I've been working on a special project for a while now and I'm excited to finally share it with you all. For the past few months, I've been planning and renovating my home office to look and feel like Deckard's apartment from the original Blade Runner movie. Blade Runner is my all-time favorite film and I've always dreamed of having a space that feels like it. I envision dim lighting, a glass of whiskey, concrete tiles and soffits, electronics and computers placed around, and that iconic whirring sound you hear throughout the movie. Something about the art deco, film noir aesthetic feels cozy to me, so I wanted to capture that as authentically as possible in the small space I have.
As some of you may know, I recently sold off my entire Star Wars collection. This was for several reasons, including a job change where I am on camera a lot (lightsabers and helmets in the background has shown to be pretty distracting), some burnout from all the new movies and TV shows being released, and my wife's recent diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis. We've been focusing on de-cluttering and simplifying things at home to make our environment more Zen and spending more time together. My office was filled to the brim with Star Wars props and helmets. And while I loved collecting those items, I have also been extremely happy to see them passed on to others who will enjoy them as much as I have.
First, here’s what my office looked like before.
I still wanted to have a nerdy office but rather than just put everything in display cases, on shelves, and on the wall, I wanted each prop and piece to have their own place to live in a more natural environment. This is a rather ambitious project for me so I have been taking my time and doing lots of planning. I finally started construction on it 2 weeks ago so I’ll update the thread as I make more progress on it.
Here are a few screencaps from the movie that show different elements that I wanted to incorporate into my build.
Most people here probably already know this set was based on designs from the Ennis house in LA designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It’s been featured in many movies and tv shows such as The Rocketeer, Karate Kid III, Game of Thrones, The Thirteenth Floor, and a ton more.
Here are some 3d mockups I did to get an idea of what I wanted to do, estimate supplies and building materials, and plan it out before committing to anything. I wanted to include as many different features of the set as possible without it feeling too cluttered. I knew I wanted to have a column since they’re seen all over the apartment so I included one in the back corner where I knew I would have the space. And I especially wanted to feature a piano with the various lamps, photos, and unique items laid out since I've played piano my whole life. Unfortunately I can't fit a grand piano like Deckard has so I'll need to make due with a small studio or console piano.
I even imported the model into VR so I could virtually walk around in the room to be sure it’s what I wanted before beginning construction.
Here's the 3d mockup if you want to take a look
Construction:
I’ll use this thread to dive into details of the room build as well as the many props and pieces that will be integrated into the office. I’ll likely do individual posts on certain pieces as I finish them and introduce them into the office.
To begin, I cleared everything out of my office and said goodbye to years of collecting Star Wars props. It was bittersweet to say the least but exciting to be beginning a new project.
First thing to do was the framing. 1x3s were used and then the whole thing was skinned with birch to make the soffit and the column.
I went ahead an hung the upside down 70's Panasonic TR-535 tv/radio so I could get it in position before hanging tiles. Special thanks and shout out to Halliwax for making me some amazing custom brackets to mount it to the soffit securely. Thanks brother, you're so freakin' talented.
Next came the iconic downlighting. I chose a smart dimmer connected to my Alexa, so I can have them fade up and down with voice. The idea is that the whole office will be automated and "come alive" by voice command. The lights will eventually be covered by Ennis tiles with an L shape cut out of them as seen in the movie. I've got frosted acrylic on the way to install into the tiles that should diffuse the light nicely.
To go with the lighting, I installed two black glass touchpad light switches. One for the main light that I'll be replacing with a faux skylight and the dimmer for the downlights. The thought here is to create something like the panel seen in the elevator to his apartment. So I’m in the middle of designing a similar looking panel.
After the lighting was installed, it’s finally time to start hanging tiles! I thought long and hard about this part, and this is the step that has me the most nervous. I wanted to cover the entire office with Ennis tiles and the blank concrete squares but I can’t possibly pour hundreds of those out of real cement. Way too heavy and just not feasible. I thought about making them out of EVA foam or maybe having them milled out of MDF but decided against it because I wanted it to look and feel more authentic. Then I stumbled across Kropserkel’s website where he sells vacuum-formed full sized replica Ennis tiles!
They weren’t cheap but they looked fantastic and would be super lightweight and easy to use. For the blank tiles, I searched and searched for weeks and one day finally stumbled across these perfectly sized 16x16 rubber paver tiles at Home depot designed for outdoor patios! They have a brick pattern on one side but are flat on the back. PERFECT!
The rough rubber texture is an almost exact match for poured cement / brick tiles! The plan is that once it’s all hung and painted, I’m going to go at the tiles with a Dremel to pit and scar up the blank tiles in random places to give it that rough look.
First row of Ennis tiles done! Pre-measuring the entire room, marking for even spacing, and coming up with easy, reliable mounting methods was a LOT of work. Thankfully the mockups I did in 3D helped a ton for making sure everything would line up correctly.
