Room of the Day: A Fun and Functional Lounge for 2 Tweens
A former narrow playroom becomes a stylish lounge where soon-to-be-teen sisters study and hang out with their friends
When sisters Kayla, 9, and Taylor, 10, outgrew their carpeted playroom and its games and toys, their parents turned to designer Lisa Furtado for help redesigning it. Their long and lean room became a functional, youthful but also sophisticated lounge and study space that will carry the soon-to-be-teens through their high school years.
“After photos” by Dean J. Birinyi Photography
AFTER: A large built-in includes desks, bulletin boards, a flat-screen TV and a media cabinet with lots of storage for books, laptops and gadgets. The solution helps organize the room, deals with the narrow layout and gives each girl her own study space.
“This room was in desperate need of space-planning to make it more functional,” Furtado says. “I designed the unit to feel as light as possible, since it’s so massive.”
She painted the unit crisp white, the same color used for the room’s trim and ceiling. The white wall paint, on the other hand, has a touch of warm gray. “It has just enough color for a contrast to the trim and built-in, while keeping the room airy and bright,” she says.
The custom built-in is secured to the wall in several places for seismic safety, and has a decorative cutout profile that keeps the unit from taking over all the visual space in the narrow room. Furtado also designed the unit to be lifted off the floor on legs (like a piece of furniture), unlike a traditional built-in that sits flush to the floor.
Built-in unit: Fernandez Brothers Cabinets; hanging wall storage: Michaels; wall paint: Droplets, Dunn-Edwards Paints; ceiling (flat finish), trim and built-in unit (semigloss) paint: Simply White, Benjamin Moore
AFTER: A large built-in includes desks, bulletin boards, a flat-screen TV and a media cabinet with lots of storage for books, laptops and gadgets. The solution helps organize the room, deals with the narrow layout and gives each girl her own study space.
“This room was in desperate need of space-planning to make it more functional,” Furtado says. “I designed the unit to feel as light as possible, since it’s so massive.”
She painted the unit crisp white, the same color used for the room’s trim and ceiling. The white wall paint, on the other hand, has a touch of warm gray. “It has just enough color for a contrast to the trim and built-in, while keeping the room airy and bright,” she says.
The custom built-in is secured to the wall in several places for seismic safety, and has a decorative cutout profile that keeps the unit from taking over all the visual space in the narrow room. Furtado also designed the unit to be lifted off the floor on legs (like a piece of furniture), unlike a traditional built-in that sits flush to the floor.
Built-in unit: Fernandez Brothers Cabinets; hanging wall storage: Michaels; wall paint: Droplets, Dunn-Edwards Paints; ceiling (flat finish), trim and built-in unit (semigloss) paint: Simply White, Benjamin Moore
The stylish lounge has brass and gold accents, found in the desk lamps and the desk hardware, seen here.
The flexible desk chairs on wheels were a retail purchase that Furtado customized with fabric for the chair backs. The same fabric was also used to cover two small benches in the lounge area to help tie the room together.
Hardware: Build.com; desk lamps: Target; desk chairs: Pottery Barn Kids; chair fabric: Serena & Lily
The flexible desk chairs on wheels were a retail purchase that Furtado customized with fabric for the chair backs. The same fabric was also used to cover two small benches in the lounge area to help tie the room together.
Hardware: Build.com; desk lamps: Target; desk chairs: Pottery Barn Kids; chair fabric: Serena & Lily
Open shelves above each desk display some of the sisters’ favorite things, as well as hold baskets for everything from Legos to small electronics.
A sparkly chandelier provides illumination and adds a touch of glamour. “We were going for that Hollywood-glam-meets-bohemian-chic look,” Furtado says.
Chandelier: Pottery Barn Kids; assorted baskets: Michaels
A sparkly chandelier provides illumination and adds a touch of glamour. “We were going for that Hollywood-glam-meets-bohemian-chic look,” Furtado says.
