This project started with a flood and ended with a dream. When water damage forced a full basement gut, the client made a deliberate choice to not just restore what was there but to build what they actually wanted all along. A space to call their own and to indulge in their interests.

The brief called for three distinct spaces that each had to work hard in their own right. A combined bedroom and office with a workspace flexible enough to switch between corporate and personal use, designed for calm and focus. The focal point of this project was the media room built to proudly display the client’s sci-fi collectibles, a space to hang out with family or friends for a game- or movie-night, and a space they had envisioned for many years as the “room they would retire in”.

The workspace got a generous desk setup with dedicated storage and dual-mode functionality while keeping rest of the bedroom intentionally neutral with layered lighting, bedside storage, and a quiet that the rest of the basement deliberately doesn't have. The entertainment room is a stark contrast to the bedroom and is where the design gets to have fun with built-ins for collectibles, funky statement lighting, comfortable seating for gaming and viewing, and a stunning media wall.

There was also a challenging little nook that did not really have a purpose before and has now been transformed to hold another one of this client’s interest — music. One of the walls has been adorned with music posters while we created a vignette at the end of what we affectionately called “the hallway to nowhere”. The cabinet holds the client’s record collection and will one day also hold a vintage record player.

The design direction was nerdy minimalist eclecticism and it works exactly as well as it sounds; it is nerdy, it is minimal, and it is eclectic all in one.