Display on one side, storage on the other - wall construction

Sunset, Feb, 1993 by Peter O. Whiteley

THERE ARE TWO SIDES to every wall. Rarely, however, do they work together as pleasingly as the hallway and bathroom sides of this thickened wall do. The wall's understated design deftly combines a decorative feature of Japanese houses with practical storage for a remodeled bathroom.

In a traditional Japanese house, an alcove called a tokonoma acts as a focal point in a sitting room. A flower arrangement, hanging scroll, or sculpture might be presented in this place of honor.

In this house, in Berkeley, California, a 4-foot-wide tokonoma commands a prominent position at the end of a hallway leading from the front door. Owners Pia Lodberg and Tom Umeda use it to display flowers, illuminated from above by lights hidden behind a beam spanning the opening.

Maple cabinetry frames the bottom and one side of the alcove, but only the slender side cabinets are accessible from the hall. The space beneath the display shelf is masked by a fixed panel and can be reached only from the wall's other side.

THE BATHROOM SIDE

To save space, the 2-by-4 framing on the bathroom side of the wall was turned flat. The wall's upper part, which backs the alcove, is surfaced with horizontal 1-by-4s of unsealed Port Orford cedar. The wood adds a warm color and has a pungent fragrance like that of pencil shavings.

In the tiled lower section, three cabinet doors open to shelves installed in the space below the tokonoma, where towels and other supplies are stored.