Designhounds NYC 2024: Meet the Influencers

April 30, 2024
Ellie Gott

The Designhounds NYC trip is just around the corner! The Designhounds are headed back New York City from May 19th-May 22nd for a tour inspired by “Design for the Senses” as part of our #DaretoDesign mission in 2024.

What is on the itinerary you ask? A spa visit, exceptional restaurant experiences, product immersion, workshop and community conversations, cocktails and a “sculpture in the dark” workshop that should elevate the senses. Many thanks to our sponsors MrSteam, Signature Kitchen Suite, FreePower, and our newest partner: ICFF . We can’t wait for May. We are excited to welcome fifteen designer/influencers from across the United States and Canada! Meet the official #DesignhoundsNYC crew below.

Fast-track to the NYC Crew Instagrams:

Meet the NYC Team!

Christina Richardson

Website: Christina Richardson Interiors

Christina Richardson, is a Swedish born interior designer working across the US, Canada and Scandinavia. She joins us in NYC with her keen eye for detail and an innate understanding of her clients’ needs. Christina’s unwavering commitment to excellence has garnered international acclaim, with her work featured in esteemed publications such as PLAZA magazine Europe, National post and Architectural Digest.

In addition to her design work, Christina hosts a captivating web series, by Designer Society of America. The series delves into the creative process, interviewing esteemed international designers and sharing their insights with a global audience. Through her dedication to education and collaboration, Christina continues to inspire and empower others to transform spaces into works of art.

Amy Switzer

Website: Amy Switzer Design

Amy Switzer will return to her NYC roots with a vibrant story of creativity and expertise. Her career trajectory, from textile design to interior design, showcases her evolution in the creative field. Her tenure in New York City, coupled with running her own manufacturing venture, equipped her with a unique perspective on design, blending artistry with practicality.

Amy Switzer Design strives to push the boundaries of creativity and reimagine what is possible within the realm of interior design. Their commitment to innovation, authenticity, and exceptional client experiences ensures that each project they undertake becomes a masterpiece.

Janet Lorusso

Website: JRL Interiors

Janet Lorusso is an interior designer with a flair for classic style and livable luxury. Born in the south and raised in New England, she is a unique combination of Southern gentility and New England practicality. Having honed her analytical and problem solving skills first as a research scientist, she returned to school to pursue her passion for interior design.

Educated in Interior Design at RISD, Janet has been creating beautiful spaces for clients for over 25 years throughout New England and beyond. Author of the popular NestFeathers Blog, Janet shares wit and wisdom in the form of design advice, favorite products, trends, entertaining tips, and recipes from her many years of experience as an interior designer, inveterate party planner, and home cooking enthusiast.

Natalie Mirabelli

Website: NM Interiors

Joining us in NYC is Natalie Mirabelli, representing NM Interiors- a personalized boutique style design service focusing on residential custom-build homes, renovations and interior decor within Toronto and closely surrounding areas. Trained by the New York Institute of Art and Design, Natalie’s skill set and enthusiasm for her craft is centered around the core belief of “Living Well from the Inside Out.”

A background in marketing management of high-end fashion luxury brands has influenced Natalina’s perspective. Her point of view remains global, layering a broad range of different elements together to achieve balance and harmony. NM Interiors’ work and portfolio are equally varied with experience in traditional, transitional, modern and contemporary design outlooks. Whether it’s customized new build construction, improved renovation plans or interior decoration overhauls, Natalie has built up over twenty years of valuable experience offering professional expertise and guidance to repeat clients, so that their design dreams can become a reality.

Glenda Evers

Website: Glenda Evers Design

Glenda Evers is an award-winning Interior Designer in Arizona whose work has been nationally featured in multiple publications. She has been awarded the prestigious Luxe Magazine Residential Excellence in Design (RED) award, as well as “Best of Scottsdale,” and nominated for Readers’ Choice Favorite Interior Designer by Phoenix Home and Garden magazine. Glenda is a multi-talented design professional with a keen eye for luxurious details. Specializing in luxury design, she brings her unique skills and creativity to every project, and believes that the design process should be fun!

