ASPIRE - Great Expectations: What Our 2024 Featured Designers Are Looking Forward To In 2025

As the new year swings into gear, aspire design and home caught up with a few of the designers whose projects appeared on the pages of our quarterly print issues in 2024 to learn what they’re looking forward to in 2025. From new projects to new collections to new grandkids, the year is rapidly under way.

Christopher Boutlier | Christopher Boutlier Interior Design & Art Consultancy
The beginning of a new year is a time to look forward and to reflect on the previous years. When I do this, I can’t help but be filled with immense gratitude for my personal and professional life. I’m thriving in a career that I love, surrounded by family and business partners who support and enhance my personal and professional goals. So, when I look to 2025, my hopes are simply to continue on my path of learning and exploring, and to welcome new friends, partners, and opportunities with an open heart and fearless sense of curiosity.
Photography by Jennifer Hughes.

Tim Button | Stedila Design Inc
Personally I am looking forward to becoming a grandfather, with all the design issues that entails: cribs, changing tables, mobiles, color, and stimulation through design. All that aside, for the chance to play with the little guy!

Professionally, my design world isn’t too different from my personal world. At this point in my career, which has been fairly lengthy, I am now designing homes for clients I first met when they were children, and I was designing their parents’ homes. They now have children themselves, and they want safe, interesting environments for those kids while having retreats for themselves. They now often work from home and need privacy and quiet, while keeping an eye on small ones. Designing playrooms, gyms, laundries, and that workhorse of a kitchen is now prime design territory. Hard-wearing and stain-resistant are now what is important. And, of course, it all still needs to be functional and beautiful for the adults as well as offspring. So here is to 2025!
Photography by Antoine Bootz.

Hillary Cohen | HCO INTERIORS
Looking ahead to 2025, I’m excited about the growth opportunities in my career. We’ve got some big projects coming up, including a major renovation and our participation in the Mansion in May showhouse in NJ. It’ll be a lot of hard work, but also really rewarding creatively. I’m hoping our team continues to grow as we take on bigger projects and refine our process. It will definitely be a challenge, but that’s what makes it fun!

On a personal note, it’s been great seeing my kids take an interest in what I do. The more they learn about my work, the more excited they get about it too. I’m looking forward to sharing the creativity of the design world with them—it’s something we can bond over.
Photography by Rebecca McAlpin.

Nina Dekay Grauer & Eleanor Tate Trepte | DeKay and Tate Interiors
DeKay and Tate Interiors is excited to announce the expansion of our operations with a new office space in West Palm Beach, Florida coming in 2025! We cannot wait to join a community of creatives at 502 Palm Street for the next few years. We are also thrilled to welcome Magnolia Davis as a design assistant to the DeKay and Tate team. Magnolia brings a fresh perspective and a wealth of experience that aligns perfectly with the firm’s vision for growth and innovation. We cannot wait to see what 2025 has in store!
Photography by Carmel Brantley.

Trevor Fulmer | Trevor Fulmer Design
Professionally, I am looking forward to: using color blocking to help create monochromatic and calming interiors; introducing more biophilic design elements and natural organics to help promote wellness and a healthier lifestyle; welcoming warm rich wood tones like walnut, hickory and mahogany; curve appeal: domed archways, romantic curves, and soft shapes; introducing more repurposed, vintage and sustainability-sourced items into my client’s homes; incorporating more hand-made artisan pottery and vessels into the spaces we design.

Personally: giving myself grace, moments of peace and time to reflect; some much-needed vacations in 2025. Last year, was a wonderfully busy and productive year but I am committed to taking off some much-needed time; celebrating my 10-year anniversary with my handsome husband; cooking and spending time with my chef hat on; the next “Wicked”movie!; more family time; a future of endless possibilities!
Photography by Sean Litchfield.

Brittany Hakimfar | Far Studio
In 2025 we have a lot of exciting new projects on the books and a few projects that we are installing and have been working on for a few years. We are looking forward to new projects in exciting locations like Aspen, Delaware, NJ and NYC, as well as some ground-up projects locally. Personally, I am looking forward to traveling and teaching my kids to ski this winter.
Photography by Brian Wetzel.

Amanda Leigh & Taylor Hahn | House of Rolison
As we steamroll into 2025, we’re excited for the continued evolution of House of Rolison. The last two short yet very long years have taught us that anything is possible when you have the right partner by your side and a drive to fulfill your passion and achieve success. We’re eager to explore even more immersive design concepts and partnerships — whether that’s through expanding our brand partnerships or pushing the boundaries of interior design with new materials and innovative concepts. We’re particularly excited about the growing demand for sustainable spaces, and we’re committed to blending beautiful design with environmental responsibility in every project. We have many exciting projects coming out in 2025 and we definitely foresee House of Rolison rising to the occasion in setting the standard of wow factor.
Photography by Nils Timm.

