Inside the ‘Date Night’ Media Room by Alex Dauley

Alex Dauley’s WOW!house 2025 installation wraps around you like a silk robe. ‘Date Night’ is more than a room – it’s an invitation to slow down, reconnect, and indulge in the art of living well. Conceived as a deeply personal, immersive media space, this room reimagines luxury not through excess, but through emotion, craft, and, importantly, connection.

Richly layered and designed with lifestyle transformation and emotional intimacy in mind, the room serves as a haven for post-parenting couples, individuals in need of reflection, gatherings of friends or anyone longing for curated comfort. At its heart, it’s a space that celebrates freedom: freedom to unwind, feel, and be present.

“Over 100 people played a role in making this space. That sense of shared effort changes the energy of a room,” Alex Dauley told us, and that spirit of collaboration pulses through every surface and object. The room feels alive, almost sentient – cocooning its occupants in tactile warmth, tobacco-hues, and intention. Whether it’s soul music playing softly in the background or the scent of oud drifting through the air, Date Night is designed to engage all the senses.

This isn’t a traditional media room. Instead of a screen-dominated space, Alex has woven in the Samsung Frame TV seamlessly, allowing technology to coexist with texture and elegance. When I visited, I was told that the media room had been designed by Alex long before Nucleus became involved, and that the design remained unchanged when the collaboration came to fruition.

As such, innovative techniques were installed to hide the several number of speakers which delivered the room’s standout audio, such as using a ‘painting’ to disguise a speaker – an elegant trompe-l’oeil: fabric printed with artwork, framed and hung, concealing the speaker behind it. I can confirm that even the beady-eyed among us would have hardly noticed.

Lighting plays a key role in the room’s sultry allure too. Soft and intentional – thanks to experts like John Cullen and Porta Romana, strategically placed lamps and focussed backlighting (controlled by none other than Lutron) casts a subtle glow and highlights the rooms many handcrafted details. Almost every element in the room – 90% to be exact – is bespoke. From custom joinery by St James Interiors to elegant porcelain slabs by Clay International, Date Night is a masterclass in cohesion and craft.

Image credit: Alex Dauley Studio

The materials are as emotionally resonant as they are visually stunning: walnut adds depth and a grounded feel, while mohair velvet invites touch. Silk drapery and limewashed walls diffuse light in a whisper-soft way. Antique brass fixtures and amber glass bring a time-worn warmth, bridging past and present.

Even the flooring tells a story of conscious design, made from sustainable materials by Ecohardwood. The room’s signature rug – crafted by Holland and Sherry – anchors the space with understated luxury and tells the innermost tale of Alex and her husband’s relationship. From their meeting to their children’s births and beyond, waves of blue wash across the rug, while darker lines and white orbs weave together and apart, tracing the fluid path of two beautifully converging lives.

This is a room built for soul-deep comfort. Sink into the Julian Chichester sofa in soft, cashmere-toned upholstery, sip a rum cocktail from a sculptural side table, and let the evening unfurl. It’s not just about watching a film; it’s about sinking into a slower rhythm of life. And I never thought I’d say this – perhaps it’s the room’s effect – but there’s something undeniably sexy about watching a painting seamlessly glide into the ceiling at the touch of a button (thanks again to Lutron), to unveil mirrored shelving lined with twinkling amber cocktail glasses and several bottles of glittering spirits…

But that experience is Alex’s trademark, an emotional resonance through dedicated interior design – and here, she delivers a space that is equal parts elevated and grounded. Her background in narrative-driven, client-led interiors shines through in every corner. The room exudes quiet confidence, resisting trend in favour of timeless atmosphere.

With Date Night, Alex Dauley delivers a quietly radical statement about the future of interior design: collaborative, meaningful, sensorial. “This is how I want to see design evolve,” she says – through generosity, shared vision, and emotional connection.

Main image credit: Alex Dauley Studio