Room We Love: A Polished Bunkroom in Cornelius

Lauren Clement designs a versatile guestroom for a family’s lakefront retreat

Lauren Clement’s clients hired her to renovate their lakefront house in Cornelius room by room before they moved in last year. They loved the classic New England-inspired aesthetic of the exterior, but the interior was dark and Tuscan. “Style-wise, it was in need of some updates,” Clement says, “but the bones were excellent.” With two grown children and two young grandchildren, the couple wanted a second floor bunkroom that would serve as a kids’ play place and an overflow guestroom. So Clement created a dual-purpose space in line with the light, airy feel of their family retreat.

ROOM TO GROW

“The homeowners wanted it to be a cool kids’ room without screaming ‘kids!’” Clement says. So she brought in a set of white bunk beds and put an additional full sized bed on the opposite wall to maximize sleeping arrangements. The sloped ceiling posed a challenge with furniture placement, so she had to go a bit rogue. “I wouldn’t typically line a room full of furniture, but in this case I had to. Certain rules in the design world need to be broken when it makes sense.”

PATCHES OF BLUE

Clement chose an oversized blue rug from Stark that would be “soft enough for babies to crawl on” but durable and easy to clean. She created an accent wall with a coat of navy paint, a custom shade from her Benjamin Moore collection, to make the shiplap stand out. “Painting the whole room blue would be too much,” she says, “but the shiplap was there, we chose to keep it because it was such a cool feature.”

BUILT FOR COMFORT

Clement kept the bedding simple and layered it with blue and white blankets and accent pillows. “It’s sophisticated, but still young and fun and speaks to the lake vibe,” she says. “It needed to be inviting and soft for kids, but if I were an overflow guest, I’d be happy to stay there, too. Nothing about this is age-specific.”