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Visiting a Manhattan apartment designed by Tim Seggerman is like sitting inside one of Nakashima’s cabinets, a metaphor realized most fully in an ingenious "library"—really a glorified cubby with a banded maple ceiling, conjured from a free space adjacent to the loft bed.

On one side of the house, a white central staircase leads to a split-level landing the Robertsons call "the reading room." "We needed a place to hang out and for the kids to read," explains owner Vivi Nguyen-Robertson. Awaiting the birth of the couple's son, she relaxes in a built-in reading nook in the library.

Among designer furniture from Antonio Citterio and Arne Norell, built-ins filled with books line the living room of this Los Feliz, Los Angeles, renovation.

Claudia and Sebastian's impressive array of books finds a sleek new home alongside a growing collection of the family’s design items on Aretio’s bespoke shelf.

“The new space aligns perfectly with our lifestyle, especially considering our roles as a family with two kids and the need to work from home frequently,” says Claudia.

In the backyard, a fire pit also serves as a grill thanks to grates that slide back and forth on steel rails. “We cook on it all the time,” says Briana. “I think it’s my husband’s favorite part of the house.” The fire pit was designed by Briana and features and grates from Grate Grates. The patio chairs shown in the background are from Direct Furniture Modern Home.

Every room has built-ins Briana designed and made herself. Cooper’s bedroom includes a platform trundle bed, an alcove desk, and lots of shelving. The wood is painted with Dove White by Benjamin Moore, and the Sektion drawers are from Ikea.

The sunken lounge was designed with "slowing down and appreciating the environment" in mind. A custom-made, built-in sofa wraps around the space, bleeding into the stairs and a custom wood display shelf. Not having a TV was an intentional choice. "We wanted the client to be able to lie back and watch the clouds and the sky, to have conversations, to read a book, to play with their pets," says Knights.

"Light is the most important part of a successful living space," Naughtin says. "We utilized double-height glazing with operable windows and large doors to maximize the intake of light and achieve a strong connection to the outdoor space." European oak storage in the living space matches that in the kitchen for a continuous flow.

The Cozy Room is a more intimate space for reading, drafting letters ("an activity our client has turned into a true art form," notes Eng-Goetz), and watching movies. JHID lowered the ceiling height and raised the floor by a single step in order to give the room a different scale compared to the rest of the apartment. "When you're in the Cozy Room, you feel hugged by the interior architecture, while still being connected to the public spaces that it so clearly looks out on," says Eng-Goetz.

A 10-foot-long floating birch plywood desk lives in the open bedroom to provide ample surface for writing, working, or watching nature.