My FINAL Studio Tour

0:00 All right, turn this thing on here.

0:02 All right, we're good.

0:04 Rolling.

0:05 This is the office studio tour.

0:10 The final studio tour 2026.

0:13 And for this, it's a complete change.

0:16 I gutted the entire office, everything it's ever been,

0:20 past, present, to make room for the future.

0:24 The goal with this was zero friction.

0:27 I want to come in and make videos.

0:29 I want it to look great.

0:31 I want it to have style, personality, a place for meetings,

0:35 place to hang, places to film, places for a podcast.

0:39 All the details, all the aesthetics that make me me need to be present.

0:46 If I'm not physically in this space, I want someone to be able to come

0:49 in here and know this is Peter McKinnon's office.

0:52 And I feel like that is what we accomplished.

1:02 One of the things you may have noticed straight out of the gate with the last

1:06 few videos over the last several weeks is the angle changes quite a bit.

1:10 Because one of the main goals I had with this studio makeover

1:13 is I wanted to be able to shoot from so many different angles.

1:17 One desk, one background, everything always the same.

1:21 I wanted to be able to switch from here to here, maybe to here.

1:25 This works.

1:25 Literally everything looks great.

1:28 I actually really really like this one.

1:30 Do you want to mix it up?

1:32 Open the door.

1:33 Switch sides.

1:34 Now I've got even more depth.

1:35 This this angle, this is working for me right here.

1:38 I like this.

1:38 And while I have you here, that photo of Kefir Southerntherland,

1:41 that was the one of the very first photos I

1:43 ever put in my very first town home that I bought.

1:46 It was my first piece of art.

1:47 It was the catalyst for everything that made

1:50 me want to shoot his portrait eventually.

1:52 I thought it was a great reminder that even if

1:54 your dreams seem crazy and unrealistic and wild and far-fetched,

1:59 that they can be achieved.

2:01 And that right there, that's living proof.

2:03 I can shoot talking head angles.

2:04 I can set up my vlog camera, the desk itself, the living space,

2:08 the podcast set in a proper storage room to actually keep the gear.

2:12 Uh, this is new.

2:14 Why not?

2:15 It's kind of rad.

2:16 I could probably use like a like a pop filter for it.

2:20 Those peas are a little obnoxious.

2:22 I'm sorry.

2:23 But this episode's going to be split into several sections.

2:25 I want to show you the space.

2:27 I want to talk about the details.

2:28 I want to reminisce on all the old versions of this space was cuz cuz honestly,

2:32 when you see them all put together,

2:33 you will be mind blown that it was this many things in that amount of time.

2:38 In fact, I'd love to bring a designer on to actually roast those setups.

2:42 The very designer that made this space, my friend Patty.

2:44 I want to show you some some photos that I compiled on my phone

2:48 of my past spaces and I'd love for you to like either rate them,

2:52 roast them, or just give me your honest thoughts.

2:55 Um because they're different.

2:58 Okay.

2:57 And I know you've seen some of them.

3:00 I'm going to show you my very first YouTube.

3:04 Okay.

3:03 Setup background space.

3:05 That's the uh Oh, okay.

3:09 Yeah, that was that was like day one.

3:11 Day one.

3:11 Okay.

3:12 What do you think?

3:12 Um,

3:15 just just starting just starting out spare bedroom.

3:19 Yep.

3:19 Yep.

3:21 Right.

3:20 Yep.

3:20 I don't know what to say.

3:22 Oh, it's that bad.

3:23 Hey, no, it's just that like I'm just trying

3:25 to envision like where were the cameras set up?

3:28 Like how did you have basically where that photo was taken was is

3:31 where like the camera would set up and just sit on the sit

3:33 on the couch or I'd sit on a desk just in front

3:35 of all of this and that would be like my my backdrop.

3:38 Uhhuh.

3:38 What did I What's wrong with this?

3:39 If this was someone if someone was looking at

3:41 it just looks like somebody's apartment or somebody's Yeah.

