Dungeons & Cabins
Choose your own interior design adventure
A newly designed space just made it to the cover of Modern Interiors, Cabin-chic ed.:
Which was a nice change from its previous feature in Derelict Dungeons:
The motivation
Approximately one year ago Sarah (of Sarah Louise Landscapes fame) asked if I could help design her downstairs room - The Dungeon. We have always called this room ‘the dungeon’ for its dark, dusty, and dead rat-cave quality. However, Sarah felt the dungeon’s career as a full-time dumping room was nearing its end and it was time to transform it into a functional bedroom.
Concept development
The redesign process started when Sarah and I attended the Home Design Expo last year and I made this Insta video to capture the experience:
I no longer have the original footage, but the still below was the seed idea for a “cabin deluxe” transformation.
Those plywood walls and ceiling were the single biggest inspiration for the project, and plywood is a material that perfectly suited the dungeon’s dimensions. When I considered the dungeon and its low ceiling, there was no hiding it was a small space. My mind immediately went to the ‘tiny house’ movement which has popularised the concept of economical living and its functionally-based aesthetic. With the dungeon, I felt we could lean into the tiny house look and not pretend it was something else. When Sarah said that she liked the plywood look above, I thought that was a great decision and matched the direction I had in mind.
There was also a bit of structural planning involved. Sarah wanted to shift the door from the lefthand wall to the wall facing the garden. So the previous door was turned into a lovely window and the new door took out the whole wall. Sarah ummed and aahed about the door leading out onto her impressively landscaped backyard but in the end chose a wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor French door. This really opened the room right up and it looks great!
Finished product
A cosy enclosure of top-to-toe glossy plywood with a pale oak bed frame and wardrobe. Without any other distracting colours, the room seems light, eerie, and most importantly cabin-chic. Sarah and her dog Fudge are stoked! Check out the transformation below in the video.
We are also working on a new commercial design project together and I will post about this soon…
Washington DC: New Worlds: Women to Watch, April - August 2024, NMWA
Auckland: Auckland Writers Festival 2024
Wellington: Wellington Art Show 31st of May- 2nd of June
Order your design journal from Amazon here and continue your design journey!
Join my family’s Kimchilary Book Club here
Become my Instagram friend here
Check out my Etsy prints here
Support the independent media you love by becoming a paid supporter and click on the link below :)
Feel free to message me with design suggestions or topics you would like me to cover or just a chat!
Wait, paywall!!!??? You mean my dungeon can look modern and earthy like that with just plywall??!! I framed it out but ran out of money. But even I can afford plywall. Inspiring!