When it came to overhauling a small cabin in Twin Peaks, California, Emily Kopp knew exactly where she wanted to start: “We’re doing a banquette,” Emily remembers saying to her partner, David Brooks, on their first visit.

The creative couple—she’s an interior designer with Studio Shamshiri, and he’s a director specializing in stop-motion animation—are both Los Angeles transplants that started looking for a cabin respite outside of the city in 2022. “We dated a lot of houses. We were not into them,” jokes Emily. Then they met this 1977 gem, which had more to work with, even with less than 1,000 square feet across its two floors.

$7,941.84 Lumber	$15,435.50 Tile & Installation	$15,785 Oak Flooring
$2,441.36 Baldwin Hardware	$7,223.55 Electrical	$4,911.12 Plumbing Fixtures
$5,550 HVAC	$18,085.35 Custom Cabinetry	$5,712.56 Lighting
$2,934.38 Countertop	$4,215 Appliances	$19,349.63 Windows & Sliding Door
$6,371.97 Wood Doors	$12,914.98 Furnishings	$5,000 AC Unit
$708.65 Other Hardware	$1,202.50 Window Covering	$1,100 Shower Glass
$6,605 Demo	$69,577 Construction
Grand Total:$213,065

Before: Front Exterior

After: Front Exterior

On their first visit, the couple liked the cabin’s unique approach across a foot bridge that wraps the trunk of a mature tree and the squat gambrel roof. “I love an A-frame, but A-frames feel more like a cathedral in a way,” says David. “This house feels like a cozy little hug.”

Inside, exposed wood ceilings give much more height than the exterior conveys, while the rest of the finishes were standard ’70s fare, including laminate kitchen counters, vinyl-paneled walls, beige wall-to-wall carpet, and crumbling drywall. The couple’s redo includes color, vintage furniture, and not a speck of drywall, all without overwhelming the features that they wanted to keep, like a fireplace corner in the living room and wood beams.

“I personally wanted something bright and colorful, as we’ve been swimming in a sea of beige interiors for way too long,” says Emily. “We loved that it had a manageable floor plan and it seemed like a renovation that we could tackle without having panic attacks.”

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

Emily and David struck a balance between her love of scouring flea markets and Ebay for good finds, and his desire to embrace being in the woods. The new color palette includes fun color combinations, like sage cabinets and raisin-toned tile in the kitchen, or mint penny tile wrapping the downstairs shower—“I wanted a jewel box there,” says Emily—paired with a custom terracotta vanity.

Several of the vintage furniture pieces have an upscale summer camp vibe, like the vintage chairs in the living room, and a 1960s ceramic Arnels mushroom lamp in the downstairs bedroom. “That’s a personal favorite of mine,” says Emily. “I have a matching one in L.A.”

Before: Dining Room

After: Banquette

The biggest splurge in the budget was the windows, as the couple decided to swap out the existing aluminum units for Anderson wood-clad windows throughout. This included removing a Juliette balcony in the main bedroom altogether, and replacing the sliding door with a large picture window that frames the view of the trees. “Most of the windows are in the back and it’s just forest back there,” says David. “Everything points you visually to the forest. It’s magical.”

Before: Living Room

After: Living Room

The much-desired banquette, however, proved to be a challenge. “We wanted to be able to play a good card game on the table, and have enough space to actually have a dinner,” says Emily. “The tricky thing was getting enough kitchen storage in there and then also figuring out the size and the scale of the banquette, and what size table would accommodate friends and family.”

Their mock-up process involved multiple SketchUp renderings and CAD drawings, cardboard templates, even lawn chairs arrayed as seating stand-ins. When it seemed like the banquette wouldn’t actually fit—the kitchen was staying in place to save on budget—they reminded themselves of their end goal: “It was just understanding how we wanted to live there,” says David.

To that end, the couple dropped the dishwasher from the kitchen layout to maximize storage and fit the banquette in. Now, with front-row views of the forest through the sliding doors, it’s often the center of weekend life at the cabin, from card games to long meals. “It’s the first place I go in the morning with a cup of coffee,” says David. “It serves as a reading nook and a meal space. I even fell asleep there once.”

Before: Powder Room

After: Powder Room

Of course, other spots are equally good for living out the cabin agenda, whether cozying up on the couch in front of the fire and the projector screen to watch a movie, or sleeping in and listening to NPR's Sunday Puzzle on the deck. “We’ve had groups of friends up and my parents came,” says Emily. “It’s nice to hang out and do nothing altogether.”

Before: Shared Bathroom

After: Shared Bathroom

Before: Guest Room

After: Guest Room

Before: Primary Bedroom

After: Primary Bedroom

Related reading:

This $558K Texas Home Celebrates the Charm of Simple Sheds

Two Art Lovers Turn Their Small Chicago Cottage Into a Collector’s Paradise for $53K

Project Credits:

Interior Design: Emily Kopp

Construction: FZ Construction / Fabian Zuniga

Appears In

Budget Breakdown: For $213K, a Creative Couple Remodel a Cozy California Cabin—Without Drywall