Fantasy Twins’ Suite

Some rooms are designed to be slept in. This one was designed to be dreamed in.

What was once a choppy warren of small rooms with no clear purpose is now something else entirely: a twin girls' bedroom unlike anything we'd ever built. By removing one unnecessary wall, everything opened up. Suddenly there was room to upgrade from twin beds to full beds — a gift to two girls who are, after all, only going to get bigger. More importantly, the new footprint gave us the canvas to do something really special: design a room with a dedicated side for each girl, tailored to her own personality and hobbies, while still feeling like one cohesive, beautiful shared space.

The centerpiece is a massive custom-built bookshelf complete with a window seat made for long reading sessions. Every inch of shelf space has been thoughtfully claimed: growing book collections, beloved stuffed animals, and the little objects they’ve made. But the real magic? Pull the right book on the shelf and something unlocks, quite literally. A hidden door — disguised seamlessly within the bookcase — swings open to reveal a private playroom beyond. It is, without question, the most delightful thing we have ever built, and the look on these girls' faces when they show it to a visitor never gets old.

Painted in a deep, enveloping green, the room is wrapped in muddy, earthy colors — not the bright primaries you'd find in a big-box kids' room. They're the colors of a well-loved book cover, a potter's studio, a sun-baked garden wall. Rich without being dark. Playful without being loud.

To really layer on the charm, we brought in an artist to hand-paint custom enchanted murals that encircle the room. Every detail was intentional: trailing vines, soft woodland creatures peeking through the trees, hints at the twins’ favorite hobbies and inside family memories.

Step through the hidden bookshelf door and you're met with walls entirely swathed in a dramatic flora-and-dragon wallpaper — deeply appropriate for two devoted Harry Potter readers — in a warm gold that makes the room glow. Against it, we built custom crimson desks, one for each twin, sized just right and detailed with playful cut-outs that give the cabinetry the feeling of a castle parapet.

An existing closet (now extra cute with a custom valance) keeps board games organized, while bean bag chairs with reading lights and book baskets offer cozy little worlds-within-a-world where a girl can disappear completely. This petite scholar's study is a lesson in leaning into a theme, but in a chic way.

All photos by Lissa Gotswal