In the world of Bruce Kading Interior Design, classical antiquities effortlessly converse with contemporary art, priceless family heirlooms cohabit with flea market finds, and parquet is perfect for skateboarding.

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Whether Bruce and his team are designing an elegant San Francisco maison or an expansive Wyoming ranch, every space is both pedigreed and playful, soigné and stylish, cozy and comfortable.

Bruce and his team love collaborating with clients and their architect and builder to design timeless signature properties. They excel at designing extremely complex projects for exceptionally private clients. No matter if the project is a glamorous brownstone in New York’s Gramercy Park neighborhood or a hunting lodge in Wisconsin, they bring the highest levels of sophistication, discretion, and integrity to every project.

Bruce Kading

PRINCIPAL — ASID, CID

Favorite Part of the Design Process
I love brainstorming with our clients and their builder, architect and landscape architect, sharing thoughts and dreams and developing the plans on paper, complete with all the detailing that will make the home special and unique. This is second only to seeing the project come together, presenting it to the client and sharing all the joys and excitement!

Defining Design Moment
I think I was evidently destined to be an interior designer because at the age of 12, I would rearrange all the living room furniture when my mom was out of the house. She'd usually leave my arrangement but occasionally chastise me for moving the piano too far and not vacuuming as I worked! From then on, interior design was my focus and my passion! 

Designers I Admire
Oh, there are so many! I’ve always admired the classicism of Sister Parish, Albert Hadley and Michael Taylor. I respect the simplicity and ability to think outside the box of Billy Baldwin and Vicente Wolf, and I love the work of Thomas O’Brien and Thomas Pheasant. Their look is totally “now” but rooted in historical designs of the past.

Top Destinations
Again, there are so many! When I find the time to sit down and make a scrapbook, it'll be filled with photos from my trips to Paris, Florence and Tuscany, the Cotswolds and Bath in England, and Korea, which has a whole different dynamic of understated simplicity. I'll need a second scrapbook for my visits to historic homes including Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California, Mount Vernon in Virginia, the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, Ca d’Zan and Vizcaya in Florida, and Glensheen in Duluth, of course. On one memorable trip to Newport, Rhode Island, I visited 18 Gilded Age “summer cottages” in four days without stopping for lunch. Each night, I'd return to my hotel, hungry, exhausted and exhilarated!

Dream Project
I love restoring and freshening grand old mansions and estates, being sensitive to their history without replicating the past. It's so rewarding to infuse these homes with vitality while making them relevant to the 21st century. 

If I Weren’t an Interior Designer
I could happily be a landscaper, a gardener, photographer or fine antique dealer, but nothing compares to being an interior designer. I love what I do!

Eric Kaufmann

Designer — Allied ASID

Favorite Part of the Design Process
I love hunting for fabrics, accessories and other products. When I was very young, my parents took me antiquing and thrifting, so I learned how to dig and examine an item in detail, as most things suffer or shine, depending on where they happen to be!

Defining Design Moment
I remember walking through a home my grandparents were building when I was nine years old. Initially, it all looked like a big open space with a forest of 2x4s. But, as I listened to my grandmother explain what each room was and why she had planned things certain ways, I saw it all spring to life, fully finished and furnished. My ability to visual spaces has been with me ever since.

Designers I Admire
I will always have a soft spot for Frank Lloyd Wright—the scale, lines and proportions of his structures always elicit an emotional reaction. I also admire Nate Berkus, as I share his belief that a home is much more interesting when the accessories or furnishings reflect a person’s personality, experiences and their own life story.

Top Destinations
Puerto Rico is one of my favorite vacation destinations. I love snorkeling in the warm blue Caribbean waters, exploring ancient caves, hiking in rain forests and wandering around the brightly colored, European scaled city of San Juan. The architecture and blue cobblestones are fantastic!

Dream Project
I would love to restore an elegant Federal-style home in Georgetown with a trove of family antiques and furnishings stashed away in the attic! I admire how the Kennedys restored the White House. They brought back historical fireplaces and other elements while allowing the house to reflect the times they lived in.

If I Weren’t an Interior Designer
If I hadn't taken a leap to follow my passion and get my design degree, I might still be toiling away in an office! 

Craig Hoffman

Designer — Allied ASID

Favorite Part of the Design Process
I love getting to know clients and their families and figuring out how great design can make them happier than they’ve ever been.

Defining Design Moment
When I was in college, I learned that architect/designer Marcel Breuer thought up the very simple, comfortable chairs, the solid wooden tables and the bright, airy room in which I sat, tucked under an enormous sheltering concrete ‘tree’ that held up the roof. I realized that Breuer made my life better every single day and I thought “I want to do that.” To this day, I still get a little thrill when I see a Breuer chair!

Designers I Admire
History and tradition are so important and I really connect with designers who are bending timeless influences to their own will today. I have so much admiration for British designer Rose Uniacke and French designer Jean-Louis Deniot. They have almost opposite approaches to what I really love: drama, color and comfort that insinuates.

Top Destinations
I love New Orleans for its insistence that sheer joy is a part of everyday life, Provincetown for the idea that an ever-changing group of suitable misfits can make paradise at the end of the road, and Paris because it’s my city—ask me anything about the City of Light!

Dream Project
I know of a virtually abandoned 1930s penthouse in Paris. With a magnificent hidden terrace, It’s just waiting to be transformed into a Napoleonic steamship!

If I Weren’t an Interior Designer
I’d be an exterior designer, bien sur. 

Dan Flesher

DESIGNER

Favorite Part of the Design Process 
My favorite part of the design process is right at the beginning when the options are endless. Then I get to be a detective, asking questions and researching to start forming the perfect spaces for a client.

Defining Design Moment
While I cannot remember a time when design was not an integral part of my life, I do recall designing and building some of the most epic blanket forts you’ve ever seen from an 8-year-old!

Designers I Admire
My 93-year old grandfather Gene Green, who’s still kicking and driving his Corvette convertible around town, is a constant source of inspiration. He’s devoted his life to design and the fine arts. During his long and distinguished career, he even designed my elementary school, so I got to see his name in the main entrance everyday.

Top Destinations
The mountains of Kyoto, with a plethora of magnificent temples amidst the scenic landscape, are both peaceful and awe-inspiring. I’m fascinated by the Japanese concept of “en,” the highly nuanced, hard-to-define relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces.

Dream Project
There are plenty of crazy things I dreamed up when I was in architecture school that I would love to explore!

If I Wasn't a Designer
I’d still be a part of design, either in architecture, landscaping or the fine arts.