Storage Savvy Renovation in Emeryville
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The wooden box is as functional as it is finely crafted, with room for clothes up top. Each niche holds treasures from travels, family keepsakes, books, and more.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
The bedroom—accessible via the living room—is where the couple will place a bassinet for their newborn.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
The wooden box features hidden storage.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
Ando, a Shiba Inu, was in the first Puppy Cam litter.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
Peter lined the pass-through’s opening with plywood.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
The picture wall is adorned with images collected from family, colleagues, and estate sales. ”I kill plants, so cacti are our friends,” Peter says of the succulents along the low table behind the Design Within Reach sofa, just over which an Established & Sons Font clock keeps time.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
The loft had no overhead illumination when the Benoits moved in, so they added a George Nelson Bubble lamp, mezzanine uplighting, and an Ikea pendant.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
The Steelcase desk in the living room was a lucky streetside freebie discovered outside their old Oakland apartment.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
The typewriter shown here was a flea-market find.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
The bedroom is tucked away within the wood box, with room enough for a bed and dresser (and bassinet once the baby arrives). The Styrofoam bust of Mr. T (in the upper right corner of the image) was made by a friend who works at a 3-D modeling company.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
The dining room table is often used for rousing games of cribbage, but cleans up nicely when it's time to eat. The small balcony outside is home to a collection of plants (which get watered more often than the succulents inside).Photo by: Drew Kelly -
A familiar scene in the Benoit home: Peter paints at the Steelcase desk—"I do all my work here," he says—while Ando sits nearby, waiting for attention.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
The kitchen, accented with the blue flooring and tiled backsplash, looks much sleeker than it did when the Benoits moved in.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
Lynda's knick knacks and crafty supplies are kept in the kitchen's metal shelving system, which came with the couple from their previous apartment.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
Freshly baked cookies can go directly from oven to eager eaters in the living room via the pass-through.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
The Blues Are Still Blue
Grinding down the concrete floor was too costly, so the Benoits had it painted blue with inexpensive Benjamin Moore latex floor-and-patio paint and then sealed with Zinsser shellac—a natural, nontoxic product that brushes on and can be easily touched up. It darkened the blue paint a bit and gives the floor a hand-worked luster.Scandinavian Grace
The Benoits bought their Scandinavian modern table from Klassik Living in Berkeley. “Their prices are very reasonable for the uniqueness and quality offered,” says Peter. They chose teak since it darkens nicely and naturally when exposed to sunlight—–helpful since their table gets blasted by morning rays. klassikliving.comPhoto by: Drew Kelly -
Shelter from the Sun
Peter and Lynda opted for Hunter Douglas clutched roller shades with a medium-opacity black cloth because the material filters the sun but still reveals the view when drawn. At night, it blends with the black steel frame. They worked with the Alcatraz Shade Shop in Oakland.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
Light Box
Peter created a simple uplight at the top of the wood box by wiring together energy-efficient fluorescent fixtures typically used under cabinets and countertops. “The cheaper magnetic models hum unacceptably loudly, so make sure you get the electronic ballast types,” he warns. He then painted the cavity white to reflect light and covered them with quarter-inch-thick acrylic from TAP Plastics.Photo by: Drew Kelly -
Second Coming
It took multiple weekend trips, but the couple finally landed upon enough green tiles to cover their kitchen wall. Overstock tiles and seconds can be purchased from Heath Ceramics in its Sausalito showroom. Though the surfaces aren't as uniformly colored nor as flat as first-run tiles, they offer a unique tone ans texture when the tiles are laid out.Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!
Photo by: Drew Kelly
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