Interior Design Studio · Serving Mercer Island
Interior Designer in Mercer Island, WA
NU Curations designs Mercer Island homes as one composition: space planning, furniture, materials, and layered lighting that respect midcentury bones and work with waterfront light.
- Whole homes and single rooms, with a portfolio of local Mercer Island area projects
- Design fees quoted up front, before any contract is signed
- One designer from first walkthrough to styled rooms
Mercer Island homes deserve design with a long memory
Much of the island was built between the 1950s and the 1970s, and the best of those houses still show it proudly: post and beam ceilings, low horizontal lines, walls of glass aimed at the lake, rooms that step with the slope. Owners here rarely want a house that looks new. They want this house, resolved: furniture that honors the architecture, materials that feel inevitable, and rooms that work for a modern family without erasing sixty years of character.
That is precisely what full-service design is for. Layout, furniture, materials, lighting, and styling are decided together, so a midcentury living room and a just-remodeled kitchen read as one home rather than two eras arguing.
What our full-service interior design includes on Mercer Island
The complete scope, applied with the restraint island houses ask for: editing before adding, materials that age well, and light plans that respect the view.
Space planning & layout
Furniture plans that answer to the architecture: seating that protects the sightline to the water, circulation that follows the original post and beam logic, rooms that flow with the slope instead of fighting it.
Furniture & custom pieces
Low, horizontal, honest pieces where the house calls for them, custom built-ins where storage has to disappear, and the occasional contemporary counterpoint chosen deliberately.
Materials & finish selections
Wood tones, stone, tile, and textiles selected to sit comfortably beside original cedar, brick, and glass, documented so every trade works from the same palette.
Lighting design
Layered lighting that flatters low ceilings and big glass: ambient light that does not glare against night windows, task light where the family actually reads and cooks, accents that give the evening room its warmth.
Remodel design & contractor coordination
When kitchens, bathrooms, or built-ins are being rebuilt, we prepare the drawings and selections your licensed contractor builds from, keeping the new work loyal to the house.
Styling & art curation
Art placement, shelf styling, and finishing layers that make the home feel collected across decades, which on this island it often genuinely is.
Interior design from our Seattle and Eastside projects
How much does an interior designer cost on Mercer Island?
Published U.S. designer guides put hourly rates between $125 and $300 or more, and the Seattle and Eastside market sits at the higher end of national ranges, in line with metro labor costs that run roughly 15 to 25% above national averages. At NU Curations, design fees are defined and shared up front, based on the scope from a $200 first visit. Most Mercer Island projects land in one of three shapes:
Furnishings only
$4,000 to $10,000 per room in design fees
Layout, furniture, lighting, and styling, priced room by room: often the living room facing the water first, designed completely, then the rest of the home.
Remodel design
Quoted by the scope of the work
Design for a kitchen or bathroom remodel, planned as one composition and documented for your licensed contractor: bathrooms typically run $5,000 to $8,000 and kitchens $7,000 to $15,000 in design fees.
New construction
Design fee calculated by square footage
A new build or whole home planned as one design, furnished, and styled, phased sensibly so everything happens in the right order. Because the scope follows the size of the house, the fee is usually worked out by square footage.
Ranges reflect design fees based on published U.S. designer guides; your exact fee is quoted up front after the first visit, before any contract is signed. Construction and furnishings are separate budgets paid to your contractor and vendors. See our full pricing guide in the journal for how fees are structured.
Read the full Seattle pricing guideHow a full-service design project works
Our process replaces an overwhelming list of decisions with a clear sequence, whether we are designing one room or a whole home.
- 1
Start with a consultation
We walk your home together, talk through what is and is not working, and define the real scope of the project.
- 2
Get a clear design direction
Layout, furniture, materials, and lighting are shaped into one cohesive concept, refined with your feedback.
- 3
Approve a complete plan
You receive documented selections and drawings, with design fees defined up front, so ordering and any construction start with clarity.
- 4
See it through to the reveal
We manage procurement questions, coordinate with your contractor when there is build work, and style the finished rooms.
Why Mercer Island homeowners choose NU Curations
The island's housing stock rewards designers who pay attention. The North End and Mercerdale sit close to town with a mix of updated midcentury homes and newer rebuilds. First Hill and East Seattle hold some of the island's oldest houses. The Lakes, Shorewood, and the South End run to wooded lots and waterfront, where the room's whole purpose is the view and the furniture plan has to know it. Very few of these homes are blank canvases, and that is their appeal.
Working with character homes is a discipline: deciding what stays, what gets edited, and what new pieces can sit beside original cedar and glass without embarrassment. It is the same discipline we brought to Queen Anne Crestside in Seattle, a whole home where paneling, antique pieces, and velvet seating were layered against a calm, warm palette, from the living room through the den, bedrooms, and a powder room.
Lighting earns special attention on the island. Big west and north glass gives beautiful days and black mirrors at night; low midcentury ceilings rule out most statement fixtures. Layered lamps, discreet accents, and carefully placed task light keep evening rooms warm without glare against the windows, and that single change is often what makes a lake-facing room finally get used after dark.
Neighborhoods we serve
- North End
- Mercerdale
- First Hill
- East Seattle
- Shorewood
- The Lakes
- Mercerwood
- South End
Client Experience
“My wife and I enjoyed working with Neha. She was able to take the vision we had in our head and turn it into reality! She was very easy to work with and had great ideas we never imagined before. We are so happy with the finished product and would definitely work with her again!”
Erik, NU Curations Client
Interior Design across the Seattle area
Seattle
Core Eastside
Extended Eastside
Frequently Asked Questions
Published U.S. designer guides put hourly rates between $125 and $300 or more, single-room projects between roughly $4,000 and $10,000 in design fees, and full-home design from $25,000 up, with the Seattle and Eastside market at the higher end of national ranges. At NU Curations the first visit is $200, and your design fee is defined and shared up front from that scope, before any contract is signed.
That is the assignment we most enjoy. Post and beam ceilings, original wood, and horizontal lines are assets to design with, not problems to cover. We edit rather than erase: keep the bones visible, choose furniture and materials that speak the same language, and let the updates, lighting, textiles, a rebuilt kitchen, feel like the house growing rather than being replaced.
Almost always lighting and layout. At night a glass wall becomes a black mirror, and a single overhead source makes the glare worse while leaving the seating dim. The fix is layered: lamps and accents placed low, task light where people actually sit, seating angled so the room works when the view is dark. It is a designed solution, and it reliably brings the room back into use.
Either. Island projects often begin with the main level, the living room, dining room, and kitchen that carry both family life and entertaining, and expand once the process proves itself. Whole homes follow the same approach with a phasing plan, so the work lands in a sensible order.
No. NU Curations is an interior design studio, and construction is performed by your licensed general contractor. We design the space, document every selection, and coordinate with your contractor so the build matches the plan. If you do not have a contractor yet, we are happy to work alongside the one you choose.
Yes. Many of our Seattle projects are furnishing and styling scopes: layout, furniture, lighting, window treatments, and art for a home that is structurally fine but does not feel finished. These projects follow the same process, just without the contractor handoff.
Start the Conversation
Tell us about your home
Share a little about your home and which rooms are not working yet. We will follow up with thoughtful next steps and honest advice about scope, budget, and timing.
Prefer to talk it through? Call us at (206) 637-0720.
Tell us about your project
Start with the form below and we'll follow up with thoughtful next steps for your project.