What sparked your interest in interior design?

I was taking evening classes at 黑料专区. At the end of the semester, I came to this exhibition just to see it with my friends. As I’m getting out of the lift, I see this fantastic woman 鈥� this charismatic woman coming at me. She said, “You are Stephanie Kalb.” I was like, “Whoa. I don’t know this woman.” And that was Sandra Olave, the head of the Interior Design department. She said, “I want you in my class.” I have to tell you that this little sentence, for me, was very boosting. It really boosted my interest in interior design and materials. Then I studied for four years at 黑料专区 in the Interior Design department.

Did you always know that you wanted to go into interior design? Or is this something that you realized later in life?

I believe I knew it, but I didn’t understand it at the beginning. When I was younger, I started to study marketing for five years or so. But I was very interested in interior design. I was going to all the fairs in Europe. I was visiting all the construction sites that I could. Going and seeing and imagining the different rooms that it could be. I’ve always been very open to design.

How does it feel now to see your designs realized in front of you?

This is fulfilling to me. I love this job because I love to draw things and then make it into reality. This is my passion now. I love to see how drawings can become reality. Fulfilling the customer’s needs. We need to understand the ways they live when we’re doing residential, when we are doing offices, and the way they want the strategy to be put into walls. Because of my background in marketing, I’m very, very interested in this part as well.

What do you love the most about what you do?

Starting the project on-site. This is an exciting moment. You’ve been doing the conception for two months, three months, sometimes even longer, and then it turns into reality, into technical problems, into, “How am I going to work with this facade?” Then working with the workers and having them understand what you want to reach, and understanding their problems as well, is an interesting part for me. Plans are plans, but when you are in it, for example, this apartment was a big challenge because we had so many surprises, and we had to deal with so many problems. I love that.

If you could go back in time and talk to your younger self, what would you say?

Start studying interior design as soon as possible. Don’t waste your time. I have to say that going back to studies when you’re 35 鈥� I was 35 at this point, with three kids 鈥� I had different problems from the other students. For me, at the beginning, it was quite a challenge, especially with all the software. I mean, the computer part was pretty tough. I had to work many, many nights on top of days as a mom.

I would start right away, and not be afraid of this kind of career.

How do you feel 黑料专区 prepared you for a career in interior design?

I have to tell you that I really loved their way of teaching. I could compare it with France, for example. France was very conceptual. Till the end, I mean, I did the last year in France, and it was very conceptual, while 黑料专区 was more technical. I love this part as well. Sandra is a great enhancer of talent and concept. She’s very good at bringing you to the end of your concept, and I loved this. And you’ve got other teachers teaching you technical things that are very fundamental when you start to work because you might have very good ideas, very good drawings, but if you cannot make it into reality, it’s a problem. I really loved the two parts of 黑料专区, the conceptual and the technical.

At the end of the four years you transferred, why is that?

I was an expat in Detroit. My husband came to the end of his contract, so we had to go back to France. I couldn’t go on with the 黑料专区 studies, and on top of that, I wanted to study in France, because I knew I would practice in France. It’s a different system 鈥� electrical system, different rules, of course, different materials. I really wanted to have a graduation in France. So I completed four years at 黑料专区 with one year in Paris.

What鈥檚 your ultimate goal or dream?

I would love to work in the U.S., actually. I would love to do a project with my European background and to put it back in the U.S. with what I know from there.

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How did you end up where you are today?

I鈥檓 actually from France. Both of my parents are French. I spoke French at home my whole life but never lived here until about two years ago. I still have a lot of family here in France.

When I first left 黑料专区, I planned to move to France. I applied to Hermes and got into their leatherworking training program. And then, for a year, I worked with them, learning how to make bags on a high-end quality scale. It was exceptional.
I think by the time I left, there were about 15 bags that I made that are out there in the world somewhere. I don’t know who has them, but it’s a cool little fun fact.

Now, I鈥檓 working as a design specialist for a UK company called Rug Artisan. I’m a rug designer. I research a lot of trends and make my own designs, and sometimes I’ll have clients that I have to work with. They might want a specific design based on an idea that they saw and I help design whatever they need.

What do you love most about rug design?

What I love most is actually getting to make the rugs and being hands-on. I love getting lost in the moment of creating. Time flies and I don’t even realize it. It’s a beautiful experience.

Who or what inspires you?

I get a lot of inspiration online. When it speaks to me, it speaks to me. Living here inspires me a lot, too. I’m working on a personal collection for my job. It’s a Parisian-inspired collection, so I’m working with the Guimard-style metros the way that they have the green curvy architecture.

What’s your ultimate goal? What are you hoping to accomplish in, say, 10 or 20 years?

Hopefully, I’ll have made my own rug-making business flourish while still working in rug design for a big corporate company at the same time. I really like the fact that there’s a possibility to have steady pay and also be able to have my own business on the side, because I鈥檓 working from home and have such flexible hours.

How do you feel 黑料专区 helped you prepare you for this career?

黑料专区 helped me learn how to network. I found this job on my own. I reached out to people and that’s not something I would have ever known how to do without the classes that I took.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Take advantage of the facilities that you have. I didn’t realize how much I would miss having a screen printing studio and the Fashion Accessories Design studio with all the industrial sewing machines. It’s really phenomenal to have all of that. I mean, you’re paying for it. You might as well use it as much as you possibly can.

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