InTheGroove Music Studio Music Studio Design

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A Basement Reinvented, a Studio Revealed

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

THE SPACE BEFORE

The basement of the old WCCO radio building in downtown Minneapolis had spent its life as storage and utility space. Concrete floors, painted brick, spare vinyl wallpaper peeling off the walls, wood paneling from the 1970s, and fluorescent lights overhead. That was the starting point. inthegroove — an original music house focused on recording artists and creating scores for television and commercials — was working out of this space and starting to get noticed. Bigger, more discerning clients were beginning to visit. The image didn’t match the talent, and the owners knew it.

THE DESIGN DIRECTION

The owners wanted a complete reinvention. They wanted visitors to feel, from the moment they walked in, that this was a hip and talented house of original music — a place where serious creative work happens in a space with real atmosphere. The mood target: nightclub chic with a cool industrial edge, softened by warm, earthy elegance. Not a sterile studio. Not a corporate office. A club-like, mood-inducing space where clients and musicians alike look forward to coming back. The catch: the budget couldn’t support a full renovation. The footprint couldn’t change. Nearly everything had to be reinvented in place.

WHAT WE WORKED WITH (AND AROUND)

Ceiling tiles sprayed black and sapphire blue. Replacing the old ceiling tiles wasn’t in the budget. So we sprayed them — black and sapphire blue. The visual effect is immediate: the ceiling lifts, the room feels taller, and the overhead plane sets an evening club vibe that changes the entire atmosphere of the space. One of the least expensive moves in the project, and one of the most transformative.

Painted brick, color-washed for warmth. The existing brick walls were already painted — flat and lifeless. We color-washed them to pull out the inherent texture and bring on a warm, inviting patina. The brick went from a surface you ignore to a surface that gives the space character and depth. It reads as intentional and aged in the best way.

Peeling wallpaper sealed in as a design feature. The aged vinyl wallpaper was coming off the walls. Rather than replacing it — which the budget didn’t allow — we pulled off the loose material, let the underlying texture remain, and sealed it with glaze and paint. What could have been a liability became a modern, organic texture that feels deliberate. It’s the kind of move that only works when you see the potential in what everyone else would tear out.

1970s wood paneling refinished as aged steel and copper. The wood paneling wasn’t going anywhere, so we made it go somewhere new. Primed and refinished, it now reads as an aged steel wall trimmed in strips of copper. The industrial aesthetic fits the mood perfectly, and visitors have no idea they’re looking at paneling from the Nixon era.

A drum-part mosaic that glows at the entry. Discarded drum-set pieces — cymbals, hardware, skins — were assembled into a glowing focal-point mosaic in the entryway. It’s the first thing visitors see, and it tells the story of what happens inside before anyone says a word. Art made from the tools of the craft, lit to draw you in.

Instruments as the artwork of the space. Instruments that had been stored off to the side were brought front and center — mounted and displayed as the primary art throughout the studio. They tell the story of what happens in this space and showcase the contemporary approach inthegroove brings to their work. The art isn’t imported. It’s the work itself, put on display.

THE OUTCOME

The basement of the WCCO building doesn’t feel like a basement anymore. It feels like a place where music lives — cool, warm, atmospheric, and unmistakably creative. Every surface was reinvented rather than replaced. The ceiling, the brick, the wallpaper, the paneling, even the discarded drum parts — all of it was reimagined into something that serves the mood, the brand, and the work that happens inside.

Clients and musicians look forward to return visits. The professional status of the company is present in every detail. And the space fosters exactly the kind of creativity that inthegroove sells. It’s not a renovation. It’s a reinvention — proof that atmosphere isn’t about the budget you start with, it’s about the vision you bring to what’s already there.

IN THE CLIENT’S WORDS

“She entered our world, identified our culture, and developed a keen understanding of who we are and how we wanted the world to see us. She took all of that and created an inspired vision for our space… Every day, we are inspired by our surroundings.”

— Brian Reidinger, Partner and Creative Director, inthegroove