A Gentleman's Bourbon Lounge — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Every house seems to have a room whose
2. 0:02purpose can't be explained in less than
3. 0:04three words. Rooms that have a clear and
4. 0:06definite direction are easy. Office,
5. 0:08bedroom, living room, kitchen. But
6. 0:10there's always that space where if
7. 0:12someone asked you, "So, what is this
8. 0:14room?" You might start by saying, "I
9. 0:16don't know, it's kind of or well,
10. 0:18sometimes we use it for or it's where
11. 0:21I've been keeping my"
12. 0:23Ultimately, it would probably be easier
13. 0:24just to say four walls with a roof
14. 0:26because who knows? No one has ever
15. 0:29decided what it could be used for. So,
16. 0:31it exists without personality or
17. 0:33purpose, like sitting in a stupor
18. 0:35following a lobotomy. Luckily, these
19. 0:37rooms provide some of the greatest
20. 0:39opportunities to be transformed into
21. 0:41something special. When Chris reached
22. 0:43out to us, this is exactly what he gave
23. 0:45us. But he had a vision for the space.
24. 0:47He didn't give it to us and say, "Just
25. 0:49do something with it." He wanted a
26. 0:51hidden whiskey lounge waiting to be
27. 0:53discovered, a place to enjoy bourbon
28. 0:55with close friends, display part of his
29. 0:57collection, and smoke the occasional
30. 1:00cigar or pipe. The room itself was
31. 1:02essentially a blank slate, which meant
32. 1:04every decision we made would play an
33. 1:06important role in shaping its
34. 1:08personality. My name is Chaudhry and
35. 1:10today I'll be walking you through the
36. 1:12creation of a bourbon speak easy. If you
37. 1:14are returning subscriber, hit the thumbs
38. 1:16up. If you are new here, hopefully by
39. 1:18the end of this video, you'll be a
40. 1:20subscriber. Remember that if you would
41. 1:22like our help in designing your room,
42. 1:24you can have that help by clicking the
43. 1:26link in the description below. Before we
44. 1:28look at the finished room, it's best to
45. 1:30get an understanding of what we started
46. 1:32with. There wasn't much to work around.
47. 1:34Over time, this spare room had become
48. 1:36exactly what so many spare rooms become,
49. 1:39storage. People don't usually think of
50. 1:41these rooms as needing renovation
51. 1:43because they're not offensive to the
52. 1:45eye. The room itself is fine, but it's
53. 1:48also undefined. The good part is we
54. 1:50weren't walking into a room filled with
55. 1:52obstacles. It's a blank slate. We're
56. 1:54walking into possibility. The goal was
57. 1:57that when entering the room, it would
58. 1:58feel almost as if you were being
59. 2:00rewarded for finding such a gift of an
60. 2:03area within the house. Let's look at
61. 2:05what we came up with.
62. 2:07When you walk in this room, your
63. 2:09attention naturally lands on the leather
64. 2:10seating. The sofa is a large item with
65. 2:13rich leather and tufted pattern. So, of
66. 2:15course, it's a striking piece that
67. 2:17quickly garners attention. Then you move
68. 2:19on to the whiskey display, then the
69. 2:21cabinetry. But as you continue to take
70. 2:23the view in, different things begin to
71. 2:25emerge. When that happens to you, it's
72. 2:28fun to experience because you're being
73. 2:30rewarded for your observation and
74. 2:32curiosity. The North Star of this room
75. 2:35is hospitality. Most everything aimed at
76. 2:37serving that single purpose. Look at the
77. 2:40furniture arrangement. Nobody has to
78. 2:42lean across the room to join the
79. 2:43conversation. The coffee table is
80. 2:45exactly where you'd want it if you were
81. 2:47sharing a drink with friends. The
82. 2:49whiskey is close enough to refill a
83. 2:51glass without interrupting, meaning you
84. 2:53could actively continue conversation
85. 2:56while making a new pour. The cigars and
86. 2:58glassware stay within reach as well.
87. 3:00Nothing has been positioned simply
88. 3:02because it looked good. Every piece is
89. 3:04there to support the experience the room
90. 3:07was built to create. Cabinetry is also a
91. 3:09major element in this room. How could it
92. 3:11not be? We're working with a large
93. 3:13bourbon collection. However, storage is
94. 3:16not the only mission. The cabinetry
95. 3:18stretches all the way to the ceiling and
96. 3:20that allows it to not read as a piece of
97. 3:22furniture. It begins reading as
98. 3:25architecture. The illuminated shelving
99. 3:27becomes part of the wall itself. The
100. 3:29added crown molding at the top of the
101. 3:31cabinetry is a huge factor in making the
102. 3:34cabinets feel one with the wall and the
103. 3:36ceiling. A shift in thinking has to take
104. 3:39place to arrive at this. Rather than
105. 3:40asking where to display a collection,
106. 3:43the design asks how the collection can
107. 3:45become part of the architecture. Because
108. 3:47once it is, the character of the room is
109. 3:50largely enhanced.