Then I added tiles all the way down the column to set my horizontal spacing.
And here’s where I am today! The back wall is fully tiled and tomorrow I’m starting on the East wall. So far so good!
That's it for today! I'll be back soon with more updates! Let me know if you have any questions, ideas, or feedback!
As some of you may know, I recently sold off my entire Star Wars collection. This was for several reasons, including a job change where I am on camera a lot (lightsabers and helmets in the background has shown to be pretty distracting), some burnout from all the new movies and TV shows being released, and my wife's recent diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis. We've been focusing on de-cluttering and simplifying things at home to make our environment more Zen and spending more time together. My office was filled to the brim with Star Wars props and helmets. And while I loved collecting those items, I have also been extremely happy to see them passed on to others who will enjoy them as much as I have.
First, here’s what my office looked like before.
I still wanted to have a nerdy office but rather than just put everything in display cases, on shelves, and on the wall, I wanted each prop and piece to have their own place to live in a more natural environment. This is a rather ambitious project for me so I have been taking my time and doing lots of planning. I finally started construction on it 2 weeks ago so I’ll update the thread as I make more progress on it.
Here are a few screencaps from the movie that show different elements that I wanted to incorporate into my build.
Most people here probably already know this set was based on designs from the Ennis house in LA designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It’s been featured in many movies and tv shows such as The Rocketeer, Karate Kid III, Game of Thrones, The Thirteenth Floor, and a ton more.
Here are some 3d mockups I did to get an idea of what I wanted to do, estimate supplies and building materials, and plan it out before committing to anything. I wanted to include as many different features of the set as possible without it feeling too cluttered. I knew I wanted to have a column since they’re seen all over the apartment so I included one in the back corner where I knew I would have the space. And I especially wanted to feature a piano with the various lamps, photos, and unique items laid out since I've played piano my whole life. Unfortunately I can't fit a grand piano like Deckard has so I'll need to make due with a small studio or console piano.
I even imported the model into VR so I could virtually walk around in the room to be sure it’s what I wanted before beginning construction.
Construction:
I’ll use this thread to dive into details of the room build as well as the many props and pieces that will be integrated into the office. I’ll likely do individual posts on certain pieces as I finish them and introduce them into the office.
To begin, I cleared everything out of my office and said goodbye to years of collecting Star Wars props. It was bittersweet to say the least but exciting to be beginning a new project.
First thing to do was the framing. 1x3s were used and then the whole thing was skinned with birch to make the soffit and the column.
I went ahead an hung the upside down 70's Panasonic TR-535 tv/radio so I could get it in position before hanging tiles. Special thanks and shout out to Halliwax for making me some amazing custom brackets to mount it to the soffit securely. Thanks brother, you're so freakin' talented.
Next came the iconic downlighting. I chose a smart dimmer connected to my Alexa, so I can have them fade up and down with voice. The idea is that the whole office will be automated and "come alive" by voice command. The lights will eventually be covered by Ennis tiles with an L shape cut out of them as seen in the movie. I've got frosted acrylic on the way to install into the tiles that should diffuse the light nicely.
To go with the lighting, I installed two black glass touchpad light switches. One for the main light that I'll be replacing with a faux skylight and the dimmer for the downlights. The thought here is to create something like the panel seen in the elevator to his apartment. So I’m in the middle of designing a similar looking panel.
After the lighting was installed, it’s finally time to start hanging tiles! I thought long and hard about this part, and this is the step that has me the most nervous. I wanted to cover the entire office with Ennis tiles and the blank concrete squares but I can’t possibly pour hundreds of those out of real cement. Way too heavy and just not feasible. I thought about making them out of EVA foam or maybe having them milled out of MDF but decided against it because I wanted it to look and feel more authentic. Then I stumbled across Kropserkel’s website where he sells vacuum-formed full sized replica Ennis tiles!
They weren’t cheap but they looked fantastic and would be super lightweight and easy to use. For the blank tiles, I searched and searched for weeks and one day finally stumbled across these perfectly sized 16x16 rubber paver tiles at Home depot designed for outdoor patios! They have a brick pattern on one side but are flat on the back. PERFECT!
The rough rubber texture is an almost exact match for poured cement / brick tiles! The plan is that once it’s all hung and painted, I’m going to go at the tiles with a Dremel to pit and scar up the blank tiles in random places to give it that rough look.
First row of Ennis tiles done! Pre-measuring the entire room, marking for even spacing, and coming up with easy, reliable mounting methods was a LOT of work. Thankfully the mockups I did in 3D helped a ton for making sure everything would line up correctly.
Then I added tiles all the way down the column to set my horizontal spacing.
And here’s where I am today! The back wall is fully tiled and tomorrow I’m starting on the East wall. So far so good!
That's it for today! I'll be back soon with more updates! Let me know if you have any questions, ideas, or feedback!
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