Alex Mutter-Rottmayer & Austin Carrier | Hommeboys Interiors
We are looking forward to expanding our three collections from Haus of Hommeboys to include new pieces in our Lone, Ocotillo and Bishop lines of furnishings. They’re all quite diverse and represent natural materials and design elements that are intrinsic to our ethos of “Art as Objects.” We love to constantly challenge ourselves and will be breaking ground on some really exciting projects this year.
Photography by Adam Potts.

Paul Masi | Bates Masi + Architects
We’re both looking forward to embracing a bit more balance in our lives. The fast-paced nature of the design world can be intense, so in 2025, we’re excited to carve out more time for the things that inspire us outside of work, like travel and art. We’re always searching for inspiration, and whether it’s exploring new cultures or diving deeper into creative pursuits, we’re thrilled to see how these personal experiences will shape our work in the year ahead and how they inspire projects to come. It’s all about growth, both professionally and personally, and we can’t wait to see what’s next.

With projects from coast to coast, and beyond, there is so much to look forward to in the New Year. I am most looking forward to new partners and collaborations through several exciting projects in the works. These new partners have proven to be incredibly knowledgeable in their craft and they’ve helped us to achieve new details, and in a cost-effective manor, that mainstream construction methods could not accomplish.

Lyndon Neri & Rossana Hu | Neri&Hu
Personally: To find a new balance between life, work, and self. Schedule our calendar so we can spend more time with our parents and our kids.

Professionally: We’re currently working on several projects from different cities all over the world. There’s a school project a few hours away from Shanghai, a cultural and commercial project in Wuhan, an art center in Utah, a renovation project in Dalian, a high-end residential enclave in the Philippines, a new headquarters in Seoul, new hotels in Lake Como, Cape Town and Moganshan. We are also preparing for the 2025 Salone and will be showing some new products. We will share more details on our social media and website in the near future.
Photography by Pedro Pegenaute.

Krista Nye Nicholas | CLOTH & KIND
Since we partnered together over a decade ago, Tami [Ramsay] and I have been dreaming of, planning for, and — over the past year — actively designing our own product collections. In 2025, our visions are becoming a reality with several upcoming launches. After the opening of our Gallery in 2024, we’re also excited to hold more shows at our Cloth & Kind Gallery in Athens, Georgia with local artists.
Photography by Marta Xochilt Perez.

Kristen Peña & Luis Peña | K Interiors & PeñaMade
Kristen: In 2025, I am looking to do more of what I love and hire experts to do the things I am less strong at or love less. I feel pretty capable in lots of areas, so I find myself taking on too much. However, I know others can do better when they are more focused, and 2025 is about letting go and growing because of it.

Luis: JAPAN! Kristen and I are planning to visit Japan for the first time, and I am ready to learn, study, and be inspired by their beautiful culture and design. I’m certain you’ll see the influence in my designs later in the year. So, if any of y’all have recommendations, please send them in!
Photography by Christopher Stark.

Joshua Rose & Rafael Kalichstein | Citizen Artist
The Citizen Artist team is looking to 2025 with tremendous anticipation. Professionally, there is a lot happening. Among our projects, we have a very exciting installation coming in Water Mill, NY, which has us all buzzing; we are working on a spectacular new build in Miami with architects Sawyer | Berson that will come out of the ground Q3 of this year; and we have a dynamo gut-renovation of a waterfront property in Coconut Grove with HATCH Architecture that we will really start seeing come to life. In addition, we are launching a big new collection with Global Views this summer. Beyond that, we feel incredibly grateful to continue supporting all of our clients, projects, and brand partners throughout the year.

Personally, we are looking forward with hope. While we always wish for world peace, particularly, at this moment, Citizen Artist is focused on endeavors we might take on to help those directly affected by the Los Angeles fires and bolstering areas where resources can make the most meaningful difference in rebuilding communities, as well as prevention and safety. Without revealing too much, suffice to say, we have an idea germinating that we hope to bring to the community as soon as possible. Stay tuned!

Eric Rothfeder | ERA / Eric Rothfeder Architect
In 2025, I’m looking forward to engaging with people and places outside of my design practice. In the Spring, I’ll be teaching an undergraduate design studio and, coupled with some personal travel later in the year, I anticipate that this upcoming year will bring some new, and perhaps unexpected, sources of inspiration.
Photography by Mike Schwartz.

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