The pine interior features custom details like a rolling couch from Aquaclean and a kitchen cupboard wide enough for a paella pan. A D-7 freestanding stove from Rocal hangs on the wall.
A pair of tilt-and-turn windows flank a fixed window in the kitchen. All glazing is double paned.
The modular, black-steel KXN system by IMO makes for a sleek and minimalist kitchen setup.
The north side of the home opens up to a covered wraparound deck and views of the Karangahake Gorge.
A long hallway connects the open-plan living spaces to the bedrooms that branch off to the left side, and the Outdoor Room ahead.
The timber construction is a nod to Coromandel’s timber logging heritage.
James, an avid mountain biker, with his young daughter. The outdoorsy family enjoys access to the many hiking and river swimming opportunities available on the property.
The homeowners have joined New Zealand’s One Billion Trees program and plan to regenerate part of their land with native bush.
The home is wrapped in eco-friendly Abodo Tundra shiplap with a sustainable Sioo:x finish that helps the wood develop a silvery patina over time.
Stairs lead down to a multi-purpose space along the original boiler room floor. An intermediary balcony provides access to a separate bedroom and bathroom that was used as a nightly rental.
A small kitchen tucked in the corner received cosmetic updates during the renovation.
Today, the cabin has a new purpose: it’s a safe haven for a friend who is a surgeon in Portland.
Many of the home’s furnishings are made from recycled materials, vintage finds, or nearly new pieces—such as this bathtub, which Jessica salvaged from a renovation at a friend’s house. The curtain was made from a vintage French sheet, which ironically—for a bathroom—has the initials BM embroidered on it.
Bunk beds served Jessica’s two young children for four years in the tiny home. They each had a small niche in the wall, illuminated by a pull chain light, where they could store a few things, and a pull out closet at the end of the beds for clothing. A day bed against the far wall (not pictured) served as the “guest room.”
The master bedroom, essentially just a loft with a mattress, is accessed by a wooden ladder from the living room. The master bedroom closet is downstairs in the hallway—but Jessica did cheat slightly, co-opting 12 feet of space in a neighboring barn as her dressing room/closet. “Every morning, I would go out in my rubber boots, no matter what the weather was, and get dressed in the barn,” she says.
Built-in sofas provide lots of flexibility for entertaining, lounging, and even spare sleeping arrangements—plus they provide plenty of storage, thanks to pull-out drawers. A floor-to-ceiling bookshelf was key for corralling clutter, providing some of the only horizontal space in the home. The bookshelf wall is extra thick to accommodate two small cupboards behind the sofa cushions that open into the adjoining bathroom.
Vintage Paul McCobb chairs set around a handcrafted kitchen table—made by Jessica’s husband from reclaimed Oregon western walnut—delineate the living room from the kitchen/dining space. Pendant lights from a now-defunct French lighting manufacturer illuminate the space, dangling between collar ties that hold the cabin’s roof in place.
The home’s walls are clad in Oregon white oak reclaimed from a dismantled barn on the property. Jessica Helgerson chose to paint them white to create a bright, airy look, but she left the kitchen wall au naturel for a visual pop. With storage at a premium, the kitchen needed ample cabinetry as well as some ingenious solutions—including a pull-out cabinet hidden in one half of the range hood. A vintage cabinet on the left wall provides open storage for everyday dishes.
An elongated kitchen window ties the interior to the outdoor deck and bar area and the landscape beyond.
A wardrobe is nestled at the top of the stairs.
Ryan designed a small office nook tucked under the loft-style bedroom.
A built-in storage bench in the dining area accommodates a fold-out table when guests visit. The dining area rug is from The Citizenry.
The original run-down shed wasn’t very functional: The roof leaked, the carpet had sprouted mold, and the narrow quarters were sectioned off as two parking spots and two office spaces. So Ella engaged Mutuus Studio to help figure out an optimal design for the 360-square-foot shed—one that would encompass garden shed, exercise room, office, playroom, and outdoor dining space all while staying within a modest budget of less than $40,000.
Don't forget to include recess and downtime in your schedule.
This is a wonderful time for children to pursue passion projects.
Hang plants with creeping vines from your bathroom's ceiling for a calming visual effect.
The Dean Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island, was designed Ari Heckman—his design firm ASH NYC used Matouk bedding in every room.
This Restoration Hardware duvet and bedding set bring texture and pattern into this Crown Heights condo in Brooklyn, designed by Keren Richter of White Arrow. The Ligne Roset bed is accented by Workstead sconces.
There are plenty of passive and sustainable design solutions—both large and small—that can be employed to reduce heat gain and the need to artificially cool a space with air conditioning.
Studio Rain’s 62-square-foot sauna can fit six people. The art and architecture collective looked to "blur the boundaries between personal and public space," wanting bathers to embrace both "intimate social contact and inner stillness."
A metal chimney allows heat escape from the sauna's wood stove.
A unique door that swivels from the top was designed to prevent heat escape.
Inside benches were constructed out of western red cedar.
Although the pint-sized sauna has a footprint of 62 square feet, tiered benches maximize space.
For Melbourne Design Week 2020, Sydney-based art and architecture collective Studio Rain created Atmosphere: A Revival, a sauna installation along the picturesque Yarra River meant to revive bathing culture.
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