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OFFICE: transforming an
apartment bedroom, 11' x 14', with an 8'-0" ceiling, into
a multi-purpose library/office and guest room......with built-in
cabinetry, desk and files, indirect and direct task lighting,
clothing storage, magazine racks and bookshelves, plus
a model train and sky mural
...
TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR through the
transformation, step-by-step, in a SLIDE SHOW, upper
right: the original room had a loft bed, a mylar
ceiling and walls, mylar pull-down shades to create reflective
light, two clothes closets, shelves for books. The client, a
writer, worked at his small computer desk underneath the
loft. In addition to cramped, dark space, there was no room
for files, or storage for clothing. The two-bedroom
apartment also had no place for guests to stay
overnight.
The client loved trains. [ So did the
designer!] He grew up watching real steam locomotives,
pulling passengers and freight through the little Southern town
where he spent his childhood. He and his wife travelled
all over the world on exotic train trips for the joy of it.
With those treasured images in mind, he requested a "classical"
style library, complete with accommodation for a large,
G-scale model train...or two. The hope was that the train
could zig-zag and wind throughout the bookshelves of the
room.
WHAT THE DESIGNER OFFERED INSTEAD was a
room reminiscent of a meticulously outfitted suite on a
classical 1940's train, subtly Art Deco in style, everything
cleverly concealed behind cherrywood cabinetry and enlivened with
beautifully-matched crotch mahogany panelling above the desk and
above the sleeping couch on the wall opposite. The model
train was too large to meander through the shelves, however, but
the designer created a soffit which not only carried the train
around the entire room, but provided switching and siding for
additional models that could be stored until needed, plus
theatrical lighting that transformed day into night, sunrise
to sunset. At the corners of the room the wooden
soffit is replaced by thick plexiglas, allowing the lighting
to shine through the tracks as the train passes,
sending flickering shadow images, like those that could
be seen at night through a young boy's bedroom
window...
THE COLOR PLAN developed for the space
was determined by the warm rosy hue of the natural cherry wood and
the intense blue of the wall to wall carpet. Above the soffit
the sky mural drifted between soft whites, creams, blues and the
rose-orange of sunset and dawn. The special changeable
lighting operated with filters to create a visual color shift from
day to night.
THE CARPET chosen was high-end
contract grade, Bentley's "Kings Road", a nylon Saxony, which
provided durability and a luxurious feel, and could withstand the
constant rolling around of the client's office chair without the
use of a plastic mat.
