Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways- Personalized interior design is about creating spaces that reflect you. Your habits, values, and stories are the priorities, not following trends or templates.
- Listening is the foundation of great design. Details that matter to you, even small ones, become the heart of meaningful spaces.
- Design is not linear. It evolves through exploration, adaptability, and courage—with a trusted process to keep you supported every step of the way.
Personalized Interior Design
Have you ever walked into a beautifully designed space and felt…nothing?
It happens more often than you’d think. A kitchen can check every box—the right finishes, a smart layout, all the on-trend details—and still feel like it belongs to someone else.
Good design isn’t about getting it right. It’s about getting it right for you. We call that personalized interior design—spaces crafted around the people who actually live in them.
“The best kitchen is the kitchen that’s right for the person who uses it.”
One of our clients said this recently, and it’s stuck with me. It perfectly captures how we approach every project at SDG.
We don’t believe in a single “correct” layout, a trendy aesthetic everyone should want, or a universal color palette. Our approach blends creativity and practicality, the same balance that defines any great custom home design. Spaces aren’t supposed to be designed for everyone. They’re designed for you—the people who live in them, move through them, cook in them, read in them, celebrate and recharge in them.
And that kind of design? It’s not something you can download from Pinterest.
It has to be personal.
Listening Shapes the Details
Take a few minutes to watch this video, where a couple reflects on their experience designing their kitchen and home with us.
One of my favorite moments is when they describe asking for cork inlays in their kitchen. It was a small detail, easily overlooked. But listen to what happened:
“I was willing to let that go. I thought, you know, that’s probably pretty hard and maybe they weren’t really listening to me. And there it was right in the design from the very beginning.”
That cork inlay wasn’t just a design detail. It was a small request that showed they were truly heard. Every day, it brings a spark of joy and a reminder that their voice mattered in the process. It’s also what separates tailored interiors from generic ones. The details aren’t random; they’re chosen with care because they matter to the people who live there. To us, that’s what meaningful design looks like.
No Two Projects Should Be Alike
Some clients want sleek minimalism. Others want curated layers. One family might want a gallery wall of heirlooms; another wants clean, blank space to breathe.
In this project, the clients were avid book lovers—self-described owners of “perhaps too many” books. Most designers might see that as a constraint. We saw it as an opportunity to showcase their personality right at the entryway, through a custom bookshelf that now acts as a bold, welcoming signature of who they are.
“That may not be the right choice for everyone, maybe not even for most people…but it was for us.”
Exactly. And that’s the point.
When you walk into their home, you don’t see a designer’s portfolio piece. You see them. That’s what personalized interior design should achieve: a home that feels unmistakably yours.
What Personalized Interior Design Actually Looks Like
Personalized interior design doesn’t just feel differently, it functions differently, too. Over the years, we’ve designed spaces that include:
- Hidden functionality that reflects how people really live. Pet nooks tucked in closets. Tech-free reading corners with perfect natural light. Drawers made just for takeout menus and charging stations.
- Custom cabinetry built around how someone actually cooks or entertains, from kitchens designed around baking rituals to wine nights to family get-togethers where 30 people can gather around the island.
- Accents with emotional resonance — reclaimed wood from a family barn, tile in the exact shade of a childhood home, and yes, cork inlays that surprise and delight every single day.
These aren’t luxuries for luxury’s sake. They’re the details that make a space feel like it’s working with you, not against you.
Room to Change Your Mind
Another theme that came through clearly in the video was flexibility. One of the clients admitted they “kept changing their mind” during the process—not out of indecision, but because they were discovering the space as it came to life.
“Every step along the way, Spectrum just reacted with kindness and patience and acceptance. I’m totally not used to that in my work. Previously, I would have ideas and people would say like, ‘Uh-huh, no, we’re not doing that.’ But at Spectrum, they’d be like, ‘Okay, yeah, totally. We can totally do that.'”
That’s not a flaw in the process. It’s part of what makes the process work.
Design is rarely linear. The right solution doesn’t always appear fully formed—it unfolds through iteration, exploration, and a bit of courage. As a space comes to life, new possibilities emerge, and our role is to stay nimble, collaborative, and supportive, helping you explore what the space could be, not just what you imagined at the start.
“What could have turned out to be kind of a stressful part of the project…always was resolved into comfort and a feeling of satisfaction.”
That’s not luck. That’s partnership.
A Process You Can Trust
One of the things clients tell us they appreciate most is clarity. At every step, you know what to expect. Before each meeting, you understand the goals. Afterward, you know what comes next—what we’re working on, what we need from you, and when we’ll reconnect. That kind of clarity is central to our interior design process. It’s what helps turn inspiration into real, livable results without the chaos so many homeowners fear.
“Each time we went into a meeting, we understood what was going to happen… That was really comforting to have that sense of grounding within the process.”
There’s also a layer most clients never have to worry about: coordinating contractors, managing timelines, solving problems behind the scenes. Our project managers handle all of that—so you can focus on the fun part: watching your space come to life.
“We hear horror stories of people coming to the end of a project and it having gone overtime and over budget. There were no huge unpleasant surprises anywhere along the line.”
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s peace of mind.
Where to Start
If you’re dreaming of a space that feels more “you,” here are a few ways to begin:
- Look inward, not online. Before saving another image, ask: What brings me joy in my current space? What frustrates me? What do I wish worked differently?
- Start with one object or habit. A beloved chair. A morning coffee routine. A collection you’ve never quite known where to put. What if your whole room was designed around that?
- Give yourself permission to evolve. You don’t need to have it all figured out. The best design grows with you.
And when you’re ready to take the next step, to imagine, plan, and build that personalized space, we’re here to listen.
It’s Not Just a Kitchen. It’s Your Kitchen.
Personalized interior design is about more than making something “look nice.” It’s about making it feel right—aligning a physical space with your daily life, your rhythms, your stories.
Something else that was said in the video that’s stayed with me:
“For the first time in my adult life, [we got] to come into a space, imagine how we wanted it to be, imagine how we wanted to live in that space, how we wanted it to feel, and then to find partners that could help us make that happen.”
We’re honored every time someone trusts us with that.
And we’d love to help you create a space that’s unmistakably, unapologetically yours.
