Not long ago, the home office was the room everybody wanted. Today, interior designers are asked to carve out spaces for just about everything but work.
Music rooms, libraries, game rooms and conversation pits are enjoying a renaissance as homeowners look to add areas that prioritize presence over productivity.
They’re being called “analog” spaces: interiors conceived around tactile, screen-free pursuits, whether that’s sinking into a novel, queuing up a favorite record, challenging a friend to backgammon or simply hanging out with a favorite drink in hand.
These rooms are about intentionality, trading the endless pull of push notifications for real-life activities that engage the senses and, often, other people.
The shift dovetails with a broader appetite for slower rituals and thoughtfully designed homes that support them. A record player becomes a reason to gather. A chessboard stays out instead of being stowed away. A grand piano gets played rather than serving as mere decoration. Even the humblest deck of cards can justify dedicating square footage to connection in lieu of consumption.
The rooms that follow prove that analog living doesn’t require rejecting technology outright. Rather, it entails designing spaces so compelling you hardly think about reaching for your phone.
In the eclectic living room of a West Hollywood bachelor pad, Tiffany Howell, of Night Palm Studio, mingled fine design with laidback California style. A 1960s Willy Rizzo credenza, twin Murano-glass lamps by Vistosi and a pair of ultra-plush 1970s Rino Maturi lounge chairs meet a custom coffee table topped with a sculptural chess set, a Tommaso Barbi ashtray, art books and a bottle of perfume.
A reupholstered mid-century sofa from 1stDibs bolsters the room’s social vibe, while Gucci pillows, a Jonas Bohlin Zink shelf and a silkscreen by Takashi Murakami and Virgil Abloh introduce splashes of Pop playfulness.
Sitting within arm’s reach of the seating area is a record player.
“There’s something inherently analog about listening to music this way,” Howell says. “You select an album, place the needle and commit to the moment. It slows the pace of the room.
“I wanted the space to feel less like a collection of furniture and more like a framework for connection,” she continues. “The seating arrangements encourage people to face one another, and the record player, books and games create opportunities for interaction that don’t rely on screens.”
Timothy Godbold envisioned this East Hampton, New York, alcove as a place to pause. Nestled between the home’s entertaining spaces and its private quarters, the transitional space pairs floor-to-ceiling ebony oak shelving with books, art and collectibles that invite browsing and discussion.
At its center is a 1978 Paul Evans Studio for Directional backgammon table, crafted from chrome-plated steel, suede, aluminum and acrylic. “The table transforms the room from somewhere you simply sit into somewhere you interact, encouraging conversation, friendly competition and genuine connection,” Godbold says.
An antique landscape painting softens the moody-toned millwork, while an oversize chandelier serves as a contemporary counterpoint. “Rather than designing a formal library, I wanted to create a room that encourages people to linger,” the designer says. “Every piece was chosen to make the room feel collected over time.”
At Remount Ranch, a historic 3,000-acre Wyoming property, Andrea Schumacher reimagined the under-utilized courtyard as the home’s liveliest destination: a game room.
“It’s a room that invites laughter, seats many for conversation and genuine connection,” the designer explains, “where the entertainment comes from the people in the space rather than a screen. It sits adjacent to the original bar from the 1800s.”
A vintage newspaper-print wallcovering pays tribute to the ranch’s storied past as the former home of My Friend Flicka author Mary O’Hara, and the REMOUNT marquee sign nods to roadside Americana.
Meanwhile, a powder-blue pool table, lit by a six-armed Ralph Lauren pendant, skews from the room’s Western palette, the vivid felt cutting against the reclaimed timber, native stone, cowhide rug and contemporary cowboy art.
“The billiards table naturally draws people together, whether they’re playing a game, teaching someone new or simply gathering around to watch,” Schumacher says. “We customized the felt color to match the long upholstered banquette, which encourages guests to tell stories and enjoy one another’s company.”
In the living room of a renovated family home in southwest London, Sophie Ashby balances the crispness of contemporary architecture with the mellowness of decor, artfully mixing old and new.
A pair of Chess swivel chairs from her Sister by Studio Ashby line — covered in Métaphores’s Eden fabric — flank a table from Lorfords set for an impromptu match. Art by Jack Penny and a vintage task lamp found on 1stDibs bring jolts of red to the scene.
The chessboard is more than decoration — it signals a home designed to be lived in, where curiosity and creativity are on equal footing with good design. “No one wants the bland option anymore,” Ashby tells Introspective. “It’s a bit like the food revolution in London: It’s a whole new world. I think interior design is having a similar mini-revolution.”
In the game room of an Upper East Side family apartment renovated by Janine Carendi MacMurray, founder of AREA Interior Design, restraint becomes an expression of luxury.
Pale-gray paneling and a cool color scheme allow the carefully assembled vintage furnishings to shine: a mid-century Cesare Lacca bar cart glints beneath a mirrored bar niche; Swedish Art Deco armchairs beckon for a predinner cocktail; and klismos-style chairs gather around a Deco inlaid chess table.
“I think quiet sometimes speaks loudest,” MacMurray says. “It’s the idea that there are strong lines in the furniture and also that I’m not too dependent on pattern or color to give a space character.”
