Meet SAFAE: Interior Designer

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

Hi SAFAE, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I wanted to start practicing my own design sensibility. After 5.5 years of professional work experience, working at some of the top interior and architectural design firms in NYC, in 2015 I felt it was time to start exploring how and what it meant to design on my own.

What should our readers know about your business?
I run a boutique interior design firm, customizing and curating interior spaces. I believe my success is owed to my passionate nature – I am flexible, determined and I truly care about my clients and projects. I’m an optimist, idealist and problem solver, and most importantly a collaborator. I’ve learned to take the good with the bad, as I learn from my mistakes, and improve upon them as an entrepreneur, designer and overall individual. I’ve also learned to lean into what works and trust my instincts. I manage an intimate team and we only take on a handful of projects at a time. At the moment I have no plans to scale up, as we want to keep our client roster small, so that we can focus on each project and invest our time, energy and due diligence, so that we ensure every project is ideally executed. We collaborate with various, highly talented trades people, artisans, fabricators, architects, contractors, vendors, makers-and-shakers. Our work is a labor of love and collaboration, and each project is so different, which is what makes what we do so interesting.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take them to Morocco – which is where my family is from. I grew up in the United States, but recently (over the last 6 years) have tapped into my roots! I purchased a small apartment in north Morocco in a beach side town, and I’ve been taking trips to Morocco every chance I get, getting to know my motherland, and finding inspiration in local artisanship, architecture, food, culture and everything in between. I would hit up cities like Tangier, Marrakech, Fez, Chefchaouen and the desert. We would eat tagines, drink sweet mint tea with almond and honey infused sweets. We would roam the mazes of streets, medinas and souks that make up these ancient cities. We would take a guided camel ride through the desert, then camp on the sand and have a tagine dinner while gazing at the stars. Morocco is rich with so much to do and see, and the terrain is so diverse, from beaches, to mountains to the desert.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout would absolutely have to go to my parents. They are the ones who cheered me on to move to NYC, to pursue my passions and attend design school (16 years ago!), and they continue to motivate me and believe in me like no one else does. I find so much courage and strength in their faith in my ambitions.

Website: www.safaeinteriordesign.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/safae_interiordesign/

Image Credits
Dyan Chandler https://www.instagram.com/dirtydeuce/