A Multi-Purpose Guest Room Overlooking the SF Bay
Fifty-nine floors above the San Francisco Bay, this One Rincon Hill apartment feels suspended between water and sky. The views are breathtaking. When the homeowners purchased it as a weekend retreat from Foster City, however, the interiors did not match the setting. The space was dark, heavy, and overwhelmingly brown.
Designer Isolina Mallon of Isolina Mallon Interiors set out to change that.
A full refresh brought in lighter finishes, updated floors, and a cleaner palette throughout. But the most transformative moment happened inside a single guest bedroom.
Although the apartment includes three bedrooms, only one functions as a true enclosed guest space. The homeowners wanted that room to work harder. It needed to host overnight guests comfortably, serve as a yoga room, function as a TV lounge, and offer a sense of coziness that the open living room, with its expansive glass walls, could not provide.
“They didn’t want to sit on a bed to watch TV,” Isolina explains. “It needed to feel like a den, not just a bedroom.”
Isolina immediately thought of Clei, a brand she has known for more than 15 years. Originally from Spain, she worked extensively in Madrid, where compact apartments demand smart solutions. She first encountered Clei through showroom work and regular visits to the Milan Fair.
“In Madrid, we were always looking for solutions,” she says. “Small apartments, families with children. I’ve used the product for many years.”
Instead of relying on a traditional carpenter-built Murphy bed, she guided her clients toward an engineered system from Resource Furniture. The Swing Chaise sectional integrates a queen-size bed with a fully functional sofa on the front. It accommodates a standard mattress, and when closed, the room reads as a refined sitting area.
There is no need to rearrange furniture. The bed lowers smoothly over the sofa, transforming the space in seconds. A custom media unit and carefully layered lighting complete the design, ensuring the room feels intentional in both configurations.
To help her clients visualize the transformation, Isolina created detailed 3D renderings in SketchUp using V-Ray, incorporating Resource Furniture’s SketchUp blocks directly into her presentation. This gave the homeowners confidence from the start, and the final installation is nearly identical to the renderings.
Today, the guest room has become one of the most loved spaces in the apartment. Facing directly toward the bay, it feels serene and intimate. Sunlight fills the room, and the water stretches endlessly beyond the windows.
“It’s like an escape,” Isolina says. “You look at it and think, is this real?”
In a city where space is precious, this project demonstrates how thoughtful design can turn one room into many. High above San Francisco, flexibility and elegance now live side by side, proving that a guest room can be so much more than a place to sleep.
Visit a Resource Furniture Showroom
Inspired to make one room do more? If you’d like to explore what’s possible in your own home, we’d love to welcome you into a Resource Furniture showroom. Experience pieces like the Swing Chaise in person, review materials and finishes, and work with our team on a layout tailored to your space and the way you live.
Photography: Jessica Brydson
