Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2024 i House Beautiful

So you want to host a gaggle of friends but only have one “guest room”? Bunks are the obvious answer. The key is creating a place that is comfortable for kids and grown-ups alike. Here’s how to turn any under-utilized area into an on-demand, pajama party hub. LEVEL UP AN AWKWARD SPACE Designers call them “mezzanine bedrooms”: Sleeping quarters carved out of attics, lofts, barns, and other odd spaces. If you’ve got such an area you’d like to bunk up, “make sure you have adequate structural support and subflooring,” says Williamson of Cedar & Oak. Then the fun starts. “Any time you have a funky space,” he says, “textural design elements such as tongue-and-groove, beadboard, or shiplap will accentuate the change in ceiling slope or angle, adding visual interest.” ROPE…

DESIGNER BRIAN PAQUETTE REMEMBERS THE exact moment a young couple in Southern California rang him about a potential project. Seattle, where he’s based, had just shut down for a snowstorm. “So I went down to Manhattan Beach and was very happy to get some sun,” he jokes. The pair had purchased a 3,500-square-foot four-bedroom spec home a few blocks from the beach for their growing family. “Like most spec homes, it just lacked any personality,” Paquette says. So he set about making the home reflect the clients. The husband and wife were fans of Nordic design, which, to Paquette, meant minimalism—all white and oak. “But they started making all these references to colors like chalkboard green, pale pink, salmon, goldenrod, and pastel purple,” he says, causing him to rethink his…

Fun Size More than just an asset for resale value, a tiny powder room is a big design opportunity—and all you need is about 15 square feet. These small spots are a chance to show off your personal style and experiment with bold or expensive materials you might not use elsewhere. The best part? Unlike with a luxurious primary bath, every guest will get to appreciate it. The designer examples on these pages demonstrate how to make an impact in a former butler pantry or coat closet, along halls, or even under stairs. Here, a Schumacher linen wallcovering and brass accents elevate the half bath in Ashley Gilbreath’s Watersound, Florida, home. “It’s not overpowering,” the designer explains. “But the texture makes it special.” CURVES FOR DAYS The powder room pocket…

Panorama Glass Lodge Hella, Iceland WHY STAY HERE: What better place to contemplate the vastness of the universe than a 238-square-foot glass cabin that offers uninterrupted views of the starry sky? Stay in one of the four (spaced well apart) glass lodges in south Iceland between September and early April, and you might just see the northern lights. Year-round, you’ll enjoy incredible sunrises and sunsets from your bed (or the outdoor hot tub). Each cabin also has a kitchenette, a spa-like bathroom, and access to a sauna. WHAT TO DO: If stargazing from the bed (or sauna or hot tub) isn’t more than enough excitement, the Thjofafoss waterfall is a 25-minute drive away. A 50-minute drive brings you to the ferry for a half-hour ride to Heimaey, in the Westman Islands…

WITH THE HOLIDAYS COMING UP, San Francisco–based designer Noz Nozawa sought a Lake Tahoe rental for a New Year’s Eve getaway with some friends. But when she tried to book a few months out, “Everything left was dumpy, sad—and overpriced,” Nozawa says. Not eager to spend a weekend in those conditions, “I went to Zillow instead.” There, she found a neglected 1970s cabin that had been on the market for six months. “The bathrooms were horrifying, and the kitchen was the worst thing I’d ever seen, which is an interior designer’s dream come true,” Nozawa says. She and her husband, Daniel Helmhold, leveraged the home’s outdated interiors and long listing time for a quick closing but didn’t rush into the redesign. “We had to wait to figure out what the…

Folded in or fanned out, this table adapts to your workload. Slide the top open to store anything from magazines to spirits. This ultracompact two-zone fridge sits flush against the wall.…

WHILE ASHLEY GILBREATH ENDED up designing an idyllic getaway, her first priority in renovating her family’s oceanfront home in Rosemary Beach, Florida, was damage control—to help the house withstand the salty sea air and her family. “All the rules are broken at the beach,” she explains. “You have to be able to have the dog in there, three children, wet swimsuits, sandy feet, and sticky fingers because maybe we’re having cinnamon rolls for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We needed it to be very carefree.” For Gilbreath, that meant taking inspiration from old Florida fish houses—less the actual style and more the way they celebrate slight imperfections from years of use. She envisioned well-worn wood floors with a natural sun-faded patina. While she left the facade of this ’90s home intact,…