Time Frame: 6 Weeks // Budget: $17,000 // Design Fee: $2,500 Brandon Browner and his family needed help with their game room in their home in Ganesha Hills, CA. They already purchased a large sectional to watch their over-sized theater screen and a pool table. Their goal was to make the room as dark during the day as it was at night for optimal TV viewing. What started out as a masculine color scheme warped into a Seattle Seahawks color scheme. This worked perfectly, since Brandon is a professional football player and previously played for the Seahawks as a member of the Legion of Boom. He requested his jersey and teammate’s jerseys be professionally framed so we could display them. I had custom black-out window coverings made and installed high to block the daylight. A custom cabinet in a slate-blue finish was made to house all the audio equipment. I had the pool table re-felt in a grey to coordinate with the room’s decor. The walls were painted Benjamin Moore Pewter and all trim received a fresh coat of Cloud Cover. The finishing touch to block out the light was a large, custom sliding door I had made to separate this room from the family room. The space ended up being a great place to hang out with friends and family while reflecting Brandon’s personality. PHOTO // Jami Abbadessa

Inspiration for a 1960s living room remodel in Austin

An otherwise unremarkable lower level is now a layered, multifunctional room including a place to play, watch, sleep, and drink. Our client didn’t want light, bright, airy grey and white - PASS! She wanted established, lived-in, stories to tell, more to make, and endless interest. So we put in true French Oak planks stained in a tobacco tone, dressed the walls in gold rivets and black hemp paper, and filled them with vintage art and lighting. We added a bar, sleeper sofa of dreams, and wrapped a drink ledge around the room so players can easily free up their hands to line up their next shot or elbow bump a teammate for encouragement! Soapstone, aged brass, blackened steel, antiqued mirrors, distressed woods and vintage inspired textiles are all at home in this story - GAME ON! Check out the laundry details as well. The beloved house cats claimed the entire corner of cabinetry for the ultimate maze (and clever litter box concealment). Overall, a WIN-WIN!

Love is all around Dick "RJ" Valentine, especially when he enters his home garage. A professional race car driver, entrepreneur, chairman of The MBA Group of Companies, and owner of F1 Boston and F1 Outdoors kart racing facility, Dick is surrounded by some of his most prized possessions: a radiant blue Hennessey Venom Viper 650, a twin turbo Porsche, a 500e Mercedes, and a BMW model 750il, an M5 and an M6. And that's just the four-wheelers. Dick's garage is also home to four motorcycles: a BMW 1200LT, a BMW 1200RS, a Ducati 996F, and a Ducati ST4F. "I've basically driven everything short of the space shuttle," he jokes. His wife adds, "If it doesn't make noise, leak or have wheels, Dick doesn't want any part of it!" Driving for gold. RJ has been racing professionally for 30 years and has raced virtually every type of competitive race car at tracks all over the world, including IMSA Corvettes, Trans-Am Camaros, Riley & Scott MK3 World Sports Cars, BMW M3 V8's, Dodge Vipers, Porsche 911s, Pontiac GTO.Rs and Porsche GT3s. He has more than 325 professional road racing starts, and is one of only seven people to eclipse 120 starts in the Trans-Am Series. RJ's career Trans-Am record includes a 62% incidence of top ten finishes and in excess of 20 top-five finishes. In 2007, RJ and teammate Andy Lally claimed 5 victories, 2 seconds and placed 3rd for the 2007 GT Championship in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series aboard the #66 TRG CRG/Maxter Porsche GT3. He has driven in over 20 consecutive Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, a significant achievement given the grueling nature of this 24-hour endurance race. He uses his garage to house and service not only his personal vehicles, but his professional karts as well. That's where Lista comes in. Dick stores all his tools and parts using Lista garage workbenches with drawer cabinet pedestals, stationary riser shelves and overhead cabinets with retractable doors. "We use only Lista equipment in our racing trailers and at F1 Boston. In the racing environment, precision and quality are the name of the game. Lista is the gold standard in the business. So I wouldn't have used anything but Lista in my own garage."

Bluestone bench hand carved on site. Design uses elements of The Travis Manion Foundation Logo. THE TRAVIS MANION FOUNDATION (TMF) EMPOWERS VETERANS AND THE FAMILIES OF FALLEN HEROES TO DEVELOP CHARACTER IN FUTURE GENERATIONS. IN 2007, 1ST LT TRAVIS MANION (USMC) WAS KILLED IN IRAQ WHILE SAVING HIS WOUNDED TEAMMATES. TODAY, TRAVIS’ LEGACY LIVES ON IN THE WORDS HE SPOKE BEFORE LEAVING FOR HIS FINAL DEPLOYMENT, “IF NOT ME, THEN WHO…” Learn more here: http://www.travismanion.org/ In collaboration with Landscape Design Group Inc. Landscape Design by Landscape Design Group, Inc.