Meet Stephanie Larsen. Stephanie has long been recognized as A Top Interior Designer in our region.
Q: Tell us about you and your career. What inspired you to do what you do.
A: I wanted to be an interior designer from a young age. It’s been a passion since grade school. When I was a senior in high school, my dad, who has his Ph.D. in education administration, said, I want you to do something you love doing. Don’t worry about the money; know what’s your passion. I knew it was decorating my room, moving my furniture, changing my bedding, wall colors, artwork, and what I could afford to do at the time, but I loved it. It filled me with such a sense of purpose and love, and it was my passion. So we researched the interior design schools, and I went to one of the top five in the nation in Denver, Colorado.
Q: What’s one thing you wished you had learned earlier on in life?
A: I would say do everything with passion and purpose and not worry about your fears or what other people think of you. When you let that go, everything else falls into place. You don’t have to fear not being good enough or not knowing. That’s all your self-criticism. When I was able to get rid of that, the sky opened, and everything followed.
Q: How long have you lived in Sedona?
A: 21 years.
Q: Do you have a child?
A: I do. My son is 17, and he goes to Verde Valley School. He’s actually on a field trip expedition at the bottom of the Grand Canyon as we speak.
Q: What does a perfect day look like for you?
A: I wake up with prayer and meditation and a cup of coffee. I always go to the gym, feed my body with good food, and then when I get back, I start my day with creativity, looking for inspiration, talking to people in my industry and working on a project. I love creating homes, working on a project and my perfect day is that nothing goes wrong. I don’t get calls informing me of delays. Everything falls into place when people are genuinely appreciative of my work. My best day is when I do that final installation, place every accessory in the home and the homeowner walks in and they say, ‘Oh my God, this is incredible.
Q: What exactly do you do aside from the interior?
A: I do anything from a gut and remodel to a ground-up project. So I work collaboratively with the architect. I look at his blueprints and work hand in hand with the design from the ground up. We design the fireplace. I start with inspiration from Pinterest, and I get a feel for what I want the home to look like. I work collaboratively on fireplace design, lighting design and kitchen design. I select all the surfaces from cabinets, plumbing, lighting, hardware, baseboards, wood flooring, carpeting and area rugs. So we do the hard surfaces, present the client, we get that underway. Then I start with the furniture layout, fabric selection, space planning, the whole nine yards, patio design, patio layouts, everything! I love to call it turnkey interior design. I’ve created a niche. I’ve decided that I want to be at this level of interior design and this kind of turnkey. My specialty is luxury residential interior design, which is my niche.
Q: Do you have a team, or do you do this independently?
A: I do all the design work on my own because I feel like it is my name and my stamp. I have a team. I have a PR person who introduces me to the right people in Scottsdale and Phoenix. I felt like I was doing well in my little niche in Sedona, but I didn’t know everyone in the state. When somebody was building an incredible home in Sedona, I wanted them to know about me. I’ve been meeting all the right players who I can meet that person and be the first on their list. I have this team approach. I have a social media person, a website designer, a CPA, and it all works together.
Q: What do you do for fun in Sedona?
A: My husband and I are building our home. That’s a lot of fun. I also do rebounding classes. I raise my son. We go to some fantastic events out at a Verde Valley School. We saw the James Bond movie on Saturday night. We get out, hike with mountain bikes, go up the canyon.
Q: What’s the particular place you like best for dinner or to go out for fun?
A: For food, we tend to eat pretty healthy. We love farm-to-table cuisine. I love local Juicery, Pizza Picazzo, L’Auberge – that’s my favorite place to dine right on the Creek.
Q: How would one of your closest friends describe you?
A: Genuine, passionate, loves what I do, a true friend, full of integrity, wisdom and love.
Q: What would you consider your greatest accomplishment?
A: Besides having my son, I would say creating this business and this life. Creating a life that I truly wanted to live, it’s not all amazing every day, but my greatest accomplishment is truly living the life I wanted and creating the business I wanted.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
A: My husband and I are going to Greece next year, and we’re renewing our vows at the Amanzoe Resort in Greece. We’re excited about that. We’ve traveled the world, and we’ve been all over Europe. I want to go to Africa for sure. It’s on my bucket list. Greece was another one, and we’ll keep seeing where the next desire hits.
Q: Is there anything I haven’t asked you that you’d like someone to know about you?
A: Just that interior design is an experience. It’s not just picking something out for your home. It’s having the client involved every step of the way because this is a very long process – sometimes a year. It’s about really getting to know the person. It’s creating the energy in the home of something so beautiful that resonates with the homeowner. I feel like I can kind of shift the energy to make it look amazing when people walk in.
