It was mutual friends that introduced Everald Colas of Storyn Studio for Architecture to a new set of clients. Colas—a Haitian-American architect, educator, and storyteller—returned to Florida to start his own firm spending eight years in New York City as a senior architect at Bjarke Ingels Group. Colas was used to working on much larger scale commercial projects but loves the unique opportunity that residential work brings. “Residential projects are always interesting because we have the opportunity to tell a client’s full story at all scales—from the rug, to the bookcase, to the overall space,” he says.

$1,000 Fence & Landscaping	$3,427 Exterior Doors	$3,750 Windows
$8,000 Roof & Floor Framing	$2,000 Fiber Cement Siding	$2,000 Roofing
$4,336 Framing & Drywall	$2,400 Interior Doors	$1,500 Toilet Accessories
$1,800 Paint	$2,500 Tiling	$2,800 Tile Flooring
$800 Ceiling Finishes	$11,000 FF&E	$9,180 Plumbing Fixtures
$1,496 Domestic Water Distribution	$2,000 HVAC System	$2,000 Electrical
$6,000 New Lighting & Branch Wiring	$1,468 Communications & Security
Grand Total: $69,457

The clients are a couple who had purchased a home on a small lot in St. Petersburg, Florida; after living there for a year, they were ready to make some improvements. Avid readers, they requested a quiet library space that could double as a guest room. With limited space available, constructing an addition was out of the question—but they did have a 400-square-foot garage that wasn’t being used to its fullest potential.

Armed with a budget of $75,000, Colas set out to reimagine the underutilized space. Working within the tight footprint, he came up with a concept involving “the design of a single piece of furniture configured to the spaces around it with minimal disruption to the existing shell.” The result is a serene space with a bespoke bookshelf that serves as a structural element to support a sleeping loft above. A sliding library ladder leads up to the loft. Below, there is a quiet study, an eat-in kitchenette, and a full bathroom.

The biggest challenge that Colas faced was customizing the store-bought library ladder to fit the space and make smooth turns. “The radius of the library ladder was very difficult,” he shares. “We had to get a millworker to reverse engineer the wheels at the bottom to make it a bit smoother.”

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Most of the budget was put toward creating the bookshelves, and Colas found creative design solutions that would help the clients save money elsewhere. This savvy attitude—combined with a contractor that actually came in below budget—ended up saving the couple around $9,000. “We were fortunate to have the same contractor on the job who had worked on my home,” says Colas. “We had a great rapport, and this close collaboration yielded so many benefits.”

The results pleased everyone involved. “My favorite part of the renovation was working closely with the owners,” shares Colas. “They had very good design tastes, and today we are still very close friends. They have expressed to me that the Loft Library provides exactly the kind of sanctuary that they were looking for, and it doubles as a guesthouse—and it accomplishes all of this with just 400 square feet.”

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Project Credits:

Architect of Record: STORYN Studio for Architecture, Everald Colas, AIA / @storynstudio
Builder/General Contractor: Stan Stockdale
Cabinetry Design/Installation: A+B Cabinets

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Budget Breakdown: A Neglected Garage Becomes a Library Loft for $69K