Cozy sleeping den…it started as a dark bathroom

Sunset, June, 1986

Cozy sleeping den . . . it started as a dark bathroom

When the bath became the bedroom during the remodeling of this 1950s ranch house, a small, dark space was transformed into a cozy but dramatic sleeping den. Mirrors covering one whole wall of sliding-door closets add to the drama while visually doubling the room's size.

A carpet-covered plywood platform raises the bed off the floor and extends on each side to create two curved night tables. Corners at the foot of the bed are also curved to make maneuvering around the platform easier.

Overhead, echoing the outline of the bed platform, a foot-deep frame covered with gypsum board creates a soffit around a light well. The shaft rises 7 feet, tapering to a 3- by 5-foot skylight. At night, lights around the soffit and a corresponding ring of lights under the platform softly illuminate the room.

The sculptural headboard wall has three 6-inch-deep recesses: two small niches behind the night tables, and a larger center niche spanned by a metal rod used for hanging decorative textiles.

Richard Elmore of Palo Alto, California, designed the remodel.

Photo: Light well forms a rigid canopy over bed, drawing eye up to roof line. Mirrored closet doors and wall recesses add to sense of spaciousness

Photo: Carpet-covered bed platform curves into night table recessed 6 inches into well; lights beneath platform lip make bed seem to float above floor