Dan Shaw

Come December, Kevin Sharkey, our executive vice president and executive design director, decorates his modernist Manhattan apartment with displays that sparkle and shine to the nines. He shares his exuberant vision—and a few of his top styling and entertaining secrets, too.

When florist Larry Becker and architect Roger Crowley opened their antiques shop, Welbourne Robinson, last fall, an exquisite design destination was born. Inside the New Jersey jewel box, American and European treasures spanning three centuries beckon from breathtaking displays—and the owners wow you with their expertise.

With a thick planning dossier under one arm and a sharp eye for design and detail, a creative New York City mom oversaw the construction of her family's stunning second home from the ground up. Now they welcome loved ones to their airy retreat year-round, and envelop them in comfort and style.

If home is where the heart is, we can understand why this midwestern couple lives for the weekends. At Lost Creek Farm, their rural property in Wisconsin, a stylist and financial adviser have cultivated a retreat that caters to all of their extracurricular interests. When they aren't busy working in the gardens, tending to the bees, or building something in the majestic barn workshop, they're enjoying the fruits of their labor—relaxing in their light-filled cabin, or cooling off in nearby waters.

When the owners saw their future weekend home for the first time, the place had quite literally gone to the dogs. But they fell for its spectacular bones and sweeping mountain views. Designer Jessica Helgerson walks us through her thoughtful—and thorough—renovation.

One wildly creative couple built the ultimate family retreat: a Mexican ranch house filled with personal style, their own designs, and the work of local artisans.