I adore the women that share the madness of this business with me. They prompt intimate reminders of how much beauty can be whipped up with a rigorous recipe of ambition, intelligence, and creativity. Kim Legget of City Farmhouse and Jeni Maus of Found Rentals are daily inspirations of mine and I encourage you all to check out there work if you’re not already familiar. Occasionally, my crazy little world is fortunate enough to spin into another designer’s orbit and it’s during these opportunities the fun truly begins.
Back in February our astonishingly talented neighbor, friend, and fellow designer Whitney Leigh Morris contacted me to help her solve a problem. She had recently finished renovations on 400 square-foot cottage on the Venice canals and needed some help making the most of her tiny space (see her appropriately named blog The Tiny Canal Cottage for a tour).
Consisting of only three rooms, the bedroom, the main room/kitchen, and the bathroom, she and her husband needed furniture that could work in the lack of excess space. The cottage was originally built to act as a guest house but since their son, West, had already called dibs on turning the bedroom into a playroom, the dilemma of where to put a bed was becoming a head-scratcher.
That’s where Tumbleweed came in. Whitney came over to the store and we opened the umbrellas for an old-fashioned brainstorming session. She already knew she couldn’t spare the inches for a bulky sleeper-sofa, so we put pen to paper and allowed the glory of innovation to take hold.
What I came up with was a design for a bench with three identical sections attached by two sets of hinges. Simply put – a bench that unfolds into a queen size platform bed!
With an entirely wooden frame, detachable legs, and a seat cushion that can be comfortably stored beneath the bed when necessary, the concept was a bonafide marriage of fashion and function!
I passed the plans over to my team and within a few short days the finished product was being folded and unfolded in the cottage’s main room providing a cozy nook to read OR a serene bed to catch a couple Zzzz’s as necessary.
Whitney had originally planned on simply using an air mattress to lay on top whenever company stayed the night but instead ended up using an unbelievably soft Nora Mattress from Wayfair that she was able to store in a closet when not in use.
We were all so elated with the finished product we began making more! Check out our Cottage Bed on our site and never forget that most problems can be solved with a little focus and creativity!
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Venice Beach Cellar Style 