110. 3:52This lounge was designed so that bourbon
111. 3:54was firmly integrated. Could we have
112. 3:56expanded the main cabinet wall, added
113. 3:58more compartments and shelving, then put
114. 4:00the full collection on one wall? Maybe.
115. 4:03And that would have been one way of
116. 4:04doing it. But if you think about it,
117. 4:06when you go to any type of gallery or
118. 4:08museum or anything, which is display
119. 4:11forward in experience, immersion is
120. 4:14always the goal. And immersion occurs
121. 4:16when you're placed at the center of
122. 4:18multiple exhibits. We've replicated that
123. 4:21here by making it look like several
124. 4:23collections working together. The
125. 4:25whiskey wall forms the largest display,
126. 4:27but then the floating walnut shelving
127. 4:29units are mounted on another two of the
128. 4:31three remaining walls. Then come the
129. 4:33more stumbled upon discoveries, a
130. 4:35decanter, crystal glasses, cigars in
131. 4:38their boxes. The room doesn't overwhelm
132. 4:40you. It allows you to gradually
133. 4:42experience what it has to offer.
134. 4:44I think anyone who has ever been to a
135. 4:46speakeasy or a nice lounge knows how
136. 4:49important lighting is for these
137. 4:51particular spaces. It controls mood and
138. 4:54how people react to the room. Like a
139. 4:56nozzle that can dial up or down the
140. 4:58level of privacy and what feels like
141. 5:00exclusivity.
142. 5:02The illuminated bottles, the bronze
143. 5:04lantern sconces, the pendant light above
144. 5:06the seating area, every fixture has a
145. 5:09specific assignment. Instead of flooding
146. 5:11the room with brightness, the lighting
147. 5:13guides you from one focal point to the
148. 5:15next. The result feels intimate, not
149. 5:18just dark. Since we've been looking at
150. 5:20these images, I can promise you that
151. 5:22your brain has already picked up on the
152. 5:24next thing that I want to point out. But
153. 5:26because it's a sense of how things are
154. 5:28rather than a physical item you can
155. 5:30easily identify, sometimes it takes a
156. 5:32minute for you to acknowledge it. It's
157. 5:34order.
158. 5:35The antique gold dome pendant light
159. 5:37establishes a center. The seating
160. 5:39gathers beneath it with the chairs and
161. 5:41sofa occupying the same amount of width.
162. 5:44The rug reinforces that same axis. The
163. 5:47coffee table is final confirmation that
164. 5:50we're setting up camp here. Then the
165. 5:52sidewalls begin bending the rules with
166. 5:54one side carrying the full height
167. 5:56whiskey display and the other responding
168. 5:59with floating cabinetry and artwork
169. 6:01instead of mirroring it exactly. That
170. 6:03slight imbalance keeps everything from
171. 6:06feeling overly formal. There's structure
172. 6:08here, but not rigid structure.
173. 6:11This is not a huge room and when people
174. 6:14are faced with that as their canvas,
175. 6:16they usually feel it's safer to go with
176. 6:19small and lightweight furniture. In this
177. 6:21lounge, we wanted to go bold. A
178. 6:23significantly sized Chesterfield sofa, a
179. 6:26pair of club chairs, which are by nature
180. 6:28not tiny, a thick walnut coffee table
181. 6:31and full height cabinetry. What's
182. 6:33important is those pieces don't make the
183. 6:35room feel crowded. They give it
184. 6:37confidence. The area feels established
185. 6:40while remaining comfortable. You'll
186. 6:42notice that long-standing lounges and
187. 6:44members clubs have a real talent for
188. 6:46pulling this off. When providing Chris
189. 6:48his shopping list, which we give to all
190. 6:50of our clients so they can pick the
191. 6:51correct items within our designs, we
192. 6:53gave him two options for the armchairs.
