Most people begin a renovation with a stack of inspiration photos. When photographer Aya Brackett and her husband added a second bedroom to their home, they started with just a bed. “We bought it for the style, but also for its storage capacity,” she says of the piece with built-in drawers. “We designed everything else around it.” The result—a 330-square-foot master suite—makes up the third floor of their 1895 Oakland home. Because of city setback rules, “everything was negotiated on inches,” Brackett says. Custom furniture makes the most of the space; the cherrywood and white palette keeps it serene. “We like the minimal.”
Design Architect: Jennifer Cooper, Oakland; pumpkinhousestudio.com.
Furniture: Kelly Roth Best, Oakland.