Best Of Chapel Hill
Room to Grow Readers’ favorite architects and designers divulge how they cultivate kid-friendly havens By Bro o ke S p ach
72
chapelhillmagazine.com
July/August 2022
It’s really about discovery for the kids and thinking at their level,” Keith Shaw of Shaw Design Associates says. “Kids are much more imaginative than adults because they seem to have less rules in their minds than the rest of us.” He designed the playroom/bunkroom pictured above as part of a larger project – an ultimate kids zone – inspired by the homeowners’ desire to create a space that their six grandchildren would want to spend time in. While most of the house is formal, the entire downstairs is dedicated to the kids. The bunkroom sleeps four and was designed to accommodate the kids as they grew up, with electrical outlets and individual lights by each of the twin-sized beds. That level of the home also includes a guest suite for parents and access to the backyard pool. “[For] any work that we do, [we keep in mind that] all of us age, adapt and have different needs,” Keith says. “[We] create spaces that aren’t fixed to be only one thing because we’re all the time changing, no matter what stage of life we’re in.”
Favorite Architect
Shaw Design Associates Sophie Piesse Architect
Favorite Interior Designer
Debra Zinn Interiors