

The kitchen cupboards were crafted from recycled wooden wine boxes, and the countertop is untreated wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) from Ikea. The green-and-white tiles are from a local company, TAU Cerámica.

The Cold Pressed Juicery by Standard Studio in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Courtesy of Standard Studio.

Designed in 1926-27, Schütte-Lihotzky's kitchen features thoughtful arrangement of storage, appliances, and work surfaces and is the precursor to the 1950s yellow and green kitchens and the kitchen as the hearth of the home.

Architectural interventions are restricted in the historic apartment. Claus takes it a step further, however, and refuses to make even minor repairs. “It would destroy the pristine character of the space, which is just as it was when Perret’s wife died in 1961,” he says. “We are just passing by.” The plumbing in the bathroom, for instance, no longer works, so his wife uses the room as an office, working between the original stone basin and bathtub. The couple brushes their teeth and bathes in the kitchen, where Claus installed a makeshift shower. Reflected in the bathroom mirror is a photograph of a Perret-designed building in Le Havre, shot by Dutch architectural photographer Kim Zwarts. “It’s impossible not to pay homage to him within the space,” says Claus.

The kitchen features custom timber furniture, Tasmanian oak cabinetry, and custom cabinetry finished in Dulux White Cabbage. The pastel green hue complements the forest-green, leather bench seats and nods to the original kitchen’s former color.

Guess used inexpensive graded pine plywood so that he would get heavy grain patterns on the surfaces. One of the main goals in the kitchen was simplicity. To that end, he opted for a poured-in-place concrete island. "We didn’t know if we could afford to do that, but we found a great subcontractor [Nate Francis of Countertop Creations] here who had never really built anything like that," Guess says. "Because he was interested in giving it a shot and adding it to his portfolio, he didn’t charge an exorbitant amount of money because it was sort of an experiment for him as well." The kitchen features a GE Profile refrigerator and KitchenAid range, microwave, and dishwasher. The sink and faucet are from Kohler. The project's builder was Joe Doherty with Custom Homecrafters of Austin.

An outdoor shower on the northern elevation lets the residents spend practical time in the landscape.