Colleen Healey, AIA, describes the new bedroom suite in this house as a “contemplative urban cabin.” And, indeed, it feels that way, thanks to the reconfigured room wrapped in white oak slats and warm wool textiles. The existing space consisted of a rarely used sitting room, an en-suite bath, and a narrow bedroom that had once been a sleeping porch. Expanding the bedroom into the sitting area made room for a wall of closets and a storage bench with big, deep drawers. Colleen also borrowed the sitting room’s closet space to create a walk-in closet accessed from the new bath. “The one in the bath is nice for storing intimates and other things, while suits and gowns can be kept in the bedroom closet,” Colleen says. “It helps to break down the bigger closets.”
In addition to storage, another goal was to visually connect the room to the outdoors. A new skylight floods the bath with light. Wood-slatted walls and a flax-and-wool headboard wall and bench cushion lend an organic feel in the sleeping area, while strategically placed mirrors in the bedroom and bath pull in light and leafy views, “elongating the shallow space along the main axial relationships.”
“It was such a small space, I wanted to give them something that felt special,” Colleen says. Refined, calm, and organic, Urban Bower brings the outside and inside into harmonious balance.
Architectural interiors
Citation
Colleen Healey Architecture
Urban Bower
Washington
Project Credits
Architect/Interior Designer: Colleen Healey, AIA, Colleen Healey Architecture, Washington
Builder: Jimmy Loveless, JWL Woodworking, Ijamsville, Maryland
Structural Engineer: Norton Consulting Engineers, Bethesda, Maryland
Project size: 450 square feet
Site size: 0.125 acre
Construction Cost: Withheld
Photography: Jennifer Hughes Photography
Key Products
Cabinetry: Custom by JWL Woodworking
Cabinetry Hardware: Top Knobs
Carpet: Woodnotes
Countertops: Concrete
Door Hardware: Omnia
Doors/Windows: Pella
Faucets: Newport Brass, Delta
Headboard Wall: Brentano Green Wood Recycled
Lighting: Sonneman
Millwork and trim: White oak, AZEK trim
Paints: Benjamin Moore Super White
Sinks: Kohler
Skylights: VELUX
Thermal Mositure Barriers/Sheathing: ZIP System
Tile: Architectural Ceramics
Tub: TOTO
Vanities/Lavs: Kohler
Ventilation: Panasonic
Wallpaper: Kate Zaremba Wallpaper
Images
Plans and Drawings