3:44 If if that was an apartment, would it be styled okay or

3:47 like it just you know there's not a lot of personality there.

3:50 I don't know who is actually working there.

3:52 I would actually I would never picture you working in that space.

3:57 Well, I've changed over time as as you can see.

4:00 You've evolved.

4:03 Yes.

4:03 You're not bad.

4:05 I thought for sure you'd open the box and like

4:07 Raiders of the Lost Arc would come out, you know?

4:09 Remember that movie Indiana Jones?

4:11 Yeah.

4:11 Okay.

4:12 I was going to say, please someone know that reference.

4:14 I'm not that old.

4:15 Why don't you just like fill every every space?

4:19 Every space.

4:20 Every circ.

4:21 Just all of it.

4:22 How close did you have that to my wrinkle?

4:24 It's a wide angle.

4:25 Thank you.

4:25 Jesus.

4:48 You're just down here reading.

4:49 I know.

4:49 I'm very interested in everything in here.

4:51 It looks so It looks so full and good

4:54 that it could like almost be like an AI background.

4:57 like

4:57 like it almost just looks like one

4:59 of those weird like Zoom backgrounds, you know?

5:01 You're like, I choose the library today.

5:03 People are going to ask me like, "Are you in a library or is that real?"

5:06 I love this rug.

5:06 I just wish it was bigger.

5:10 Didn't you already buy another one?

5:11 We did.

5:13 Yeah.

5:12 Let's going back.

5:14 Maybe we could do it when we come back to style.

5:16 Do you have another piece of favorite artwork that you would like to use where

5:21 for here instead of the mirror?

5:23 No.

5:23 No.

5:23 Layer on layer.

5:24 What do you mean?

5:25 I want to layer a photo on the mirror.

5:28 You want to block the mirror?

5:30 No, I want to layer layer another image on top of the mirror.

5:35 So, partially block the mirror.

5:37 Yes.

5:37 Okay, got it.

5:38 Yeah.

5:38 You see, after a while changing things over and over and over and over and over,

5:41 it lost its identity and it became like

5:43 a storage room that I just filmed videos in.

5:45 The vibe had left the chat.

5:47 And I'm big on needing a space to provide me creative support.

5:52 I want to feel inspired when I'm in my space.

5:55 I've always been that way.

5:56 I've seen it in the comments of these videos.

5:57 You've said it yourself.

5:58 The kids that, and I'm one of them,

6:00 change their rooms around every day when they got home from school.

6:03 I wouldn't just clean my room.

6:04 I'd rearrange everything, all the furniture,

6:06 and then it felt fresh and it felt like a new start.

6:08 Now, admittedly, as I got older and an and became an adult,

6:13 have I did I become an adult?

6:14 I that's actually to be determined.

6:16 I've realized that I use that same principle to distract

6:19 myself from getting things done that need to be getting done.

6:22 Instead of making videos, instead of getting on calls,

6:24 instead of making plans, working, I'll change my office around.

6:27 Then once I'm in that, I feel like I have to finish it

6:30 before I can get started so that I can be productive and make videos.

6:33 But then in lies the cycle over and over and over.

6:37 So this year, I thought, you know what?

6:38 I'm going to hire a professional to actually design this studio

6:41 so it becomes something that I love and never change again.

6:45 Now, I guess the famous words are never say never,

6:47 but I can tell you right now, I'm feeling pretty good.

6:49 So, you've had a couple of spaces that are white.

6:52 Do you typically gravitate more to or did you?

6:55 Yeah,

6:56 cuz I don't think you do anymore.

6:57 Like I think you love now, if I could say the patina of things and

7:02 very much so edge, right?

7:04 Definitely.

7:05 Yeah.

7:05 Yeah.

7:06 No, I think the the white I

7:08 think photographers in general maybe gravitate towards that.

7:10 It's fresh.

7:11 It's like a a feels like a studio, right?

7:13 Art kind of pops off the walls, I guess, depending on what you have up there.

