The shoemaker’s kids often go barefoot. As a Designer/Renovator, it finally came time to pay attention to our small two-bedroom home after our son had grown up and moved out. My partner and I have been ballroom dancing for the last 18 years and we wanted a flexible, multi-functional space that could accommodate guests and where we could practice our dancing.

It was time to create an innovative hide-a-bed solution. I thought it would be a great idea if our guests, while staying with us, could also easily hang and store their things. The bookend cabinets conveniently accommodate hanging clothes in a large lighted half-closet above and store folded belongings in lighted frosted glass drawers below. The top draw functions as a bedside table to store nighttime supplies and has a built-in outlet to charge electronic devices. The lights turn on and off automatically when the closets and drawers are opened and closed.

The bed cabinet has two gooseneck reading lights that have built-in USB chargers. The lights above the painting are controlled by a touch sensitive dimmer buried in the headboard shelf. When the headboard is dropped down it reveals a large storage space for a mattress topper and four pillows. Pulling two ring locks on the back panel of the storage space reveals the lighting modules for easy access. Once the bed is put up and away a master module turns off all the lighting in the bed cabinet.

Bamboo was chosen for the construction of the cabinets for its low carbon and sustainable qualities. Bamboo can mature in as little as 7 years as opposed to hardwoods which take 20-30 years to reach maturity. A final detail, a cold air return vent under one of the bookend cabinets, required the toe kick material to be a vent for air flow to the furnace.

What a sweet retreat.

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