Bedroom

The bedroom is outfitted with a bed and side table from Ikea.

“Two-bedroom apartments are coveted in Manhattan, but the reality is that we are just two people, and the second bedroom had become neglected storage space,” Fontanez says. Combining the two into one reaped big rewards. “Now we wake up to a row of four windows and a variety of birds singing,” Russell says.

The master bedroom.

In the master bedroom, a small, cramped closet was replaced with a wardrobe that is partially obscured by a slatted wooden screen that was built by Metalworks & Design Studio of Seattle. "The idea was you see through it, so in a sense it doesn't feel like a small space," Smith says.

The bedroom is to the immediate right of the entrance; the architects selected plywood for interior surfacing for the warm tones it provided. The aluminum spacers allow for easy installation—they have greater tolerances for gaps as compared to other joints—while doubling as a decorative element.

Less laborious than installing windows and more energy-efficient than turning on electric lights, tubular skylighting is a creative, sustainable design solution for brightening dim rooms.