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"                            If you think that having children will change how you live in your home, you&amp;#039;re right. But if you also think it will require exchanging grown-up style for unsightly furnishings, motifs, and color schemes, you haven&amp;#039;t seen the sophisticated interiors dreamed up by designer Sandra Edwards, most recently for this 1,133-square-foot duplex in southern California. As founder and president of Childesign, a national nonprofit organization based in New York City, Edwards is on a mission to create\u2014and encourage others to create\u2014safe, stimulating, inclusive environments for children and the adults who live with them. It&amp;#039;s a mission the energetic designer pursues with zeal and has successfully accomplished for these homeowners\u2014twice. Her initial renovation, completed in 2002, made room for the couple&amp;#039;s first child by transforming a dingy guest bedroom cum home office into a bright nursery, updating the living/dining area, establishing a home office in the kitchen, and moving the laundry area from the garage to a convenient dining-area closet. &amp;quot;She took what was more like an apartment and turned it into an incredibly functional family home,&amp;quot; says the husband. Child safety is paramount in Edwards&amp;#039; designs, which usually include electrical outlets installed at least 36 inches from the floor, out of a youngster&amp;#039;s reach. Other safety features are tailored to the specific project. She shifted this home&amp;#039;s entry, which opened into the living area, so that it lets onto the more visible central passageway to the kitchen, easing parental oversight of the front door and freeing up floor space. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s an entry to our house that finally makes sense,&amp;quot; says the wife. Convertible rooms and multi-use elements are other Childesign hallmarks. &amp;quot;They maximize investment and expand family options,&amp;quot; explains the designer. To make up for the trade-off of the guest bedroom for a child&amp;#039;s room, the living area was outfitted with a sleeper sofa and a folding screen to accommodate overnight visitors. Edwards directed a crew of local volunteer union tradesmen (who completed all the work in this home) to carve a tiny powder room, with just enough space for an ultraquiet, low-flush Kohler toilet, from a full bath that shared a wall with the living area. A living-area built-in of base cabinets, a countertop, and an undermount sink, with an in-wall faucet above, pulls triple duty as a guest-wash-up center, wet bar, and water-play area; the long unit serves as a desk/sideboard in the dining area. Eighteen months after completing the first renovation, Edwards received the call that the family was expecting baby number two. After living happily with the changes the designer had made, the husband and wife were ready to green-light the enclosure of a rarely used rear balcony, an idea they&amp;#039;d resisted the first time around, mainly because of time-constraints. Adjoining the master bedroom and the older child&amp;#039;s room, the 7-by-15-foot exterior space, was the ideal location for a second nursery, one that incorporates many of the green and healthy products Edwards advocates and specified throughout this home. The new nursery was framed with engineered lumber, which can be formed in great lengths from younger trees; precious old-growth forests don&amp;#039;t have to be sacrificed for this purpose. The Schuler pecan-and-cherry cabinets from Lowe&amp;#039;s are solid wood, so they won&amp;#039;t outgas as those with synthetic components may. And the low-VOC (volatile organic compound) paints and stains by AFM are eco-friendly and odor-free.  Lined with windows and built-ins, including a crib that converts with no additional expense to a windowseat, this room, too, has a future\u2014as a sunny sitting room. (Both children will eventually share the older child&amp;#039;s room, retrofitted with bunkbeds.) &amp;quot;I can&amp;#039;t believe that it used to be our tiny balcony,&amp;quot; says the wife. &amp;quot;If I didn&amp;#039;t know better, I&amp;#039;d swear we added on to it.&amp;quot; Enclosing a Balcony Here&amp;#039;s how the outdoor area became the new nursery 1. With the rail and stucco floor removed, soy-based insulation was blown in between the floor joists and a plywood substrate floor nailed to them. A 10-by-7 1/6-foot opening was cut in the wall between the balcony and the master bedroom for sliding doors. 2. Walls and ceiling were framed; hangers and straps stabilize the frame. The structure was secured to the main house with metal straps at various points dictated by local building codes. 3. Electrical wiring was pulled in from the main junction box in the adjoining child&amp;#039;s room. Windows and a skylight were installed. 4. To form exterior walls, plywood, an insulating skin, and metal masonry mesh were nailed to the outside of the framing; stucco was applied over the mesh. 5. An oak floor was laid and covered to protect it. 6. Soy-based insulation was blown in between interior wall studs and ceiling joists. 7. To form the interior walls and ceiling, Sheetrock was cut to fit and nailed to wall studs and ceiling joists. 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<http://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/room-ideas/a997/one-to-grow-on-17502/>