The Away Room

A.K.A. the den, the term Away Room was coined by Sarah Susanka in her seminal book "The Not So Big House" to better describe this type of space as a refuge in the open plan/great groom layouts of today's homes. The version shown here is one of my favorite spaces. The very light natural wood is sycamore, contrasted with ebony-stained maple. The ceiling color matches that of an old penny. I designed the basket weave-patterned tambour doors to conceal the TV and detailed interlocking squares (like a zipper) to join them together. Note the door and little covered porch off this room (just right for inspired stargazing). The upper bookshelf soffit and corner bookshelf "columns" break down the scale and fill in corners, two effective visual/spatial effects. Photo by: Randall Perry