Clever Lofted Sleeping Spaces

A closer look at the partly enclosed sleeping area, which is illuminated by a small skylight. Custom cabinetry offer deep storage units as a way to help maximize the studio's layout.

The second floor houses three lits bretons, boxlike compartments where the curtains can be drawn to close sleepers off from the world. Inside, each has a built-in shelf for personal belongings and a favorite read.

The guest bedroom, which is wrapped in wood, also features a built-in storage nook.

The wood headboard in the main bedroom features a built-in storage nook.

The bed is suspended in a lofted area above the living room.

Salminen built the bunk beds out of birch, Finland’s most plentiful tree species, for the couple’s children.

In his home office, Wardell runs his online art gallery Chester's Blacksmith Shop and researches his next project: opening a boutique hotel in New Zealand. His nephew peeks down from the "napping nook" secreted above the office. The desk is from Room & Board.

A large cushioned bench at one end of the cabin provides a seating area that looks out onto the landscape beyond.

The multicolored cushions were designed by Acuña and fabricated by Viviana Cortes.

Some bedrooms are just big enough for a mattress.

Several years later, he installed an exterior staircase and divided the upper floor into two guest wings that accommodate up to six people apiece.

A ladder made from Japanese cedar accesses the upper-level bedroom, where a skylight provides views of treetops and the sky.

Inside, a built-in bed features large storage drawers and cubbies.

The interior of the cabin is outfitted with a living space that converts to a sleeping area and an open kitchen. Birch plywood wraps the interior, lending warmth and texture.

Blue-grey walls in the mezzanine-level bedroom tie to blue-grey volcanic cobblestone in the kitchen and the bathroom. Small square windows on either side of the bed provide painting-like views of the landscape.

Using natural materials is one way of bringing nature indoors. Oiled white ash floors and ceilings, along with Italian poplar and Lawson cypress joinery, are found throughout architect Andrew Simpson’s 538-square-foot home outside Wellington, New Zealand.

A lofted sleeping space furnished with a king size Design Within Reach American Modern bed was made possible when the architects raised the ceiling to create a triangular skylight. The move carved out enough headroom to make the second-floor space usable, while still keeping the cottage in compliance with strict local zoning rules for “accessory” buildings.