“SPACE embraces design challenges, and working through them with our team has made me a better, more clever designer. “Yes” and “Why not?” are phrases you hear a lot around here, and that optimism shines through in our work.”
SHELLEY NIEMEIER
Master of Arts, Saint Louis University
INTERIOR DESIGNER
A researcher by training and temperament, Shelley works closely to uncover clients’ aspirations and history to develop interiors that are as special and unique as they are. Working closely with Tom, she always endeavors to create timeless spaces that will not need to be stripped of trendy materials and lighting in a few years to remain relevant. Shelley makes every effort to incorporate materials in pragmatic ways to maximize the budget and longevity of use. She takes a “less is more” approach for visual simplicity and elegance, and reduced overall consumption of consumer goods.
Favorite Things to Do:
Experimenting in the kitchen and using my patient family as culinary guinea pigs. Crossfitting (poorly). Making lists. Ologies. Reading the salacious and entertaining stories from history they didn’t teach in high school; shipwrecks; stories of seemingly ordinary people who led extraordinary lives; and anything that helps make sense of the world we live in.
Favorite Architect:
Tom, duh. Zaha Hadid and Oscar Niemeyer are tied for second. Their designs are soaring, larger-than-life spaces that so beautifully push what can be built in both scale and design. It’s impractical 99% of the time, but they fiercely show what is possible when we think big. And they’ve given thousands of talented craftspeople a challenge that they have so perfectly executed, time and time again. I also adore Ray Eames for her pragmatic blend of function and playful-yet-timeless design, and I sure try to emulate her philosophy every day: “What works good is better than what looks good, because what works good lasts.”
Confession:
Our second daughter’s middle name is Gray. It’s a nod to Eileen Gray, Ray Eames, and — don’t tell Tom — Jean Grey, the X-[wo]man