25 internationally known artists, architects and designers--including Andres Serrano, Vivienne Tam, Ellsworth Kelly and Catherine Malandrino--invited Barbel Miebach to photograph their unique private spaces in The Art of Living (The Monacelli Press, 240 pages, $65, Text by Claudia Steinberg). Here's a look at 7 of our favorites.

Architect David Ling's brilliant violet-blue wall was inspired by Yves Klein and created by applying twenty-four layers of black, ultramarine, and clear lacquer to the original brick wall. While the floor appears to be metal, it is actually plastic, polished to a high sheen.

Bright paint is used throughout Haeg's Los Angeles home as an inexpensive means of enlivening the rooms. The porthole-like windows look into the house's terrarium.

The monochromatic decorating scheme creates the illusion that this 1,200-square-foot NYC apartment is larger, and draws attention to the form of individual pieces of furniture. Other pieces, like the slender transparent desk at right, were designed to retreat quietly into the background.

Five blue basalt rocks shipped from Discoe's native California were placed in his Japanese farmhouse-inspired Manhattan home by master rock setter Shigeru Namba.

With glass walls that slide away completely on both floors, it is easy to see how the fashion designer's Los Angeles home has earned the nickname "Openhouse." The main support beam is cleverly hidden inside the stone fireplace screen.

At night, the 270-degree view of L.A.'s glittering lights face competition for attention only from the impressive central fireplace.

Brightly colored poles are placed strategically as handholds for some of the more challenging and steeply sloped portions of the main living space in this East Hampton, New York home.

The bold colors, black Venetian plaster walls, and strong patterns in the jewelry designer's Central Park home attest to her daring personality.