Design: an award-winning media room

Do you have a catch-all room that needs converting to something more functional and up-to-date? The David Friedlands of Los Angeles did, and a striking multipurpose media room metamorphosed out of that former junk area.

Though the room was dull and small (just 11 feet by 14 feet), the couple decided they needed to utilize the space in a far more useful way for themselves and their two college-age children.

So they called in William McWhorter, a member of the American Society of Interior Designers in Los Angeles, and asked him to convert the room into an efficient combination of study, guest room, and entertainment center. The results just won Mr. McWhorter an honorable mention in the S.M. Hexter Awards Program for the best interiors of l982.

Interviewed in New York when he came to accept the award, he explained that he had worked to create a warm, enveloping atmosphere within a confined space, without having it appear either overcrowded or overwhelming.

The jury of five professionals agreed that he had accomplished this through his selection of furnishings and use of color, reflective surfaces, and pattern. Jury member Sherman Emery, editor of Interior Design magazine, commented: ''The jury was impressed with this room and liked it very much. We thought it had a fresh, up-to-date look and was appropriately designed to serve a number of different functions.''

Since the owner of the home is a manufacturer of children's clothes and works constantly with fashion colors, a color scheme was agreed upon that includes deep raspberry, vivid blues, purples, and greige. The room also provides a clear Lucite desk with marble top on which the executive can do the paper work he sometimes brings home from his office.

The reflective materials that give the illusion of opening up the room include the black chrome ceiling, two walls and a door covered with gray mirror, and the use of gray-chrome-slat window blinds. Shiny steel chrome is used in the small round table base and in the chair frame.

Other polished surfaces include the marble table and desk tops and the low sheen of paint on the walls. The investment collection of famous film stars, taken by the Hollywood photographer Hurrell, is also framed with gleaming metal.

An unexpected note in the room is the thin strip of blue neon that runs all the way around the top of the room and is reflected in the chrome ceiling. The designer says he is beginning to use neon in new ways in his decorating schemes, because it adds a little drama, an added fillip.

The modern sofa in the room converts to a queen-size bed for the occasional guest. The room also houses the family's audio-video equipment.