7:17 Um, it's good for lighting.

7:18 It's good for filming and shooting.

7:20 Light bounces off the walls and fills a room.

7:22 So, we're coming at it from two different angles.

7:24 You're coming at it from obviously photography

7:27 and I'm looking at it as, you know,

7:28 like who lives here and what's the personality of the space.

7:31 So, that's interesting though to me.

7:33 Yeah.

7:33 How both we look at it based on what our like trades are.

7:37 Exactly.

7:37 I look at it in like terrible light.

7:38 You're like, who lives there?

7:40 This was when we first moved in here and I came down and I was like,

7:43 "All right, that's that's

7:46 Now we're starting to see more of your personality here.

7:48 I like that way better than the previous space." Again, I think you have so many

7:54 like really cool things that all have a story behind them.

7:58 So, yeah.

7:59 Yeah.

8:00 I would say that's probably maybe a seven out of 10, eight out of 10.

8:03 Like maybe even a bit more.

8:05 Like that's totally rock and roll.

8:06 I had like a whole neon corner, pinball machines,

8:09 but like it took me 30 minutes to turn all the lights on every day.

8:23 It was cool for a few months and then I came in one day and was like, get it.

8:27 Get rid of it.

8:27 I too much I hate it all.

8:29 And I feel like that's that's what happens to me with a space.

8:31 I I live in it for a while.

8:32 The novelty wears off.

8:33 Like this was really exciting and really fun at the start, right?

8:36 And then one day you just come in and it's over.

8:38 You're like, get this crap out of here.

8:40 Like why am I wasting like what what am I doing back there?

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10:02 Go on now.

10:03 I did my part.

10:04 There's like a bar.

10:05 I don't even drink.

10:06 There's like there's pinball machines and like you turn that on, you can't work.

10:10 Everyone could hear it.

10:11 It was fun for the kids

10:13 and fun and kind of unique and like you said, a novelty.

10:16 I think how do you how do you like not cross that line

10:19 where it just becomes disgusting and you're like I get it away.

10:24 Get everything off me.

10:25 Did I just did I add too much or is it just my personality?

10:28 No, I mean I don't think I think it's very layered and intentional.

10:32 I think you've created a very cool space which I think served you at the time.

10:36 I think part of the beauty of design is being able to, you know,

10:42 explore other ideas and design concepts and things like that over time.

10:47 I think blowing it up and starting all over,

10:50 maybe I don't want to do that anymore.

10:52 M um but I fully expect that this that even

10:56 your current space today is going to evolve

10:58 over time because we change right we don't stay

10:59 the same and as a creative like I love

11:02 change we mature right like our our tastes

11:05 also mature over time and I think we become

11:08 more aware of who we are and what brings

11:11 us joy and what brings us comfort and peace.

11:14 What do you think of that one that was in here?

11:16 Yeah.

11:17 I mean, I I I What do you think of that?

11:23 Move on.

11:24 I I like the previous space way more.

11:27 I think this is again, you maybe just were bored one day and thought,

11:32 "Okay, I'm going to create this really cool space under this loft."

11:35 You know what I thought?

11:35 I thought people never utilize vertical space, right?

11:39 It's like there's all of this room in here that no one's using.

11:42 It's off the heels of coming back from New York and my friends

11:45 have to have lofts there because they don't have big spaces.

11:48 So, it's out of necessity for them.

11:49 But for me, I was just inspired and I thought that's cool.

11:52 Like, I could probably make that work in here.

11:54 I think too like the challenge is working

11:56 in a small space and making it feel bigger.

11:58 And like I think we definitely did that here.

12:01 But a lot of that was, you know, raising everything to the ceilings, right?

12:06 You know, kind of like that's not where I would have gone.

12:10 Yeah.

12:09 I don't intuitively would have not thought that.

12:11 Like that's what one of you remember my friend Alex is always like how

12:14 does it look bigger in here when there's like three times the amount of stuff.

