Lately I’ve been working on a different – but no less creatively rewarding – project. Instead of music, writing or film, I’ve been dabbling in interior design!

Lou and I always wanted to re-paint the walls of the house – the all beige colour scheme was… fine, but we wanted something that spoke to our vibrant and camp tastes. The crown jewel is the amazing peacock mural we commissioned from Houl, but once we’d painted parts of the rest of the house, I started to resent the still-brown walls of the music room. I play drums every day and while I hadn’t considered them much before, now staring at those walls began to actively tick me off.

While sitting and playing the drums, I began to daydream about what the space could become. First step was excising that drab brown. The colours are inspired by the many bold palettes we encountered during our travels this year through New Orleans and Miami. Specifically, I loved the inside of Sweat Records, and sought to match their combination of minty walls with purple accents.

Painting took longer than expected for this first timer. Every surface needed three coats – a primer layer and two coats of colour. Wanting the doors and trim a different colour to the walls took extra time, but I am ecstatic with the results. There was a third colour I had considered including – a deep orange – but after painting the inside of the window frame this colour, I realised that much orange was a step too far. Instead, I let it come out in pops of colour across the room – the bamboo curtain, the ukulele, the masks, the Mothersbaugh figurine, even the centre column of buttons on my Moog. Combined with the green and purple, I had intuitively stumbled into using the 60 30 10 rule!

I had an old kitchen table as a desk, but it took up too much space. All I require is enough room for my laptop and monitor speakers. Enamoured by how interior designers on Instagram were transforming mundane items simply by painting them, I thought I could do an upcycled version of a milk crate desk. I painted four milk crates gold, cut a piece of laminated board to size, and voila! Bespoke desk!

The gold palm tree hooks were kismet – when I came across them at K-Mart, I knew I wanted to make a feature of them. They serve as another tropical motif, and double down on both the opulence and playfulness of the room.

The ‘Wall of Idolatry’ remains – Earl Palmer, Al Jackson Jr., Tony Allen, Bernard Purdie and Johnny Vidacovich (I got to meet Johnny in New Orleans and he signed a drumstick for me!) – and will soon be augmented with portraits of Clyde Stubblefield, Jabo Starks, Zigaboo Modeliste and James Gadson. I adore looking over at these titans while I play, it’s inspiring and humbling at the same time.

The room used to be the old master bedroom of the house, replete with an ensuite. I thought there might be something fun I could do with the frosted glass sliding door. The glass door made me think of private eyes’ offices’ from old noir films, the kind that have their name and title imprinted on them. I thought maybe I could put the name of the room on the sliding door in a similar style. An earlier music room in our old house had been called ‘The Baby Room’, a jokey reference to what the spare bedroom might eventually become. For this revitalised space, I wanted something that spoke to my drumming obsession. I went with ‘The 3 Side’. The 3 side of the clave is my favourite rhythm – well not just mine, it pops up everywhere and underpins some of the most popular styles of music across the world  – and seemed like a name suitable for both a studio or a smokey speakeasy. Now it looks like the entry way to a jazz club, or another dimension!  

Capped with a fern, the room has transformed into a welcoming and calming space. I love sitting in there, a Miami hideaway tucked away at the back of the house! There’s still a couple of touches I will eventually add – some more pictures, a rug – but I have found it extremely satisfying having a clear vision for what the space could become… and then just executing it! Doing makes you right.