ELITE DESIGN AWARD WINNER 2016: This academic professor works from home, and decided to come up from the basement to take advantage of the natural light on the main floor. We turned this playroom into a fully functioning multi-person office space that allows customization and flexibility no matter the task. His research is far from square and boring – so we came up with a unique curvilinear countertop design using Maple desktops from Décor Cabinets, which truly add a touch of whimsy to the everyday. Against his wife’s preference, his creative process requires access to many types of material at once, so solutions like bi-fold cabinets and the large aluminum tambour doors allow him to organize loose papers, but shut away the mess when the day is done. Mixing a few different finishes creates enough interest so that staying in the same room for long periods is far from boring, and the acid etch mirror inserts give a frosted glass look without showing any of the mess inside. With this design, the move upstairs was a benefit for everyone.