Studio Sio Interior Design

Some snaps of the treasures we found when working on the Hotel Chelsea 😉

El Quijote is the oldest Spanish restaurant in New York. The lighting has to hold its own against a hundred years of a room, so we didn't manufacture new, we did some vintage hunting.

Stained glass fixtures, vintage-sourced, doing colour and a bit of theatre instead of disappearing into the ceiling like most restaurant lighting does.

These vintage glass fixtures at the Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen in Paris 🫧 - my favourite flea market. Vintage and antique lighting tends to be more affordable than rugs and furniture and art, and tends to be smaller so easier and cheaper to ship. It’s an easy way to add character to a boring space.

Every space I design has a character we base all decisions around - whether it’s a home, retail space, hotel, office - not only does it help with decision making, it gives the space personality and stops it from being sterile and corporate. We ask questions like “would *insert character here* have this in their living room?” Or “*characters name* would host this kind of party - this lighting would set that mood.” If it’s someone’s home, we understand who our clients want to be in their home and set the scene that way. It’s the best way I’ve found to create collected spaces that seem curated rather than a mish mash of old stuff. Plus, it stops interiors from being trend driven or just there for the sake of it. Interiors should be designed for people, not photos.

It’s the hardest thing to source, to get the size right, and the hardest thing to match colours to. Start with the rug of your dreams and just live on the floor for a few months before you can save up for the rest of your furniture.

Patina tells a story of the lives who’ve lived in a space - of growing families, of sneaky ci******es at dinner parties, of incredible food shared, of music danced to at midnight. Its very hard to invent that kind of energy so preserving it is so important.

It sometimes means a 2am meeting followed by a 6am meeting, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love working all over the world on people’s homes, shops, hotels, and more, and I’m so grateful for the local designers I work with all over the world who help me - and who bring me on to their super fun projects when needed!

How to turn a boring piece of furniture into a cutie pie in one easy step - plus putting it on your sofa means you can hide all kinds of treasures underneath!

Until I get my ionizer out 💪

Brass door hardware modelled on Conrad Hilton's own logo (a little easter egg for the hotel-philes out there), a side table inspired by a vintage fortune teller's, and a chandelier that looks like it's mid-bloom. The small stuff is my favourite part of any project.

📸 Annie Schlechter