Do your best thinking under a palm? Then the mishmash of Southern California, Hawaii and Golden Girls-style Florida in Listening Room 5 is sure to inspire you. The walls and ceilings are covered in a jigsaw of bright, vintage-style wallpapers that feel stripped from another era, but are in fact extremely modern (yes, those are Wi-Fi signals seamlessly integrated into one pattern, while on another, the letters of SONOS peek out from behind large tropical leaves). The wallpapers are the work of New York artist and decorate painter Marc Chamberlain, who drew inspiration from decades-old wallpaper patterns for his custom-made designs. There’s a bonus ceramic pineapple in the room for good measure.
Suggested listening: “Good Vibrations,” The Beach Boys. One of the band’s biggest hits, “Good Vibrations” began its life in the recording sessions for the Pet Sounds album and is a celebration of the boys’, and particularly Brian Wilson’s, stunning ambition. He recorded the song across eight months, at four studios, and stuffed it full of instruments never then used in pop music, among them the jaw harp. Sit back and let the Sonos speakers unpack all the mad-genius complexity of this rattling ode to summer fun. That genius might just inspire some of your own.
