Brooklyn-based Studio Tack has transformed a rundown motel in northern California, creating a mellow atmosphere with vintage furniture, pastel colours and palm-patterned prints.
An hour drive north of San Francisco, the 135-room hotel called The Sandman has been renovated into boutique accommodation designed as "a modern throwback to roadside inns" ? much like many ageing motels across the US.

Studio Tack has become somewhat of a specialist in overhauling these dilapidated inns and motor lodges, having completed similar projects in locations including Wyoming and Upstate New York.
The firm redesigned this motel in Santa Rosa "to offer peaceful simplicity while capturing the essence of spontaneous travels, and paying tribute to California's Spanish Mission Revival Style architecture", according to a statement on its behalf.
Guests arrive at a double-height lobby space, where warm-hued materials and finishes are intended to provide a relaxed ambience.
"A soft palette of ash wood and earth tones with bursts of peach, palm green and navy provide a welcoming, laid-back California sense of calm," said the hotel's statement.

Wooden benches are installed under large windows, topped with cushions for extra comfort. A variety of other furniture in the space range from vintage pieces to one-of-a-kind items, like a bench crafted from solid limestone and local ash wood by Tucca Design.
The walls are decorated with illustrations by artist Ty Williams, and...