12:17 It's definitely occupying that space up closer

12:20 to the ceiling that just makes it feel more grand.

12:23 And I think that's a mistake a lot of people

12:25 do make too though is they you know they stay

12:27 at surface level or or you know halfway up the wall

12:30 and kind of just plaster all their furniture around the perimeter.

12:34 I do really love this one.

12:35 Yeah.

12:36 Is it because it has like a leopard print carpet?

12:37 Is that why maybe you like leopard print pillows and clothing and Yeah.

12:41 coats and Yeah.

12:42 No, I feel like this is not too far off of what you have today.

12:47 It's closer.

12:47 It's just a little bit more, like you said, more refined now.

12:51 It was a little more messy in that way.

12:52 Yeah.

12:53 But definitely I can see your personality in that.

12:55 And that's what I love.

12:56 Like I want to be able to walk

12:57 into the space like especially like in someone's home too.

13:00 Like I don't want it to feel like

13:02 Patty Wilson Design it's their space cuz it's not.

13:05 It has to be the people that live there.

13:08 It's got to be about them and their personality.

13:11 And I can see you in that.

13:12 I wanted the space to be reflective of who I am today.

13:16 I wanted the art on the wall to be inspiring.

13:18 I wanted it to be the projects that have brought me the most joy.

13:21 People on the wall that have brought me the most joy.

13:24 In the past, I kind of just put up any type of art or photo that fit the space.

13:28 If it physically measured and fit, it's on the wall.

13:31 I've always been huge on putting art on the walls.

13:34 Ask anybody that knows me.

13:35 But this particular time, I wanted to be a bit more thoughtful.

13:38 I wanted to pick pieces that I was proud of.

13:41 Pieces that someone could come in and spend 5, 10 minutes looking at the wall.

13:45 We could talk about them, talk about the stories behind them.

13:48 After all, that is what photography is all about.

13:51 That wall is full of stories.

13:53 I think it's a perfect place to start when people come to visit.

13:56 They always stop and look at the wall.

13:57 They pick whatever photo speaks to them the most.

13:59 and then I get to tell the story about that photo

14:02 because that is inherently what we do and what we create.

14:04 So, as a photographer, I love being able to show off my work and it's

14:08 a great representation of my successes both personally and professionally.

14:13 And then I get to tell stories about them and map them out on the wall

14:16 and it's kind of like a little road map of of where I've been,

14:19 what I've done, and where I'm going.

14:21 I'll show you my favorite.

14:23 I actually don't know if I could show you my favorite, honestly.

14:25 I I think I've done a good job at compiling all of my favorites to be the wall.

14:30 So, I I feel bad when I choose one over the other.

14:33 The standing ovation shot that Jared Poland actually

14:36 took of me is a very special photo.

14:38 It's the first standing ovation I ever got.

14:40 I I didn't even see him or have any idea that he was behind me.

14:43 And then he had that printed for me as a gift for my my last studio.

14:46 So, that's at my house now, but I I kept it on the wall because I it

14:50 just it deserves a place here and it was a special moment.

14:53 and the gift of photography, all those things that we've talked about.

14:56 So, it's it's forever going to have a place in the studio.

14:59 The graffiti hallway was also your idea.

15:01 Yes.

15:01 Yes.

15:02 We forgot about that.

15:02 We were just going to completely again white walls.

15:04 Remember I was like like what's your idea for this?

15:06 And I was like, I think like severance, maybe just white everything.

15:10 Get rid of like the black door, the handle, just like nothing in here.

15:13 You walk in and it's just sterile.

15:15 And I remember you were like, "Are you open to suggestions?" And I was like,

15:19 "Yeah." You were like, "Okay, don't do that.

15:21 Give me That was a hard no.

15:24 That was like uh no.

15:26 This is our back hallway.

15:28 Pretty boring.

15:29 Whitewashed.

15:30 Nothing going on.

15:32 Patty thought, why don't you guys slam that entire hallway with graffiti.

15:37 And that's where Matias comes in.

