Why Our Interior Design Projects Do Not Have One Signature Style

I don't want people to recognize a PIEKNO project because every home looks the same.

Residential design is too personal for that.

Every client brings a different family, culture, collection, routine, property and idea of beauty. For me, the interesting part of the work is discovering what the home should become for that person—not finding another place to repeat my favorite aesthetic.

A home isn't a monument to the designer

A home should be a reflection of the people who live there.

That is why our portfolio can move from warm minimalism and quiet neutral interiors to color, pattern, more traditional rooms or an eclectic mix. I don't see that as inconsistency. I see it as the point of residential architecture.

Style words are less useful than people think

A client may tell me they want “modern,” “minimalist,” “cozy” or “contemporary.” Those words are useful starting points, but they can mean completely different things to different people.

That is why early in the design process I prefer to talk through images. What do you love? What makes you uncomfortable? Which room feels too cold? Which one feels like home?

Often we can't understand each other perfectly with words. We have to talk through pictures.

The consistency should be in the thinking

I do believe a studio should have a recognizable standard. But for me that consistency belongs in the quality of the planning, proportions, details, materials, technical coordination and execution—not in forcing the same palette or furniture language into every home.

The consistency should be in the quality of the thinking, not in making every home look the same.

Every new client should be a new challenge

Repetition doesn't interest me very much. I like arriving at a new project and having to learn something about the people who will live there.

The architecture still needs discipline. The floor plan has to work. The lighting has to make sense. Materials have to be appropriate. Construction details need to be resolved. But the personality layered over that architecture should belong to the client.

I don't want someone to walk into a home and immediately say, “This is an Anna Faligowska interior.” I'd much rather they walk in, meet the owners and think: Of course they live here.

Read more about why we design through images rather than style labels, explore our residential portfolio, or contact PIEKNO Studio.