Rafael Novoa Interior Design

When I launched my blog back in May, I was just beginning to work on my latest Philadelphia interior design project, a total-apartment redesign at the Ritz-Carlton in Center City. If you remember, its owner, a single guy in his twenties, was looking for a modern-minimalist aesthetic with a strong, m

A recent project illustrates just how imaginatively offices are considered these days. As a commercial interior designer in Bucks County, Philadelphia, and the surrounding regions, I’ve come across my fair share of sterile cubicles. But The Feed Mill Station in Flemington, New Jersey, offered

Warmth is a year-round pursuit. In the spring and summer, we seek out swaths of grass, and beach, and water, anywhere that provides an uninterrupted connection to the sun. In the fall and winter, we retreat to our deepest, darkest corners. In both cases, we’re motivated by a desire to feel war

Few people I’ve met in this industry have followed a straight path to interior design. My own was rather unconventional, too. I started out as an architect and was fortunate enough to work for a few of the most accomplished firms in the world. Much as I respected my peers and as challenging as

Bowman’s Tavern, a restaurant with a loyal following just outside of downtown New Hope, Pa., was a commercial interior design project with an added degree of difficulty: The entire installation needed to be done in 10 days. But the planning and preparing for that stretch began a year earlie

We travel a lot, but our trip to Havana back in May was one I was anxious about for weeks beforehand. It was only four days long, but securing our visas felt like gaining passage to some lost world. Little did we know it was about to be lost again. From the very start, Havana was full of surprise

Our home was more of a museum when we first saw it seven years ago, and not in the friendly sense of the term. Everywhere you looked, there was stuff piled on top of stuff. Even the tennis court had become a refuge for kids’ toys of all shapes and sizes. So, seeing the beauty of the place requ

I thought I’d take this opportunity to share a bit more about myself and some of my favorite projects, both present and past, to try to better explain how I do what I do and, hopefully, pass along some inspiration and useful advice in the process. So check back every couple of weeks for my nex