Beautiful, Peaceful, Sustainable Bedrooms
(Page 3 of 4)
November/December 2006
By Becky Mollenkamp
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A cramped bedroom is transformed into a healthy haven for the whole family.
The tiny, 10-by-11-foot master bedroom in Allison O'Neall and Scott Allen's 1955 Boulder, Colorado, home was stuffed to the gills. A king-size bed monopolized the space, making the bedroom usable "pretty much only for sleeping," Allison says. The room was so small that half their furniture (his half, of course) had been relegated to another room. The couple needed a change. The solution to their cramped quarters was a 12-by-14-foot addition with a vaulted ceiling and large windows.
An eco-designer by trade, Allison made sure the new space was green from start to finish. She used only recycled building materials, and the room's 4-by-5-foot low-E Milgard windows provide natural light and fresh air. The new oak floors are covered with less toxic water-based polyurethane, and the walls are colored with AFM Safecoat no-VOC paint.
Allison chose natural and recycled linens and rugs without latex backs to minimize her exposure to formaldehyde and toxic chemicals. "I have quite a reaction to paints and solvents, so for me that was the priority," she says.
Allison called on her passion for gardening as decorating inspiration. The room is loaded with shades of blue and green, bringing the outdoors in. "When you're in the room, you feel like you're in nature," Allison says.