Architect Sheila Narusawa came to this project when her high school boyfriend, Moncreiff Cochran (whom she hadn’t seen in decades) was looking to build a house. She ended up marrying him?and designing a New England?inspired modernist hideaway for the two of them, shiplap-paneled kitchen included. Look closely: The room is filled with a career’s worth of clever, cost-conscious design solutions.
Photography by Matthew Williams for Remodelista.

Above: The key piece of furniture in the room, the dining table, was designed by Sheila and given to her and Mon as a wedding present from his siblings. Made of clear-grade Eastern white pine and fabricated by Rhode Island carpenter Nick Hollibaugh, a brother-in-law, it takes its shape from an antique trestle table but follows exacting specs. As Sheila explains, “It’s eight feet long and 30 inches wide, magic numbers if you want a nice proportion that has length?it seats eight?and room for plates, but still allows for intimate conversations.” The fussiness ends there: The chairs are Ikea’s $29 Stefan design, and the delicate bulbs suspended over the table are $261 Atlas Pendants.

Above: Radiant heat flooring efficiently warms the entire house, even in the height of winter. In the kitchen, it’s supplemented by a wood-burning Rais 60 firebox inserted into a Majestic SRSH36 stove, raised to table level so it’s fully in view. Wood is conveniently stowed in an insert underneath. The decora...