Hello!
Hello! And welcome to DeMaster Design Studios! My name is Rayna DeMaster, and I am the founding designer of the Studios. I am a hardware system architect in the consumer electronics industry, with a passion for interior design, photography, cooking, and travel.
What does interior design have in common with consumer electronics hardware architecture? More than you might think! As a hardware architect, I work with multiple teams to ensure that all of the requirements are met and that something one team does won’t break something for another team. It’s about wearing multiple hats, great organization, and juggling competing priorities to make sure the design will be what the customer wants. Interior design is the same, just more beautiful!
My journey to interior design started in 2008 when I purchased and renovated my first home in California for my family. Looking back on those days, I can see how much I thought I knew about design, and how little I actually did. While there were some bright spots in that renovation, none would have graced the cover of House Beautiful.
Fast forward to 2012, having completed a move to Washington State, I decided I was smarter, and instead of renovating an existing home, I purchased a lot with a builder, certain that building a new home would be easier than renovating. Anyone who has ever built a new home is laughing now, I’m sure, as they will know just how naive I was. And apparently, I am a slow learner, because I am now in the process of building my third home, but that is a topic for another time.
That said, in terms of design, there is nothing like learning from the mistakes you make, and I sure made some! (Hint: don’t use a porous material like stacked stone on a kitchen backsplash unless you want to bring out the elbow grease every time you cook). Despite all of the challenges, delays, material unavailability, and myriad of other issues that come up in design, I found that I loved the process. And when the final result is better than you possibly even imagined… well, all I can say is that it is pure delight.
So now, I am continuing my design journey, hoping you’ll join me along the way!