Rarely is a space – whether it be a house, hotel, office, etc. – a series of empty, lifeless rooms created only to serve their most basic functions; rather, these spaces are designed to bring a certain feeling to a person, whatever that feeling may be, and hopefully bring some sense of enjoyment or belonging to a person’s life – some sense of home.

Think of any home or office space you’ve walked into. Whether or not the space fit your personal taste, there was an interior designer who was called in to help create it, with a specific person or persons in mind. The overall layout of the room, the color on the walls, the light fixtures hanging from the ceiling and the material chosen for the countertops were carefully selected to help give the client the feeling they wanted to capture with the space. Because, whether you realize it or not, your mood is slightly affected by these features.

Kristina Kitsopoulos is an award-winning interior designer housed out of Richard’s Paint, off Post Road and Wickham. She received her bachelor’s degree in interior design and architecture and has been working as an interior designer for 24 years. Her company, K2 Living Well, LLC, was born with the intention of, not only helping to create beautiful spaces for her clients to enjoy, but to put natural materials and products at the forefront of her clients’ lives, bringing with them a sense of peace and serenity. Again, you may not think materials will affect the look of a space – or the look and feel of your head space – but Kitsopolous understands this, and does what she can to help her client get everything they need.

As we spoke, she quickly explained to me the difference between an interior designer and an interior decorator. While interior decorators help choose furniture or accent pieces for a room, interior designers help during the construction phase or remodeling phase, helping clients select light fixtures, flooring, paint, etc.

“There is a lot of paperwork and details,” says Kitsopoulos. “When I am working in a space, I ask myself questions like, ‘Can something mount on that?’ I have to think about how something works in tandem with the rest of the space.”

While all designers are essentially there to service their clients’ needs, each designer has his or her own personal sense of style. As previously mentioned, K2 Design is centered on natural products, so Kitsopoulos’s style is inspired by the natural world around us.

“I always like to bring natural elements in, whether it be with color, or materials, wood veneers or grass cloth wallpaper,” says Kitsopoulos.

According to Kitsopoulos, natural colors aren’t just beiges and browns – though, those are natural colors – but also colors such as greens, blues, purples and cinnamons. As we spoke, she explained that these colors help bring a sense of ease to a room; these colors can help provide a feeling of calm in a world that is so often high stress.

She shared that she was once tasked with designing a neonatal intensive care unit. Of course, ICUs are high stress, and it was her job to design a space that would be calming to those workers, patients, etc. So, she added soothing tones such as blues, and added fish tanks. Though these decisions may seem small, they went a long way in helping those remain as calm as possible during their stressful day-to-days.

Because Kitsopolous understands architecture and color theory, she can make decisions like she did with the ICU in any commercial space or home. She understands how to bring to life the feeling you want in your space.

Photos were taken at the current model for DiPrima Homes at St. Andrews Manor.

K2 Living Well, LLC
321-446-0865
Email: K2interiors@icloud.com
www.K2LivingWell.com