INTERVIEW

Designing a Life Well-Lived

A San Francisco Magazine/ Modern Luxury Exclusive Interview with ballonSTUDIO Founder, Sabra Ballon

A Thoughtful Approach to California Modern

Creating a home that feels like a reflection of your lifestyle and values takes a sensitive understanding of art, architecture, and the way we live. In this exclusive interview, Sabra shares how she creates sustainable-yet-sumptuous interiors, to shape the future of California design.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR DESIGN AESTHETIC?

Always art and architecture-forward! Think classical compositions, modern detailing, and gorgeous materials pulled from Mother Nature, fitting the California lifestyle.

WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS FOR WORKING WITH CLIENTS?

I start by saying to clients, ‘I am the set designer for the movie of your life. What would you like that to look like?’ Ultimately, we create beautiful backgrounds for living. The process is extremely simple – we start with a strong concept, which forms the aesthetic thread that carries through the entire project. It is usually a beautiful, wild, specific set of parameters based on the site, the home’s architecture, the client's lifestyle, history, dreams, aspirations, and values. I am affectionately known as a client-whisperer; I listen, research, and observe very carefully.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO, DESIGN-WISE?

Continuing to convince the furnishings industry to understand that SUSTAINABLE IS BEAUTIFUL! Our luxurious-modern aesthetic is inherently sustainable. We always advocate for investing smartly upfront in something that is going to have a longer life and reusing some of the clients’ existing pieces and heirlooms. We create restrained interiors with distilled organic elements in simplified environments. This is my recipe for installations and projects with more enduring, classic appeal.

Read the Full Article in San Francisco Magazine / Modern Luxury Magazine

Interviewed by Michael McCarthy

About ballonSTUDIO

Founded in 2003 by Sabra Ballon, ballonSTUDIO is a San Francisco luxury interior design firm specializing in high-end residential design, interior architecture, renovations, new construction, and boutique commercial and hospitality spaces. Known for its earthy modernism, fine art integration, and architecture-led approach, the studio creates timeless, highly personalized interiors for private homeowners, families, and estate clients. Serving San Francisco, Marin County, Palo Alto, Napa Valley, Sonoma, Santa Lucia Preserve, Carmel and Lake Tahoe, ballonSTUDIO combines more than 20 years of design expertise with discreet, highly collaborative, full-service project management from concept through installation.