I came to design from a different direction.

A second career. A long-standing point of view.

My path to interior design wasn't linear and it began long before I called myself a designer. My father was an architect, so houses, drawings, materials and construction were part of the landscape of my childhood. As an adult, I remodeled and built several homes of my own while pursuing a thirty-year career in strategy, research and branding—work centered on understanding how people make decisions and why.

Along the way, I kept collecting: art, furniture, objects, references, places, materials and ideas.

Eventually, those two worlds converged. I realized that the thread connecting much of what interested me was the same one: why certain environments make us feel something.

I returned to school to formally study interior design and created Querencia as a deliberately small practice through which I could explore that question professionally.

As I build my practice, I bring the habits of a researcher to the instincts of a designer: observe closely, ask better questions, challenge assumptions and understand the person before proposing the solution.

I am particularly drawn to interiors that feel accumulated rather than manufactured: rooms that mix periods and origins, honor material and craftsmanship, leave space for art and idiosyncrasy, and become more personal—not less—as time passes.

The best room isn't the one that most clearly expresses its designer. It's the one that could belong to no one but the person who lives there.

Why this matters to you.

Turn Ambiguity Into Clarity

Most people have stronger design instincts than they realize. They can recognize what they love immediately; they simply may not have the vocabulary to describe why.

So I don't begin by asking you to choose a style.

Before I decide what a room should look like, I want to understand how it should feel—and how it needs to work. We look for clues—rooms you respond to, clothing, art, color, objects already in your home, places you've traveled, things you dislike, materials you're drawn to, and most importantly, how you want a room to feel.

Patterns begin to emerge.

Research taught me to listen carefully, notice patterns, and ask questions people don't always think to ask. Design gives those observations physical form. My job is to find the through-line and turn it into a coherent visual language that feels unmistakably yours.

Spend Where It Matters

A good budget isn't distributed evenly.

There are places where craftsmanship, material or provenance materially changes the room—and places where spending more adds very little.

I help clients understand the difference.

We may invest in the extraordinary light fixture that defines the room and pair it with something wonderfully inexpensive. We might spend on the stone people touch every day, but save somewhere far less consequential.

The goal isn't to spend more. It's to spend deliberately.

Design For Real Life

I spent much of my previous career studying how people behave, make decisions and interact with products and environments.

That same curiosity informs the way I approach a home.

Where do you put your bag when you walk in? Where does everyone inevitably gather? Do you read with your feet tucked underneath you? Does morning light make one side of the room unusable? Where does clutter actually originate?

These small behaviors matter.

A room can photograph beautifully and still be frustrating to live in. Querencia aims for both: visual character and effortless use.