The internet can show you almost anything about design these days. What it can’t show you is how a space feels. So much of design is emotion and feeling, and there’s a part of it that only exists in person: how the light hits a surface, how the hardware sits in your hand, how a room feels when you walk into it.
Because that reaction is so personal, I built the studio with five separate rooms, each a completely different style: the foyer, the kitchen, the lounge, the office and the bathroom. (People count four and forget the foyer. It’s five.) I wanted separate spaces where clients can walk in, pinpoint the things they identify with, and start the conversation from there. What they like, what they don’t, what they’d change, what they wish they had.
Five rooms, five totally different personalities, one designer. That’s not me showing off. It’s me proving the thing I say constantly, which is that I design to your taste, not mine.
Built for Whoever Walks Through the Door
I was my own client on every one of these rooms, and I’m probably the toughest person I could have designed for. I overthink the spaces I need to function in, and I went hard at every last detail, because I never know who’s going to walk in next. I wanted to give whoever it is something they can latch onto and start the conversation from.
I’ve had hundreds of people visit the showroom at one point or another, and thankfully I’ve never had anyone say, “there’s not a thing in here I like.” So I consider that a win. It was a little challenging too, because while I have to think locally and regionally: a lot of my clients are transplants from the West Coast or other areas where the design norms are totally different from what we have here. Long story short, it was no small feat.
So let me walk you through it.
A closer look at the foyer’s glass-front cabinetry, one of the first details you notice walking in.
Inside the Grau Design Studio Showroom, Room by Room
The Foyer: Bright, Traditional, and a Little Flirty
The first thing you see when you walk in: bright pink and green botanical wallpaper, bubbly light fixtures, rose gold accents, detailed inset cabinets. It’s fun, flirty and feminine, traditional in the best way.
Where the client meetings happen. Multiple cabinet styles, three countertops, one very functional island.
The Kitchen: Where the Real Work Happens
It’s neutral and organic. It’s a working space and a display. The main island is where I do all my client-facing meetings, from selections to presentations to revisions. Clients sit on the stools and make decisions on the work surface (both of which I can put right into their homes), and presentations go up on the 65″ Samsung Frame TV. Three cabinet styles, three countertops, and the range hood, which is my favorite thing to point at. It’s finished in plaster, hand-applied by one of my favorite painters (shoutout to CAN Painting!), and it almost has a velvety vibe. There are a few photos out there that show some texture and dimension, but nothing like what it looks like in person.
The hidden lounge, dark wood, deep plaid, and a bar shelf that earns its keep.
The Lounge: A Hidden Speakeasy Off the Main Kitchen
Everyone’s favorite, and I’m going to toot my own horn and say I totally knew it would be. Moody lighting, dark wood paneling, deep menswear wallpaper. It’s a hidden, speakeasy-style room you reach through a walkthrough pantry door off the kitchen, so it sneaks up on you, total Narnia-wardrobe vibe. It’s honestly more my personal taste than anything else in the building. It’s dramatic and yet equally inviting, and it doesn’t have to be your definition of your personal style for you to see its value and appeal. Everyone loves a comfy couch, a good drink and a spot to simply hang.
The mural that steals every Zoom call and makes for a fabulous conversation starter when you join a few minutes early.
The Office: Boho-Chic With a Mural That Steals the Show
The space where I spend more time than anywhere else in a week. Funny thing about it: it’s not even my own personal taste. It’s great and it’s beautiful, but I created it more to be a theme than anything else. I wanted to show people that if you like boho-chic, or what I jokingly call “White Lotus resort” style, then I can do that for you. From the mango wood furniture to the mural, to the wood light fixture and the plaster, the space feels earthy and sophisticated-bohemian. The mural behind my desk is the thing I get the most comments on. It makes for a fabulous conversation starter when you join a Zoom call two minutes early and need to kill time.
Sleek, modern, and home to the showroom’s most talked-about surprise.
The Bathroom: Home to the Toto Bidet
Sleek, modern, and the room that gets the biggest reactions in the building. The Toto bidet seat is the culprit. It’s automatic open, self-cleaning and heated, and people just aren’t expecting it. From muffled laughs to shouts of “oh my god,” it catches everyone off guard. It’s a secret surprise in an otherwise very utilitarian space.
Behind every room: a wall of samples clients can touch, compare, and rule out.
Why the Showroom Carries So Many Material Samples
Trends can be the enemy. Everyone’s space can start to look the same because that’s all the internet is feeding them. Remember the millennial gray houses of the 2010s? That’s what happens when the algorithm designs your house instead of a person. But clients don’t know what they don’t know, and being able to show them the variety of products that are out there gets their wheels turning. My job is to give you choices that are yours.
When I can run and grab four samples of the same tile in surprising, unexpected colorways, or pull three different carpet samples that each anchor the space differently, it lets the client know they have options. And I’m here to curate those options for them.
Why Your Finished Design Might Look Nothing Like Your Pinterest Board
I can design in every aesthetic (that’s what a formal design education gets you). But I also know what it’s like to be a homeowner with a vision, and it’s my job to give it to you. What I’m not here to do is simply validate whatever you want. I’m here to make you think, push you out of your comfort zone just a little, and show you the things the internet can’t. So more often than not, the space we plan together ends up looking completely different than what you walked in with in your head (in a good way). We’re answering the same design problem, and we usually find a better answer.
The Showroom That Almost Wasn’t
Funny story. Originally the plan was to put the showroom in the space above the building company and install a spiral staircase connecting the two units, which had its own challenges. Permits were approved. We were ready to start demo in two weeks. And just as I was getting subs lined up on the schedule, the current unit, the one the studio lives in now, went up for sale.
So at the last second I had to pivot. Redesign an entirely new space from scratch, rethink the whole thing, and overcome a fresh set of challenges, like more windows meaning less wall space for displays. Then resubmit for new permits. By the time we got there, the showroom build was a genuine labor of love. I personally did a large chunk of the demo myself and helped with many of the phases. It took about eight months from start to finish, and it was the best thing I’ve ever done. We capped it off with a grand-opening launch party, and I’m still so proud of this space to this day.
One of the finish details built to be seen up close, not just in photos.
Book a Visit to the Grau Design Studio Showroom
Every room here is built from carefully curated cabinetry, hardware, tile, countertops, lighting and wallpaper. It all has a plan and a purpose. In the words of Taylor Swift, I’m a mastermind.
But like I said, none of this lands until you’re standing in it. So come see our interior design showroom here in Durham. Point at what you love, tell me what you’d change, and let’s figure out what “your style” means. Book a visit and I’ll walk you through all five rooms myself.
