Living Room Shelves Storage Bench Rug Floors Light Hardwood Floors Design Photos and Ideas

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.
Walnut storage, both open and closed, frames a black-painted wall with a fireplace at its center. The wall treatment can also hide a future television. "A dark wall is a great way to keep a large screen from feeling like a big black hole on the wall," notes the firm.
To create a sense of luxury on a budget, the architect ran a thin concrete border along either side of the fireplace flue and flanked it with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. The second story has two lofts joined by a steel bridge.