Chandelier: Pottery Barn Kids; assorted baskets: Michaels
Colorful handmade paper dresses up the backs of some of the shelves. “A little pink goes a long way,” Furtado says. She bought the paper by the sheet, cut the sheets to size and used spray adhesive to adhere them to the backs. “It gives color but also texture, because the paper is handmade,” she says.
Crown molding on top of the unit gives it a finished look.
Paper: Paper Source
Crown molding on top of the unit gives it a finished look.
Paper: Paper Source
A navy blue sectional sofa in a durable cotton canvas blend sits center stage in the room’s lounge area, where the girls relax and watch TV or visit with friends.
The mirror on the wall helps visually widen the room; it has a shimmery aged-gold finish and a shape that mimics the molding used on top of the built-in wall unit. Window treatments in white cotton canvas with a fuchsia trim provide a bit of privacy. “They really finish off the room,” Monique says. “They give a lot of dimension and structure, and you don’t feel like you’re in a fishbowl.”
Sofa: Room & Board; mirror: Layla Grace; window treatment fabric: Romo; fabrication: The Shade Store
The mirror on the wall helps visually widen the room; it has a shimmery aged-gold finish and a shape that mimics the molding used on top of the built-in wall unit. Window treatments in white cotton canvas with a fuchsia trim provide a bit of privacy. “They really finish off the room,” Monique says. “They give a lot of dimension and structure, and you don’t feel like you’re in a fishbowl.”
Sofa: Room & Board; mirror: Layla Grace; window treatment fabric: Romo; fabrication: The Shade Store
The fuchsia and persimmon area rug adds warmth to the new solid red oak floor, and inspired the room’s color palette, which includes splashes of blue and yellow.
Two small stools give the girls a place to put up their feet when watching a movie or a place to rest a tray with drinks and snacks. Furtado reupholstered them with the same fabric used for the backs of the desk chairs.
Rug: Madeline Weinrib Showrooms; stools: Target; clear trays: West Elm
Two small stools give the girls a place to put up their feet when watching a movie or a place to rest a tray with drinks and snacks. Furtado reupholstered them with the same fabric used for the backs of the desk chairs.
Rug: Madeline Weinrib Showrooms; stools: Target; clear trays: West Elm
Custom and store-bought pillows in the main colors of the room fill the sofa. One pillow features an “S” for the family name of Stevens, which helps personalize the space.
Fabric for custom pillows: John Robshaw Textiles; letter pillow: Serena & Lily
Fabric for custom pillows: John Robshaw Textiles; letter pillow: Serena & Lily
A hanging rattan chair has become the unanimously favorite piece in the room.
“I didn’t want to look at this room in a year and think, ‘I have to do it all over again,’” Monique says. “We made it girly but funky. It’s truly a place they can grow, learn and be proud to bring friends over and hang out there. Homework is less of a struggle now.”
Hanging rattan chair and basket: Serena & Lily; pouf (dyed from its original color): Nordstrom
See more kids’ space ideas
“I didn’t want to look at this room in a year and think, ‘I have to do it all over again,’” Monique says. “We made it girly but funky. It’s truly a place they can grow, learn and be proud to bring friends over and hang out there. Homework is less of a struggle now.”
Hanging rattan chair and basket: Serena & Lily; pouf (dyed from its original color): Nordstrom
See more kids’ space ideas
Who lives here: Micah and Monique Stevens and their daughters, Kayla, 9, and Taylor, 10
Location: Redwood City, California
Size: About 350 square feet (32.5 square meters)
Designer: Lisa Furtado Interiors
BEFORE: The previously mostly beige playroom with burgundy accent walls had a table and chairs for games, a light brown sofa, a TV and plastic storage units for toys and games placed against the walls. The family dubbed the long and lean space “the bowling alley.”
“We were finding they weren’t using the space,” Monique says. “It also tended to be a dumping ground for stuff.”
The main design challenge was dealing with the narrow configuration of the space, with sliding doors and windows that run the length of an entire wall on one side (at the left in this photo), doorways on the two end walls (including the doorway seen at the back of this photo) and only one unobstructed wall.