Meet Hyeonsu Kim | Interior Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Hyeonsu Kim and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hyeonsu, what makes you happy? Why?
Happiness for me comes from both my everyday life and my work. Of course, there are the small joys in daily life, but a big part of my happiness comes from doing the work I love. Becoming an interior designer was a dream of mine long before I really understood what the profession involved. It can be intense at times—with long hours and late nights—but I feel both a sense of responsibility and pride knowing that my work shapes someone’s space and environment. That impact is what makes me feel fulfilled and truly happy.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My career has been shaped by a willingness to keep learning and to take risks. I started my journey at Pratt Institute, where I studied Interior Design. Those years gave me both a strong foundation in design and a curiosity to push beyond the classroom. After graduating, I worked at an architecture firm on residential projects. It was an exciting start, but I soon realized that I wanted to understand more than just design—I wanted to see how drawings actually became buildings.

That led me to join a construction company, which was a turning point. Suddenly, I was involved not only in design but also in execution, coordinating with contractors, engineers, and clients. One of the projects I’m most proud of was a bank branch I designed independently, which I then had the chance to follow through during construction. That project earned me a plaque of appreciation from the client and was recently selected as a winner in the Queens Chamber of Commerce Awards in the Commercial Rehabilitation & Alteration category.

The biggest lessons I’ve learned are to be adaptable, to stay open to learning, and to embrace challenges as opportunities. I want the world to know that my story is not about having everything figured out from the start, but about taking chances, growing through experience, and finding pride in creating spaces that people can actually use and enjoy every day. I want to keep extend my knowledges in this field.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend came to visit New York for a week, I’d want them to experience the city the way I see it—as both a place of culture and design. I would start with Central Park, because it’s unlike any other park. The paths aren’t straight but winding, almost like walking through a forest in the middle of the city. At the same time, you can see the Manhattan skyline rising around you. There’s also something fascinating beneath the surface—Manhattan schist, a type of bedrock found only here, which I studied for my thesis project because of how geology connects to architecture.

From there, I’d take them to a spot where you can see the city’s grid unfold. Urban planning is, in my view, one of New York’s most powerful qualities. The way the streets are laid out means you get those incredible long vistas, especially at sunset when the light pours through.

Of course, New York is also about culture. I’d take them to museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with its classical architecture and historic collections, and the Guggenheim, whose modern form is itself a piece of art. Walking through these places, you can feel the mix of European influence, timeless design, and the cutting-edge modern architecture that coexist here. That balance—the old, the new, the cultural, and the urban fabric—is what makes New York so inspiring, and what I’d want my friend to experience.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to the people who have guided and supported me along the way. My professors at Pratt Institute gave me the foundation and confidence to pursue design as a career—I’m especially grateful to the professors who helped me build technical skills in drawing and rendering, and to those who challenged me with creative projects that made learning exciting. I also want to recognize my colleagues from my very first job in the industry. They welcomed me into the professional world, shared their knowledge generously, and showed me what collaboration really means. All of these experiences and people have shaped the designer I am today.

Website: https://hkim229.wixsite.com/portfolio

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hyeonsu-kim-004534260