Hitting A High Note

In private homes and elegant real-estate developments, finely tuned music rooms are the cosiest spots imaginable.

- Shivani Vora

“MUSIC ROOMS ARE back in a big way!” So says Chris Goddard, the founder of an eponymous design firm in Springdale, Arkansas, who has conjured upwards of 15 elaborate spaces for tuneful enjoyment in the past few years. A mainstay in homes before the advent of television, Goddard says, elegant and intricately designed music rooms lost their relevance as technology became an increasingly ubiquitous fixture throughout our households. “The piano turned into the spot where you displayed family photos or stored your clutter,” he says.

No more. Celebrated designers such as Goddard and David Lawrence, the co-founder of the New York-based design firm Carlos David, are responding to a surge of requests. Lawrence attributes this new-found attention to the pandemic. “Dedicated places for music have become fashionable since the beginning of COVID, when people took up hobbies at home,” he says. “Music, whether it’s learning to play an instrument or taking voice lessons, became one of them and led to a demand for these over-the-top rooms.”

But creating such a room requires both technology and imagination. “Acoustics, of course, are the crux of the space,” says Lawrence, “and one of the best ways to maximise it is to have upholstered walls and area rugs that absorb sound but have aesthetic appeal at the same time.”

Case in point: Lawrence is creating a room for a New York apartment with a grand piano, upholstered gold leaf walls, chartreuse satin drapery and a vintage Gio Ponte oversized chandelier that resembles a sculpture floating in the sky. A silk area rug with lines mimicking blank sheet music is the final touch.