Feature: Screen Play
January 1, 2005
To prop up your feet in your own private screening room with friends or family
is the ultimate luxury. It’s even better if you have custom-made oversize
chenille chairs with dozens of throw pillows and a never-ending supply of
cocktails and wine flowing from your own privately stocked bar and cellar. No
one–and no big hairdos–to block your view of the screen. And you can watch your
favorite film whenever you want without having to brave the crowds (and the
on-the-loose teenagers) at your local cineplex.; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
The theater is defined by its semicircular seating
arrangement. (Click image to enlarge)
Today, media rooms are about much more than the perfect picture and stellar
surround sound. Great design–the layout, fabrics, furnishings, lighting,
artwork–sets the tone for any gathering, no matter how informal. The
entertainment spaces on the following pages represent four dramatically
different approaches to media room design.
THE GRAND SLAM
For the high-rise residence of Cincinnati Reds player Barry Larkin, interior
designer David Millett created a free-form, loftlike design that
encompasses the home’s main living areas within a series of “islands” that
separate the space into distinctive zones. “Lisa Larkin requested that this
space be designed specifically for Barry,” says Millett, who was given carte
blanche to create a New York City—penthouse feel for the legendary baseball
star’s home-away-from-home in Cincinnati, Ohio (the Larkin family’s main
residence is in Orlando, Fla.).
“In designing the space, I was concerned with creating divisions for various
uses–segmenting via soffits and layering instead of walls,” Millett says. “The
penthouse has panoramic views of the Cincinnati skyline, so we wanted the plan
to capitalize on the view [whenever] the theater setting was not in use.”
The entertainment venue, which is nearly 2,800 square feet, incorporates the
living room, formal and informal dining areas, kitchen, media center and
billiard and bar areas. The “soft contemporary” theme, says Millett, is defined
by spaces that function as well-assembled units or as individual groupings–all
colored in the Cincinnati Reds’ fiery red and black, and tempered with neutrals.
From the entryway, where a trophy cabinet proudly displays Larkin’s sports
memorabilia, black granite flooring leads into the kitchen and transitions into
the main entertainment area in a khaki wool swirl-motif carpet. The kitchen
boasts its own media center–a custom apron shelf above the range hood that holds
three flat-screen televisions; an additional television is inset within a curved
stainless steel cabinet above the sink. Larkin’s bedroom also has its own
theater setup with a big-screen television and surround sound.; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
The bedroom has a mini theater complete with surround sound. Photograph by Barry Steinnecker. (Click image to enlarge)
The home theater, anchored by a drop-down 100-inch screen and a retractable
projector, features a semicircular grouping of black leather club chairs paired
with a red sofa that was custom designed to fit the contours of that island’s
stepped-up platform. The fourth media center, in the Larkins’ family room,
provides a more intimate setting for theater viewing. Here, an oversize sofa,
upholstered in red swirl-patterned cut velvet, faces a custom built-in that
houses a 60-inch flat-screen TV. Articulated in a light maple veneer, the piece
boasts a playful geometric shape. The result: a high-rise home that blends four
high-end media systems into a coherent, sophisticated design.
SOURCES
•INTERIOR DESIGNER
David A. Millett Inc., Interior Design
513.489.3887
www.davidamillett.com
•ARCHITECT
Norris & Dierkers Architects
513.791.4524
•CUSTOM INSTALLER
M. Alan Associates
513.469.6522
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