A creative duo collaborates on a serene, stylish listening room
Chris Jones grew up on vinyl. Around 2017, he began buying and selling albums, a hobby that left him with a collection of at least 2,000 records ranging from ’80s pop to classic jazz.
This year, he worked with Emily Grant Styling to transform the space from a basic sitting room to a cozy, personalized music room. Grant, also his partner at styling shop Circa Maison, considered his interests when planning the design: “Travel, nature, original art, peace and quiet, and Highlands, North Carolina . . . These are his pursuits, and knowing how much he loves Highlander Mountain House, this is my interpretation for the space.”
Jones uses the space most mornings, having a smoothie and working crosswords in his leather chair with Chet Baker or the soundtrack to Big Little Lies playing in the background. The sound system is wired to the entire home, so he can also listen out by the firepit or upstairs in the workout room, where “darkwave” albums (post-punk, new wave sounds with somber themes) are in heavy rotation.
According to Grant, styling can transform a space without requiring a major renovation. “Styling is all about aesthetics, visual storytelling, and intentional selections,” she says.
Jones points out the significant savings of using items he already owned, like a dresser that had been tucked away in a guest room and pieces of art they had sourced through Circa Maison. He built the custom shelves for his record collection and added genre tags to simplify browsing. He doesn’t typically have an artist in mind, but a genre, when making a selection.
The appeal of albums, he says, is that “you get to experience the album as the artist intended, and it is a richer, fuller sound, depending on your turntable and stylus. Plus, you can look inside the sleeve to learn more about the artist and lyrics.”
As for the collection? For now, he is slowing down to enjoy what he has. “I think I’ll just buy a few a year,” he says.
