The primary suite at dusk, corner glass facing the ocean, at Merritt Estate in Malibu, by Apel Design

Interior Design · Primary Suites + Bedrooms

A bedroom is the one room planned around stillness.

Apel Design designs the interiors of primary suites, guest rooms and dressing rooms for homes in Malibu, Los Angeles and Southern California, composing each suite as a private sequence from the bed to the bath.

The idea

A suite is a sequence, not a single room.

The primary suite is the most private part of a house, and it is judged in the quietest hours. We plan it as a sequence: a calm threshold set apart from the living rooms, a dressing room that sorts the day, a bedroom that turns toward the view, and a bath reached without crossing a hallway. When that order is right, the suite feels settled before a single piece of furniture arrives.

Rest has its own requirements. The bed wants a solid wall behind it and the view in front of it, not a window at the headboard. Morning light should be welcome and easy to shut out, and evening light should sit low. Guest rooms follow the same logic at a smaller scale, each with its own bath and enough storage that a visitor can unpack and stay.

Knowledge + experience

What a well-planned suite asks of the studio.

Six disciplines shape a bedroom long before the linen is chosen.

Plan and privacy

Placing the suite away from shared rooms, with a threshold or vestibule so the bed is never the first thing seen from the hall.

Bed wall and orientation

Setting the bed against a quiet wall that faces the view, with reading light, power and controls planned into the headboard zone.

Dressing rooms

Closets and dressing rooms sized to a real wardrobe, with drawers, hanging space, shoe display and a mirror placed in good light.

Light and darkness

Layered lighting on dimmers, blackout and filtering shades hidden in pockets, and night lighting low enough to walk by without waking anyone.

Quiet and comfort

Rugs, upholstery and full drapery that soften sound, with air and climate handled discreetly so nothing hums near the bed.

Bed to bath

A short, private route from the bed to the bath, with vanity, shower and tub arranged so two people can share the morning.

Selected work

Rooms composed for rest and the view.

Bedrooms and suites from Apel Design interiors, arranged around a fireplace, a window wall or a bath seen through glass.

Lounge chairs by a linear fireplace in a wood-lined wall, with glass facing dusk, an interior by Apel Design — **Timber-lined fireplace wall**A sitting area within the suite

From the bed, a linear fireplace and a glass wall opening to evening lights, an interior by Apel Design — **Fireplace facing the bed**The view from the pillow

A white bedroom beside a walk-in shower of clear glass and grey tile, an interior by Apel Design — **Bedroom beside a glass shower**The bath as part of the suite

A primary suite with full-height glass and tall drapery framing hills and sky, an interior by Apel Design — **Suite opened to the hills**Drapery that frames the view

A bedroom with its bath behind glass walls and a blue abstract painting, an interior by Apel Design — **Bath seen through glass**A suite without a closed door

A tall upholstered headboard and a bench at the bed's foot, beside a glass-walled bath, an interior by Apel Design — **Tall upholstered headboard**Soft surfaces for a quiet room

A white bedroom whose glass corner faces a terrace, hills and the ocean, an interior by Apel Design — **Corner glass to the terrace**Fireplace, view and terrace in one

Lounge chairs and a bed facing a corner of glass at sunset over the ocean, an interior by Apel Design — **The corner suite at sunset**Evening light across the room

A black desk and a curved white chair before sliding glass and an ocean view, an interior by Apel Design — **Writing desk at the window**A place to sit apart

A sitting area and linear fireplace under timber beams, at Merritt Estate in Malibu, by Apel Design — **Merritt Estate**Malibu

A bedroom opening to a planted garden window, at Surfside in Malibu, by Apel Design, shown as a design visualization — **Surfside**Malibu

The path

From the first plan to the final placement.

Listening

We learn how the suite is really used: sleep, reading, dressing, early mornings, late nights, and who shares the room.

Planning

Plan and section set the order of threshold, dressing, bed and bath, with windows placed for both view and privacy.

Specifying

Finishes, lighting, shades, beds, upholstery and textiles are drawn and scheduled together, so every choice supports rest.

Oversight

The studio reviews finishes on site against the drawings, approves samples, and places the furniture, linen and art.

Design-Build interiors

Designed by Apel Design, built through Design-Build.

Rooms from The Aviator and Mintcello, where the studio carried its own design through Design-Build, with construction by Creative New Dimensions Inc, in conjunction with Apel Design for Design-Build.

Red angled fins framing open glass, hills and the ocean, at The Aviator in Malibu, by Apel Design — **The Aviator**Malibu

A red bed under a dark canopy wall bearing a winged emblem, at The Aviator in Malibu, by Apel Design — **The Aviator**Malibu

A bed facing a wide opening onto a terrace and the coast, at The Aviator in Malibu, by Apel Design — **The Aviator**Malibu

A porthole window, niche shelving and glass opening to green hills, at The Aviator in Malibu, by Apel Design — **The Aviator**Malibu

Two arched doorways in a rough stone wall lead off a beamed bedroom, at Mintcello in Malibu, by Apel Design — **Mintcello**Malibu

Questions

Useful clarity before the first conversation.

How large should a primary suite be?

There is no fixed size. We start from what happens in the suite: how much wardrobe there is, whether it needs a sitting area or a morning bar, and whether the bath is shared. The bedroom itself often needs less floor than people expect, while the dressing room and the bath usually need more. Proportion and ceiling height matter as much as area.

Should the bed face the view or the door?

Ideally the bed sits against a solid wall, faces the view, and can see the entry without being exposed to it. Where the best view lies behind the headboard, we turn a sitting area toward it instead. We also keep the bed out of direct morning sun unless the owners want to wake with it, and plan shading for either choice.

Do you design guest rooms and children's rooms as well?

Yes. Guest rooms receive the same care at a smaller scale: a private bath, real storage, a chair by the window and lighting a visitor can use without instructions. Children's rooms are planned to change, with furniture, storage and finishes that can move from a nursery to a teenager's room without new millwork.

Can Apel Design stay involved through construction?

Yes. Apel Design can lead an interior from the first sketch to the final placement, whether the house is delivered through our Design-Build practice or built by a contractor of the client's choosing, with the studio overseeing the interior work. In a suite that means reviewing finishes and lighting on site and placing the furniture, linen and art.

Let’s shape the experience: from room to object.

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