What was your inspiration for this room specifically?I wanted this to be a place where youre peeling off the layers of the day. When we get home from work or come back from a hard day, we leave everything outside, come in here, close the door, put a record on, and were able to be our full selves. Ive got these little matchboxes that say The Last Layer with Shrek on the back. Ive also got coasters and menus in here, when people come in we get to have a restaurant experience. All the layers of yourself really get to be celebrated in this room.What was your approach to furnishing the room?[The banquette] was the first piece of furniture I builtI dont know if Id recommend doing that again, but it did work. This room is so multifunctional; its our office, a guest room, and a dining space. The banquette took us about two or three weeks to build. The chairs I already had and then I built the bar after I did [the banquette]. Our approach to furniture was, What do I already have on hand and how can I zhuzh that up?This room was a completely empty white box when we moved in. I got this paneling and molding on top at Home Depot. Granted everything is renter friendlysaying renter friendly for me is, if theres a couple holes, I know how to fill them and get the security deposit back. We made sure to put minimal holes on this. Sometimes people use command strips or things like that, but we are going to be here for a while. It was so inexpensive.It helped transform the room from not being an entry level Amazon purchase to a well-thought-out and well-designed Amazon purchase, Obiwuru says about these picture lights she ordered from the online retailer. I feel like the plastic picture light was for my twenties and now in my thirties its like, Lets add $50 and get the metal one.Photo: Paige NewtonWhat was your biggest splurge?Overall, the biggest splurge was this banquette. Its also fully removable so I can take this out and put it in the kitchen if I want. I wanted banquette seating and online they cost $4,000 or $5,000, which wasnt something I could do. Taking out the cost of buying the tools, it was $700, which is unheard of for a nine-by-four-foot bench. That was definitely the biggest splurge, but I knew it was going to set the whole vibe of the room, especially when I wanted to go in with brown walls. I knew having a red velvet against brown was not common, but its comforting enough to the eyes that it wouldnt be off-putting.