193. 6:56One being a budget-friendly option, the
194. 6:58other being a more premium and ideal
195. 7:01option. I want to highlight the ideal
196. 7:03option. These chairs are vintage Dutch
197. 7:06club chairs. We intentionally selected
198. 7:08them because they have a genuine
199. 7:10historical precedent aligned with this
200. 7:13room. Their lineage traces back to the
201. 7:15early 20th century evolving from
202. 7:17comfortable armchairs used by the
203. 7:19French. This style of chair was a
204. 7:21fixture in private gentlemen's clubs,
205. 7:24libraries and smoking rooms because it
206. 7:26encourages long conversations rather
207. 7:28than formal posture. The barrel-shaped
208. 7:31back wraps around you. There are
209. 7:32generous proportions. The sheepskin
210. 7:35leather gains character as it ages and
211. 7:37the brass nail heads further push the
212. 7:39standard of craftsmanship instead of
213. 7:42decoration. All of this makes them a
214. 7:44remarkably natural fit for a space like
215. 7:47this. They are impressive objects in
216. 7:49their own right, but within a whiskey
217. 7:51lounge, they accurately support the
218. 7:53long-standing goal of hospitality and
219. 7:56conversation. Some might describe this
220. 7:58as a black room. It can come off that
221. 8:00way, especially under certain lighting
222. 8:02conditions. However, the walls are not
223. 8:04pure black. They're painted a deep green
224. 8:07black. The curtains are not solid black,
225. 8:09either. They're washed black with a
226. 8:11velvet twill construction that adds
227. 8:13softness and depth. Little adjustments
228. 8:16like this can make a big difference in
229. 8:18person.
230. 8:19The warmth in this room isn't coming
231. 8:21from lighter paint colors. It's coming
232. 8:22from everything layered against those
233. 8:24darker surfaces. Rich walnut, cognac
234. 8:27leather, aged gold and bronze. The amber
235. 8:30whiskey is a bonus. The desert rose rug,
236. 8:32warm LED lighting. Nearly every dark
237. 8:35finish is paired with a material that
238. 8:37introduces warmth, texture, or a bit of
239. 8:40reflected light. This is how we maintain
240. 8:42the inviting feeling without slipping
241. 8:45into coldness.
242. 8:46If you had someone quickly glance at
243. 8:48this room, they may classify the style
244. 8:50with the blanket term of traditional.
245. 8:52But, when you begin looking at
246. 8:54individual parts of the room, that
247. 8:56categorization begins to fall apart.
248. 8:58Walnut wood, rich leather, warm aged
249. 9:01metals, and the Persian rug. Yes, those
250. 9:04materials all carry the character of a
251. 9:06classic gentleman's club. But, look at
252. 9:08what they're wrapped around. The pendant
253. 9:10light has clean temporary lines. The
254. 9:13coffee table is understated, not ornate.
255. 9:15The floating display cases feel almost
256. 9:18minimalist, and the cabinetry avoids
257. 9:20heavy ornamentation. There's nothing
258. 9:23here imitating a century-old English
259. 9:25library. Instead, it borrows the
260. 9:28materials that have always made those
261. 9:30spaces feel timeless, and pairs them
262. 9:33with forms that belong in a home today.
263. 9:35It's a wonderful way to respect
264. 9:37tradition without being entrenched by
265. 9:39it.
266. 9:40There's another decision that was made
267. 9:42which is important, though it barely
268. 9:44calls attention to itself, and that's
269. 9:45exactly the point. Look at everything
270. 9:48that isn't here. There's not more
271. 9:50shelving, more artwork, more
272. 9:52accessories. They weren't necessary.
273. 9:54Those uninterrupted stretches of dark
274. 9:56panel molding are doing just as much
275. 9:59work as the illuminated displays. They
276. 10:02create pauses as you're scanning the
277. 10:03room. The same principle has guided
278. 10:06galleries for generations. When
279. 10:08collections aren't competing with visual
280. 10:10clutter, they naturally become more
281. 10:12significant. This is restraint at work.
282. 10:15Rooms like this bring purpose to
283. 10:17portions of the home that once had none.
284. 10:19You enter expecting a spare room and
285. 10:21instead find a deeply rooted
286. 10:23environment. Your prized collection,
287. 10:26whatever it may be, is no longer
288. 10:27something stored away, but something
289. 10:29standing by firmly waiting to be
290. 10:32experienced. In this case, it's not just
291. 10:34a whiskey lounge that was formed. It's a
292. 10:37refined demonstration of hospitality,
293. 10:40eager to be discovered. If you like the
294. 10:42video, hit the thumbs up. If you feel
295. 10:44like sticking around a while, feel free
296. 10:46to subscribe. See you in the next one.
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