Meet Ashley Macuga of Collected Interiors
FROM COLLECTED INTERIORS WEBSITE | Collected Interiors is a full-service residential interior design studio IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA specializing in custom home designs and full scale remodels. THEIR team of skilled specialists offer comprehensive design services from concept to completion. Based in the Bay Area Peninsula, Ashley and her team serve clients from San Carlos through Napa Valley up to the Tahoe Basin and beyond.
Originally from New Orleans, Ashley’s heritage influences her design point of view and practice. Her passion lies in discovering her clients’ stories and translating them into spaces that are warm, soulful, and unexpectedly modern. Her favorite projects are renovating and reimagining otherwise forgotten spaces, restoring a home’s pride and the neighborhood too. As a busy mother of four, Ashley has real life experience on what family homes need to achieve the critical balance of beauty and function. As a result, the foundation of her work and practice are materials and selections that are built to last and patina beautifully. Clients love her authentic interest in the way their families operate, deep understanding of materials and construction, as well as her detailed investment spreadsheets. Contractor and artisan partners appreciate her ability to create collaborative working environments where projects and people thrive.
DESIGN PHILOSPHY | Deeply inspired by Ashley's southern roots, Collected Interiors designs are carefully curated, artisan-made, textural, tonal, and modern—every space made of storied, contrasting elements. Our extended team consists of seasoned artisans, crafts people, and industry professionals - each experts in their own right. Our coveted layered style and modern design perspective work in connection with our intimate and collaborative design process to create homes that are truly personal and unique.
Read below our Client Spotlight: Collected Interiors.
These beautiful images below were taken by Nicole Diane and courtesy of Ashley Macuga.
Q: Ashley, first and foremost, thank you for being a part of the Client Spotlight and taking time from our busy schedule and family to answer this Q&A. Can you start by telling us a little about your business and style and also what you like most about designing?
A: My favorite part of our work is having the opportunity to shape and transform our client’s lives. I have personally seen how intentional design can support a change in people. I have watched couples declutter their homes and their marriages too…easing into new levels of love. I have witnessed an introvert open their home and heart to more friendship. I have seen new careers launched, along with new degrees of self confidence. I have experienced the sick feel more at peace, more rested in a sanctuary built to support their fight. I have observed families who are scattered by individual commitments pulled together with laughter in a kitchen created perfectly for their community. Good design is about so so so much more than pretty pillows. It’s about YOU - and creating a space where you and your family thrive. Meet your goals. Provide warmth. Tone down the chaos. Rest and enjoy - and get ready for whatever tomorrow brings.
Q: Ashley, you're located in California and I am based in Florida. We've actually never met in person (yet!) Can you tell us how you first came across my work? I'm always so curious how people find me! I have always felt like you and I are kindred spirits and know our paths were meant to cross somehow.
A: I first saw Jessie’s work posted in a fellow designer's instagram post. It was of Big Sur, and I was immediately captivated by the richness of the image. Since we operate out of Northern California, Big Sur is a meaningful destination for many of our clients - and when I first saw the print, I felt as if I had been transported to the coastline. The cool fog tickling my cheeks, the ocean’s song whispering in my ears.
Jessie’s Big Sur prints have been a best seller with our clients, but we use many of her fine art pieces that aren’t necessarily of California . Jessie has a talent in bringing the fresh, clean air feeling of the coast into homes, and the peace of the ocean resonates so beautifully with each our clients. Conjuring up a favorite childhood or honeymoon vacation, making her work relevant no matter where it was shot.
Q: Has the process been easy as far as ordering? I know that you have worked with us in a few ways after ordering your prints. Sometimes it ships straight to you, other times, it is shipped directly to your framer of choice. Can you tell us little more about that?
A: Getting prints from Jessie’s studio and framed and into our Clients’ homes has been a breeze. If we are working with a smaller print, we often times will have Jessie’s team send it directly to Framebridge. For larger prints, we opt for local framing, giving us the opportunity to choose from a wide selection of frames and mats. I love to float mount her pieces, and opt for more simple frames that we don’t distract from the beauty of the image.
Q. I'm so honored to have worked with you and your team so far! Any final thoughts on collaborations?
A: We love that Jessie is such an incredible collaborator, and is always willing to find just the perfect crop on an image to fit our client’s space. She is also an incredible cheerleader of our work, and is always encouraging us from afar. Even tough we have never met her in person, she feels like a friend! And did we mention what a creative inspiration she is! Her creativity knows no bounds, and I have loved watching her work expand beyond interiors photography to fine art prints…and now paintings too! It's just proof that all of our our creativity has opportunity for evolution and expansion.
Q. Final Question: Where should I go next to shoot a special landscape?
A. My husband’s favorite place on the planet is the Jersey Shore, and I have learned to love its deep, white sand beaches and dunes. I also think that Jessie’s interpretation of the Ocean City boardwalk would be so playful and fun. I have so many client’s that would love to see their beloved Jersey beaches captured by Jessie!
Client Spotlight Continued: Collected Interiors
These beautiful images below were taken by Roxanne McClure and courtesy of Ashley Macuga.
Collected Interiors has also commissioned Jessie for her paintings.
FOR INFO REGARDING PAINTINGS VISIT MY ART STUDIO WEBSITE
Huge thanks to Ashley, Jaime, Sophia of Collected Interiors for being the first Client Spotlight. More importantly for trusting me to collaborate with you and have a small part of your beautiful projects. My heart is exploding with gratefulness and I can't wait for our next creative collab!
Thank you Collected Interiors for this Q&A. Beginning words taken from your lovely website and photos used with permission from Ashley Macguca, Nicole Diane and Roxanne McClure