A California native, Glenda has lived on a luxury ranch in Colorado and on a lake near Atlanta, and embraces all architectural styles from Classic/Traditional to Ranch and Southwest. Her extensive world travels have deeply influenced her eye for design. Now a Scottsdale resident, she enjoys her family, traveling with her husband, and riding her BMW motorcycle at home and abroad. See you in NYC, Glenda!

Kara Cox

Website: Kara Cox Interiors

Heading to the Big Apple is Kara Cox: the Owner and Principal of Kara Cox Interiors, a luxury interior design firm based in North Carolina. Kara’s design style remains true to her Southern roots by creating fresh, tailored , timeless homes for her clients. Kara’s work has been featured in Traditional Home, Flower, House Beautiful, Southern Home and various design blogs and podcasts. Kara designs a licensed collection, Quintana, with kitchen and bath vendor, Thompson. Kara is a proud breast cancer survivor living in Greensboro, N.C. with her husband, two children and very spoiled Cavapoo, Penny.

Katie Baldwin

Website: Katie Baldwin Designs

Also coming to NYC is Katie Baldwin- the principal and award winning designer at Katie Baldwin Designs located in Lakeville, Connecticut. A specialist in window treatments, she creates well-planned spaces that are traditional with a twist.

From beginning concept to finished project, Katie works closely with each client on every detail, taking any trace of worry off your mind. Katie serves on the board of the Interior Design Society Connecticut chapter. Katie currently works with clients in New England, New York Metro Area and beyond.

Cyndy Cantley

Website: Cantley & Company, Inc

Cyndy Cantley is an Alabama based, award winning Interior Designer known for creating timeless kitchens and baths. Her fresh take on design can be seen in Southern Living, Traditional Home, Bon Appetite, Southern Accents, Southern Home, Cottage Journal and numerous local publications. She is a Certified Kitchen Designer an active member of the National Kitchen and Bath Association and President Elect of ASID.

Cyndy was chosen as an Innovator by Kitchen & Bath Design News, Ambassador for Coverings 2024, judged The Best in Show for KBIS 2023, judged NKBA Design Contest and selected by NKBA for their German Haus Fair Tour 2023. She was also a finalist in the prestigious SubZero Wolf Design Contest, First Place ASID Design Contest and a NKBA Design Contest winner.

Andrew Mikhael

Website: Andrew Mikhael Architect

Andrew Mikhael Architect began because Andrew wanted everyone to have the same epiphany that he did – “that architecture is more than wood and concrete (No more than your spouse is a collection of carbon and calcium) it is YOU,” says Andrew. What he discovered is that in architecture, in the creation of our homes and spaces, we have a potential waiting to be unlocked.

Andrew’s purpose is to unlock the potential of your home, your lifestyle, so that you can live the most aligned way possible with your values and sensibilities. “All the potential you have, architecture has for YOU, lying in wait for you to accept. It reflects our values back at us, it tells us where to go. Architecture’s front doors are the hello’s and handshakes of the built world,” says Andrew Mikhael.

Geralyn Applegate

Website: Heirloom Hardware & Home

A life well-lived is a life well-traveled and Geralyn Applegate with heirloom, hardware & home has done both and then some. Armed with a bachelor of arts degree and numerous years of working in both residential & commercial interiors with solid construction project management woven throughout; her and her college sweetheart (along with their four children and two pets!) have called home multiple states, both coasts and most fondly ~ clients that are now friends and friends that are now clients. Thanks to this; Geralyn is a perfect mix of a bit of everything yet always unique, collected, refined and timeless.

Geralyn’s worklove is brainstorming and building a backdrop for clients to fully realize a gracious life by mixing well-culled vintage pieces with modern market furnishings to make one’s dream home an easy reality. As varied as her pieces & perspective; so goes her projects which means working with a deep portfolio of local craftsman, artisans, retailers, vendors and the like to deliver a successful ending to every story, every time.

