# A Seattle beach house that skips the driftwood

> SHED Architecture & Design gave a 1910 Alki Beach cabin a SoCal color streak and a mural full of whales.
- Title: A Seattle beach house that skips the driftwood · domino
- Summary: SHED Architecture & Design gave a 1910 Alki Beach cabin a SoCal color streak and a mural full of whales. Point the furniture at the view, hide the storage…
- Keywords: renovation, seattle, interior design, color, coastal, beach, house, skips, driftwood, domino
- Source: domino — https://domino.com/renovation/alki-beach-seattle-home-renovation-shed-architecture-and-design
- Author: Zoë Sessums, Rafael Soldi
- Published: 2026-09-03T08:27:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: renovation, seattle, interior design, color, coastal
## Great view, sterile rooms
The house sits above Alki Beach with ferries, wildlife and the Olympic Mountains out the windows. Inside, after two earlier remodels, it read as generic.

> sterile and generic
## SoCal energy, moved north
Owners arriving from Southern California asked for two things: far more storage in a small footprint without feeling boxed in, and a happier house.
## Seats go where the water is
SHED swapped the kitchen and dining areas instead of adding square footage, then pushed seating to the windows. A banquette now serves breakfast over Puget Sound.
## A perch in every room
A room-length bench tucks into the living room and a daybed upstairs faces the water. The plan follows where the family already wanted to linger.
## Tile wrote the palette
The owners picked six Alex Proba patterns from Concrete Collaborative on sight. Lilac, coral, orange, yellow and pink spread from that wall to pink counters and a coral backsplash.

> that's the one
## One rule for the pattern
The tile wraps a central wall linking entry, kitchen and living spaces, installed so no two identical tiles sit side by side in the same orientation.
## Benches that swallow clutter
Storage hides inside things that look architectural: window benches, the built-in bed platform, and a closet carved out by extending the upper floor over the stairs.
## Daylight passes through walls
A glass transom with a mirrored panel sits between bedroom and bath, moving light across and bouncing the water view back. Screens replaced solid walls by the stairs.
## Key takeaway

Point the furniture at the view, hide the storage inside it, and let one material you love set the whole palette.