By David Eardley

I’ve used my phone to stream tunes for most of my 36 years. But when I found myself scrolling TikTok for nearly three hours multiple nights a week, I began looking for ways to “unplug.” I bought an early aughts Aiwa stereo for $30 on Facebook Marketplace. Then, at Goodwill, I stumbled upon a trove of compact discs by artists such as Everything But the Girl, Enya and Tracy Chapman. My CD collection was born.

I moved my TV from the living room to the bedroom in my Mexico City apartment—I’m here collaborating with local designers on projects—bought a used IKEA media stand for $25 and set up a music center that swiftly became a hit with my friends. Visitors arrive, pick a CD, put it on (Gen Z friends need to be shown how) and recline on my velvet sofa or chocolate-brown rug. Rapt listening alternates with animated conversation about, say, the influence of Madonna’s “Ray of Light” on electro-pop artist FKA Twigs. Meanwhile, our devices stay in our pockets.

“It helps not having to pull out your phone to queue the next song,” said Margo Zeve, a publicity consultant in Los Angeles and another 30-something who designated a “listening room” to detox from her devices. The trend has also attracted well-heeled boomers, with big vinyl collections, who call in pros such as architect Andrew Pharis. “Clients want spaces that actively encourage digital disconnection,” said Pharis, of the Denver firm Vertical Arts.

A New York audio escape by Ward & Gray leans in to a 1970s vibe. Photo: Otto Archive

Beyond their stereo systems, both swanky and DIY listening rooms require certain design considerations. Drapery, rugs and upholstered furniture absorb sound, says Chad Dorsey, who incorporated all three when converting a Dallas screened porch into the home bar and listening room shown above. The seating includes a custom banquette and luxurious leather Karuselli lounge chair and ottoman. Alternatively, IKEA’s $129 Poäng lounger received a nod from budget-minded audiophiles who posted on the Reddit thread “Why Are So Many Home Hi-Fi Listening Rooms So Sad-Looking?”

Dimmable lights are a must, says Leslie Davis, a designer in Birmingham, Ala., who transformed a boomer client’s living room into a music den. Science agrees: Research suggests low light sharpens our hearing. To keep things murky, Davis also recommends a “moody wall color” like Sherwin-Williams’s Sealskin, a deep brown.

In Zeve’s L.A. listening space, formerly a dining room, she installed a smart bulb in the George Nelson Ball Bubble pendant. “Putting on the red light transports you to a different mindset, where you’re not really wanting to be on your phone,” she said.

Vinyl collections and sound equipment can take on the status of art objects in these rooms, says Emily Abruzzo, of Brooklyn’s Abruzzo Bodziak Architects. For a mid-30s couple’s retreat in a New York brownstone, shown above, design team Ward & Gray complemented the gear on display with reeded oak paneling, cane-faced cabinets and the client’s Clint Eastwood movie poster. “The room takes on a 1970s vibe and a sense of nostalgia,” said Christie Ward.

As for my TikTok habit? Now down to 20 minutes a day, on average—give or take a doomscroll.

NYA Thanks The New York Times!