Wendy Mazariegos

Website: Interiors by Wendy

After graduating from The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Wendy Mazariegos worked for both Architects and Designers to gain as much knowledge as possible. In 2017, she officially open her own firm specializing in Kitchen and Bath Design. Returning near her alma mater, Wendy is on board to join us in NYC!

Judith Taylor

Website: Judith Taylor Designs

Judith’s fascination with design is matched only by her yearning for travel, a compulsion for cooking, an appreciation for fine art, a love of music! Childhood provided a fertile training ground where she was surrounded by fine art and beautiful furniture, and cultivated her eye for design.

Following her formal education in design, Judith’s firm won the first IDS Designer of the Year awarded to a Canadian and the first ever Crate and Barrel Designer Challenge where her winning entry was sold in stores across the country. Classic details and refined clean lines anchor her love of the mix of contemporary, traditional, and global influences. Mixing patterns, unexpected combinations, dressmaker’s details and vibrant colors distinguish her style. See you in NYC, Judith!

Cynthia LeBlanc

Website: Cynthia LeBlanc Interior Design

Cynthia LeBlanc Interior Design is a full service residential interior design studio with a focus on Traditional timeless Design with a fresh perspective. The goal of Cynthia LeBlanc Interior Design is to inspire, educate, problem solve, and finally to design spaces for clients that they will love to live in and create memories in for years to come. They bring 13 years of experience and expertise, specifying, designing, and fabricating custom luxury window treatments.

Rooted in a lifelong love and study of art, design, textiles, and human nature, Cynthia holds the belief that your artwork should strike an emotional cord, and that a beautiful home is so much more than just decoration. “Being invited to someone’s home, the process of listening, envisioning, and executing positive change is very personal and rewarding. The home is where most of our most treasured memories are being made. We take this pretty seriously!”—Cynthia LeBlanc

Janice Page

Website: PKsurroundings

As Principal of PKsurroundings, Janice has more than 20 years of interior design and space planning experience in residential projects. Her area of expertise is fine kitchens and Interiors. She takes pride in being highly involved in all projects and raising the bar in design every time to meet or exceed her clients’ expectations. We can’t wait to see her in NYC!

Janice states, “Our most promising reward is when we see how much we’ve changed our client’s lives and how they truly enjoy their new space.” Janice is a graduate of Centenary College and the American College in London and holds a BFA in Interior Design. She is a Certified Kitchen Designer (CKD) and an Allied Member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). Throughout her years in the industry, she has received numerous awards, honors, and publications for her work.

Juliana Ewer

Website: J Squared Home Designs

Juliana Ewer is an Award-Winning Interior Designer, and the Owner/Lead Designer at J Squared Home Designs, founded in 2018. She is passionate about curating elevated, livable spaces taking into consideration lifestyle, and each client’s personal design aesthetic. She is the 2023-2024 Vice President of the Houston Chapter of the Interior Design Society and serves as an IDS National Committee member. Juliana specializes in Residential Interior Design and is a vetted Architectural Digest PRO. She has been a featured panelist at IDS National conference, Dallas Market as well as a showroom panelist at High Point Market.

She was selected as a Design Influencer for Fall 2023 High Point Market. Juliana, or her work have been featured/quoted or in: LUXE, Forbes, Designers Today, Kitchen & Bath Design, KBB, Furniture and Lighting, Living Magazine, The Houston Chronicle Design Section, and Voyage Houston. Juliana was awarded 5 “DOTY Awards” for IDS Designer of the Year in 2023, and 2 “DOTY Awards” in 2022. J Squared Home Designs is headquartered in Missouri City, Texas (Southwest Houston). She’ll make the trek from Texas to NYC, and share her skills!

Stay tuned on the Designhounds Instagram for all the latest on Designhounds NYC. We look forward to another amazing trip- see you there!

Finally, if you want to join us for Designhounds events, sign up to become an official Designhound here!