Peyton Cochran has no qualms about working small scale; in fact, she embraces it. “There’s something about small spaces that’s really unique and a different type of challenge,” explains Cochran. “I like the coziness that they provide.” So it came as no surprise that when her bachelor godfather was in need of a new entertainment space, she immediately turned to his run-down garage for inspiration.
Now an open-air bungalow, the 228-square-foot space is perfectly positioned between an inviting driveway and a secret garden. At night, the garden becomes the “VIP room,” as Cochran puts it. Bifold doors open to uplit trees and provide views of the flower beds beyond while capitalizing on privacy. Recess and shelf lighting, and track lighting on the exposed white pine beams, accentuate the interior’s architecture and provide ambient lighting. “Walking around his property, you feel like there are all these little rooms,” says Cochran. “That’s something I really wanted to preserve.”
Additional Resources:
Architecture, New England Barn newenglandbarn.com. Landscape design, Lindsay Burn Landscape Design. Landscape design, Create-A-Space. Contractor, Ludwig Builders. Paint (throughout), Just Walls, LLC.. Sofa, settee, chairs and side table, Bamboo & Rattan. Sofa cushion fabric and chair cushion fabric, Kravet. Throw pillows (orange), Ryan Studio. Teak lounge chair, Gloster, through Frontgate. Throw pillow fabric (on settee and chair), Manuel Canovas, through Cowtan & Tout.
In daylight through the clerestory windows, vibrant purples and oranges combine bohemian flare with the tropical tones of the homeowner’s beloved vacation spots. A polished concrete floor and stain whitewashed walls and ceiling elevate simple materials. Bamboo furniture and billowy white curtains lend a coastal ease to an otherwise modern space. An antique mahogany table from St. Barts gives the space permanence, while the bamboo recontextualizes a traditional Palm Beach material and provides another textural layer. “There’s an element of warmth that was needed in there,” says Cochran. “He doesn’t like contemporary design that feels sterile, and that’s where the wood plays a very important part.”
When it comes to D2 Interieurs’ signature design, Denise Davies cites “happy home, happy life” as her motto, melding but never overpowering a client’s personality with her creativity. But when Davies’ decided to repurpose her detached garage as a design studio for her company, the result was a space that entirely reflects her, as she says, “what you see is what you get” demeanor.
Davies and her clients enter the loft space on seemingly floating stairs, with Davies’ powder-blue Vespa featured like pop-art through glass risers.
Additional Resources:
Architecture, Vita Design Group. Construction, OW Construction. Lighting, FontanaArte. Chair fabric, Schumacher. Desk chairs, Herman Miller. Counter stools, 1stdibs. Counter stool fabric, Larsen, through Cowtan & Tout.
The playfulness continues with the loft’s canary yellow accents: Vibrant artwork, citrus candles and the kitchen backsplash’s backlit painted glass emphasize light and color in an otherwise whitewashed space. Though only 800 square feet, high-gloss walls and ceiling, exposed white oak beams and flooring, and plenty of lighting (the designer estimates more than 80 recessed lights along with the two 47-inch diameter dome-shaped fixtures) dissolve the structure’s framework and create a fluid, breathable interior while retaining distinct rooms. “People think you need walls to have different rooms,” says Davies. “This is a perfect example that you don’t.”
With the space planned around a 12-by-6-foot design table, storage space needed to be handled creatively. Hidden wall panels, and an accent wall of glass boxes filled with swatches use would-be clutter as decor. Glass paneling, a protruding window seat and that ethereal staircase provide weightless accents. “I wanted it to have this illusion that everything was floating,” says Davies, “that there wasn’t a lot of effort to the structure, it was just always there.”
No home is complete without a man-cave; a mantra that holds especially true for this avid race-car collector and circuit driver. After completing renovations on the client’s main home, Laura Kaehler was tasked with designing a building to house both his cars and memorabilia, while accounting for entertainment space.
Although a heavy Tudor style pairs with the main home’s exterior, the interior is no cave at all. “We gave him the second-floor loft for protection and refuge,” says Kaehler. “He can still look back at the house, but he’s removed in his almost command-central position, because he can look down at his cars.” Building into the hillside allowed Kaehler to be creative with entry points. Mahogany carriage doors swing open to reveal garage bays from the driveway level; while atop the hill, a fieldstone path leads to the loft. “From the upper level, it’s a little more dramatic,” says Kaehler. “There’s a half wall and a two-story space beyond, beckoning you to look further.”
Additional Resources:
Landscape design, JefLyn Construction Inc..
Structural engineer, Edward Stanley Engineers. Civil engineering, Sound View Engineers & Land Surveyors. Paint, Benjamin Moore.
Incorporating Douglas fir beams helped to elongate and warm the 783-square-foot interior. While Kaehler chose the light pewter gray paint, the client and his wife decorated the space themselves. As for the mounted sailfish and moose head, Kaehler laughs: “That was the homeowner who put those in there. Probably, his wife said those were not coming in the house.”