15:43 Layers upon layers upon layers of paint.

15:46 Spray, wash it back.

15:48 Spray, wash it back.

15:49 Base coat on top of base coat.

15:54 One of my favorite things about art is being able to watch someone that excels

15:58 in their craft in an industry that I

16:00 have nothing to do with who does their thing,

16:03 their craft very, very well at a high level.

16:07 That gives me so much inspiration.

16:09 So, not only does the hallway look sick,

16:12 but being able to watch an artist like Matias do what

16:15 he does at the very highest level was an absolute pleasure.

16:24 Not only that, but it took our boring

16:26 white hallway to the absolute top of the mountain.

16:32 I can say now it's not so boring.

16:49 I did not expect you to come back with slam it with graffiti,

16:53 floor to ceiling, neon signs, street art.

16:55 And what did you say?

16:56 You just thought that was a good representation of like Andrew.

17:00 Yeah.

17:00 Yeah.

17:00 Yeah.

17:00 Cuz if you don't know, there's a tattoo artist,

17:02 Andrew, that that works next door.

17:04 So, it kind of uh makes sense for both of us.

17:06 That that was still just such a And that's

17:08 the first impression everyone gets when the back door opens.

17:10 are like, "What the heck is back there, dude?

17:13 Is there a rave going on or like a John Wick film being

17:16 being shot?" I I would just never expect that idea come from you,

17:20 which I think is why I love it even more.

17:23 You'd expect it to come from me.

17:24 Yes.

17:24 Yes.

17:25 You know, another major addition was this table.

17:28 I have never had a table in any office ever.

17:31 The closest thing to a table was the little bar top that I had

17:34 at my old studio where we filmed a lot

17:36 of videos because it was a working surface.

17:39 It was useful, but I've never had a table like this where I can sit down,

17:43 I can eat, I can chat with friends,

17:45 can have meetings, and as you've seen, HOST A PODCAST.

17:50 Kirk Lapitin is back.

17:53 Yeah.

17:54 How'd you set this up?

17:56 This is crazy.

17:57 It's just all built in, dude.

17:58 A spot where I can actually sit across from somebody and film a video.

18:02 I've never had that.

18:03 In the old spaces, I used to film sideways.

18:06 And that's tough.

18:06 When you're trying to have a conversation with someone and the camera's

18:08 directly in front of you and you're looking to the side,

18:10 you don't know when to keep looking back

18:12 to the camera or when you're looking at your your guest,

18:14 you guys are way too close to each other.

18:16 It's very uncomfortable.

18:17 So, across, this is the first time I've

18:19 been able to do that and it's phenomenal.

18:20 Not to mention just having a spot where I can

18:22 bring things in and set them down on the table.

18:25 That is huge.

18:26 A proper desk to house all the things that I need to be creative.

18:29 You've seen that.

18:30 I made a video a few weeks ago.

18:31 My desk cure 2026.

18:33 I saw some funny comments.

18:34 That's not a functional work.

18:36 You just did that for aesthetics.

18:38 Yeah, obviously I did it for aesthetics.

18:40 I do everything for aesthetics.

18:42 It's part of my art.

18:43 And as far as it being functional, I make all my videos at this desk.

18:47 Who says it's not functional?

18:59 If Pete's Pirate Life could be a studio, this would be it.

19:02 My style has always been contrasty.

19:04 It has always been darker.

19:06 It has always been filled with texture, unique things,

19:09 art, a little bit of grit, rock and roll,

19:11 New York loft vibe, leather, brick, different wood,

19:14 brass lights, Edison bulbs, exposed beams, wires, cables.

19:19 All this stuff encompassed is me.

19:22 And I feel like my studio over time has been

19:25 versions of other things that have inspired me throughout the years,

19:28 but never directly a representation or mirror of this guy until now.

19:33 So this this is the evolution of the Peter McKinnon HQ the studio 2026.

19:40 I hope you like it.

19:41 I love it and I don't see myself changing this anytime soon.