A glass-enclosed wine wall beside lit shelving and a backlit stone panel over a bar, an interior by Apel Design

Interior Design · Media, Wine + Entertainment

Rooms for film, wine and company, made to be lived in.

Apel Design designs home theaters, media rooms, wine rooms, bars and game rooms for private residences in Malibu, Los Angeles and Southern California, shaping acoustics, sightlines, climate and display as part of the interior itself.

The idea

A room for gathering, not a cabinet for equipment.

The rooms a household keeps for film, wine and games are often planned last, around a screen or a rack of bottles, and it shows. We start from the other end. A media room is a room first: its proportions, its walls, its light and the way people settle into it decide whether an evening there feels generous or cramped. The equipment is then placed so the room keeps its composure when the screen is dark.

Each of these rooms asks for something different. A theater wants darkness, soft surfaces and a clear view from every seat. A wine room wants a steady climate and a way of showing the collection that reads as part of the house. A bar or game room wants daylight, movement and an easy relationship to the rooms around it. We design each one to its own brief, then tie it back to the materials of the home.

Knowledge + experience

What the studio brings to rooms made for leisure.

Six disciplines decide whether an entertainment room feels composed or improvised.

Sightlines and seating

Seat rows, sofa depths and screen height are set together, so every place in the room has an easy, unobstructed view.

Acoustic surfaces

Upholstered panels, heavy drapery, carpet and deep seating are chosen as finishes that also soften sound and quiet the room.

Wine on display

Glass enclosures, lit racks and stone backdrops turn a collection into a visible wall of the house rather than a closet.

Climate, quietly placed

Cooling and air movement for wine rooms and busy theaters are planned early, so grilles and vents sit calmly in the ceiling.

Light for evenings

Dimmable coves, sconces and downlights let a room move from a bright gathering to a darkened screening without harsh contrast.

Bars and game tables

Counters, back bars, stools and billiard tables are sized for real use and for the way people move around them.

Selected work

Theaters, bars and wine walls, each composed as a room.

Rooms where the screen, the bottle and the table sit inside a considered interior.

A home theater with upholstered wall panels and tiered pale sofas facing a large screen, an interior by Apel Design — **Upholstered theater walls**Softness as acoustics

A lounge bar with dark wood shelves and gold-toned stools beside a black stone fireplace, an interior by Apel Design — **Bar beside the fireplace**Gathering around the bar

A black bar with a circular inlay before an aquarium, a grand piano beyond, an interior by Apel Design — **Bar with an aquarium**The bar as a centerpiece

A dark-walled theater with plush sofas in two tiers and warm wall sconces, an interior by Apel Design — **A darkened screening room**Darkness by design

A billiard table under a patterned ceiling, with glass doors folded open to the pool, an interior by Apel Design — **Billiards beside the lounge**Play in the daylight

A dark bar with four stools, a living wall and a band of blue-lit glass, an interior by Apel Design — **Bar and living wall**Planting beside the bar

A grey theater with two tiers of black reclining seats and soft cove lighting, an interior by Apel Design — **Tiered theater seating**Every seat with a view

A grey lounge that opens to a lit gallery of cars beyond, an interior by Apel Design — **Lounge with a car gallery**The collection on view

A media room with tiered seating, a large screen and a bar along one wall, at Surfside in Malibu, by Apel Design, shown as a design visualization — **Surfside**Malibu

The path

From the way you gather to the finished room.

Listening

We learn how the room will be used: film nights, tastings, games, and who is usually there.

Planning

Seating, screen, storage and circulation are drawn together in plan and section before any finish is chosen.

Specification

Surfaces, lighting, seating and wine display are specified, with services located so they stay out of sight.

Design review

The studio reviews samples, shop drawings and the room on site so the finished space matches the design.

Questions

Useful clarity before the first conversation.

Does a home theater need to be a separate, windowless room?

Not always. A dedicated theater benefits from control over daylight and sound, but a media room can share space with a family room when its windows take heavy shades and its surfaces are soft. We look at how often the room will be used for film and plan the degree of separation to match.

How is a wine room designed so the collection is on display?

We treat the collection as a wall of the house. Glass enclosures, lit racks and a considered backdrop let the bottles be seen from a lounge or dining room, while the cooling and airflow the wine needs are planned from the start so the equipment stays out of view.

Can a bar or game room open to the garden and pool?

Yes, and it often should. Bars and game rooms are social rooms that come alive with daylight, so we look for folding glass walls, a direct route to the terrace and finishes that tolerate wet feet, while keeping a comfortable place to sit when the doors are closed.

Does Apel Design stay involved once construction begins?

Yes. Apel Design can lead an interior from the first sketch to the final placement, whether the house is delivered through our Design-Build practice or built by a contractor of the client's choosing, with the studio overseeing the interior work. For media and wine rooms, that oversight covers the concealed services as closely as the finishes.

Let’s shape the experience: from room to object.

Start a project

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