Running a bed-and-breakfast is like running a household with one big difference: You always have your public face on.

Little surprise, then, that when innkeepers Nancy and Dave Eshelman decided two years ago to convert three 1872 rowhouses behind the Morning Glory Inn into their private residence, they chose intimate and inviting over wow-the-customers fantastic.

This casual but elegant space -- designed by Kim Barnes of Kim Barnes Studio in O'Hara and built by Larry Mayo of Mayo Construction in Crafton -- incorporates all the things the couple hold dear -- a serious but warm kitchen, cozy spaces for reading and relaxing, and a decorating scheme that combines fine antiques with new custom pieces and faux-painted furniture.

"They wanted somewhere they could transform at the end of the day, and not know the business exists," says Ms. Barnes.

Well, maybe not entirely. Their new home is just a few steps across a New Orleans-style courtyard from the 1862 Italianate-style inn. But it would still fit most people's idea of the perfect hideaway.

Their nine-month renovation project turned out so well that the Eshelmans captured first place in the Post-Gazette's second annual Renovation Inspiration Contest, large category.

The aim of the competition, which is co-sponsored by the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh, is to honor and encourage sensitive renovation. The winning projects were selected by a panel of local architects, design professionals and PG staffers based on three criteria: appropriateness of construction and materials, functionality and imagination. The large category is for renovations costing more than $50,000.

Like a lot of home projects, this one didn't proceed as originally planned. The couple's first thought was to expand the B&B by turning the rowhouses into three luxury suites. But amid the economic downturn that followed 9/11, they realized such rooms might be hard to fill. And besides, with their kids grown, the couple was rattling around in a three-story brick Victorian they'd renovated 10 years before around the corner on Sydney Street.

Turning three attached, two-story houses into one single-family home might sound like it would give you tons of room. But it really only netted about 1,050 square feet of living space. So the goal, Mrs. Eshelman notes, was to squeeze every inch of possible space out of the renovation, and make each room as functional as possible.

The gourmet kitchen, which was designed by Tom Trzcinski of Trzcinski Design Group in Ross, is a perfect example of how less can be more. In lieu of wall-mounted cabinetry that the petite Mrs. Eshelman would never have been able to reach, the couple opted for a large, built-in cherry buffet at one end, an under-counter microwave and a single glass-fronted cabinet to the right of the commercial Thermador four-burner range. Additional storage can be found in the off-white furniture-style French provincial cabinets below soapstone countertops.

Exposed brick walls, lustrous Pennsylvania cherry floors milled by Allegheny Mountain Hardwood Floors in Emlenton, Venango County, and an antique dining set the couple discovered at the Meadows antique fair add to the kitchen's homey feel.

The adjoining "pergola" room opens onto the brick courtyard and doubles as a first-floor living room when it's not being used as a bridal suite or conference center. The couple wanted to carry the herringbone design of the courtyard into the room, so they opted for a rustic floor made from hand-made bricks made by German immigrant John George Fisher in the 1860s.

"Everything man-made looked man-made," explains Mr. Eshelman, who searched the Internet to find a Chicago company that cuts old brick into ¹/₂-inch-thick slices suitable for a floor.

Some of the rooms other unique features include a queen-size Murphy bed that flips down from behind a cherry paneled wall; a pair of Sub-Zero refrigerators drawers cleverly hidden inside a soapstone-topped buffet; and a 50-inch combination smart board and TV on the wall for business meetings. A luxurious bath around the corner holds a whirlpool tub and is heated by a gas stove.

Mrs. Eshelman's love of faux-crackle surfaces and bright color shines through on the second floor, particularly in the red-raspberry living room, where a wood-burning fireplace wears a weathered mantelpiece she discovered at Architectural Emporium in Canonsburg. To create the room's 13-foot cathedral ceiling, their contractor replaced the rafters with a series of trusses. He also opened up the wall on either side of the chimney and added skylights.

A tiger maple secretary purchased from Pine Tree Barn in Wooster, Ohio, adds visual interest, along with a papier-mache turtle that sits atop a custom bookcase handcrafted by Mr. Mayo's brother, Bobby. Mrs. Eshelman's sister made the terrapin for her daughter when she was in the third grade.

Recognizing that husband and wife don't necessarily look for the same things in a bathroom, the Eshelmans had plumber Paul Bahneman of LPB Plumbing in Ross craft one for each. "His" is located off a small office area near the stairs, and features a walk-in shower and shuttered window overlooking the courtyard. "Hers" is a pretty feminine space whose focal point -- a slipper tub -- is actually in the bedroom, beneath a skylight. Bathing in the open might make some feel self-conscious, but Mrs. Eshelman had no such worries.

Warmed by radiant floors, the master bedroom overlooks the courtyard and is distinguished by a shutter-style headboard they found in Anthropologie and a large crackled armoire -- topped with a colorful collage of antique quilts -- from Pine Tree Barn. Small perhaps, but still remarkably comfortable.

"It's the perfect size for two," says Mrs. Eshelman.