By KATE MURPHY


Imagine walking into an airy Manhattan apartment with 18th-century antiques, gilt mirrors and chintz upholstery. Now imagine Metallica playing on the sound system.

Music can alter a space as much as lighting, fabrics and artwork, but until recently, most people relied on their own judgment when it came to sound. Now, though, an increasing number are hiring personal music stylists to pick out tunes for their homes just as they might hire an interior decorator to select furnishings.

While Muzak has for decades created what it calls“audio architecture”for commercial environments, it is just in the last five years that a handful of music consultants, mostly in New York and London, have begun to specialize in creating custom domestic soundtracks. From Aspen lodges to bungalows in Belize, they are compiling playlists to match their clients’decor.

“Hearing the wrong music in the wrong space can be very disorienting,” said Coleman Feltes, a music stylist in New York City. A D.J. known for creating mixes for Versace, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana fashion shows, Mr.Feltes began his music service for individuals in 2006.

Mr.Feltes and other music stylists typically visit clients’ homes or look at photographs of them to assess their decorating styles and to understand layouts. They may also peruse clients’ music collections to learn the genres and artists they’ve liked in the past.

“Sometimes it’s truly awful stuff,”said Angus Gibson, another stylist, like “love and moonlight” soundtracks from Meg Ryan movies. His London-based company, Gibson Music, furnishes custom sound systems as well as the music to play on them for clients in Europe, Asia and the United States.

Even if the music a client likes isn’t insipid, stylists warn, it might be all wrong for a given space.“You’re not going to have Johnny Cash playing in a fantastic retreat in the West Indies,” Mr.
Gibson said.“It just wouldn’t work.”

Stylists typically charge between $50 and $250 per hour of music, which they usually download onto iPods but which can also be delivered on CDs.

Joe Wagner, 50, a commercial real estate developer and investor, hired Mr.Feltes last year to provide music for two homes with very different styles - a rough-hewn stone, wood beam and stucco lodge in Aspen, Colorado, and a white brick colonial in Palm Beach, Florida.

Mr.Feltes compiled about 48 hours of music divided into playlists particular not only to each residence but also the activity and time of day, like, for example, Latin jazz tracks for a lazy afternoon floating in the pool in Palm Beach or opera selections for a morning reverie while gazing at snow-capped mountains in Aspen.

“When someone walks in and hears great music, it’s like looking at a wonderful painting on the wall that gives you certain emotions,” said Mr.Wagner, who gets his playlists updated quarterly.“I love that I don’t have to think about what to put on. It’s already done for me.”