About Braise and its founders, Maghan and Ryan

The overlooked room

Every room gets designed. Except the one that matters most.

Kitchens get planned for gathering, offices for focus, living rooms for movie night. The room that's meant for the two of you usually gets whatever furniture was left over and a ceiling light nobody likes.

We noticed it in our own house first, after years of busy jobs, packed calendars and the general chaos of a full life. Braise is what we built to fix it: design ideas, honest reviews and a few tools for two, all aimed at the room that never gets the attention.

The two of us

We're Maghan and Ryan: married, parents of three, and short on free time, which is exactly why the one room that's ours matters so much.

Maghan is the most careful reader of a label you'll ever meet. She's why Braise is strict about body-safe materials, honest about what a product can and can't do, and serious about consent.

Ryan has a doctorate in engineering and can't leave a product alone until he understands how it works. That's how the Room Designer and most of the tools here got built.

We're the couple who rearranges a room until the light is right, notices how a fabric feels, and gets the text from friends before they redo a bedroom.

Our own bedroom

We use Braise on our own rooms. Our bedroom is the one we actually wake up in, and like most couples' bedrooms, it was the last one we got around to. So we did what we tell everyone else to do: took one photo and tried it on. Here are three of the looks Braise gave us, with our own bed and bench still in them.

We went with Warm Organic.

Our bedroom before: pale blue walls, a red and black buffalo check comforter on a dark sleigh bed, beige curtains and the ceiling fan light on — BeforeOur bedroom then

Our bedroom restyled in Warm Organic: terracotta walls, rust linen curtains, layered oatmeal bedding with a rust velvet throw, amber lamps and a jute rug — The one we didWarm Organic

Our bedroom restyled as The Study: deep green walls and velvet curtains, an oxblood quilt with a wool plaid, brass lamps and a full bookshelf — The Study

Our bedroom restyled as a Boutique Hotel Suite: greige walls, crisp white bedding with a charcoal throw, a round brass mirror and oatmeal drapes — Boutique Hotel Suite

The three looks were rendered by Braise from that one photo. Try it on yours.

And another room for the two of us

A bedroom isn't the only room that can be yours. Before anyone else saw Braise, we pointed it at a single photo of a bare spare room, taken the day we moved in. Today it's our home gym. And after hours, it's a little more than that.

On the right is what Braise made from that one photo. It's close to a spitting image of the real thing. And yes, the swing is ours. Here's our review of it.

Our spare room, empty, the day we moved in — Before: the empty spare room

The same room today: a home gym with red lighting, a backlit wooden wall panel, a black hanging swing and weights — After: the same room today, rendered by Braise

What Braise is (and isn't)

Grown-up and honest, at whatever level of heat you're comfortable with. Braise is about the room, the evening and the two of you. We'd rather help you have a better Tuesday night than sell you a fantasy.

How we keep it honest

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