Poorly designed and managed facilities cause injuries and increase the risk of health problems, including lameness and other infectious and metabolic diseases, whose high prevalence is a welfare challenge facing the dairy industry. Massive capital expenditures are made on housing systems for dairy cattle, with the aim of providing a comfortable environment for these animals–one that ensures adequate rest, protection from climatic extremes, and free access to an appropriate, well-balanced diet. Despite these laudable aims, housing systems do not always function well from the perspective of the cow—poorly designed and maintained facilities can reduce feeding and lying time, increase competitive interactions, cause injuries, and increase the risk of health disorders. This review will focus on examples from empirical work on the feeding, standing, and lying areas utilized by dairy cattle, and show how these can be better designed and managed to meet the behavioral needs of dairy cattle, and thus improve welfare, health, and in some cases, productivity. Much of the research reviewed has evaluated housing systems from the cow’s perspective by asking how the housing affects cow health, what elements of the housing environment the cow prefers, and how the these elements affect behavior and welfare. This presentation will focus primarily on free-stall housing and will first, identify science-based solutions that result in improved health and welfare of dairy cows and, second, identify gaps where further research is needed.