Interior Designers in Darien, CT|

Our philosophy

These spaces should be uncomplicated yet highly curated, in which every item is purposeful and adds its magic as another layer of the home’s story.

We care deeply about every single detail, and how these all come together as a sum of many parts. A careful consideration and integration of light, materials, nature, and history results in homes that equally respond to their context, but are not bound by style, genre, or location.

When building from scratch, we take a fully holistic perspective to ensure architecture and interiors blend seamlessly with each other and their context. For renovations, we feel the soul of the home and find ways to bring out its innate qualities through combinations of design elements, gestures, materials, and objects—always following the waves of inspiration to achieve the best results.

Our values

We fully appreciate the level of responsibility and intimacy that comes with designing someone’s home. We therefore conduct ourselves with the highest levels of honesty, integrity, frankness, and respect, reassuring our clients that they can trust us to conceptualize and complete their home with the utmost care, and within their budget.

We care deeply about working with genuine, like-minded people to help us craft spaces for living that honor the story and soul of the building, and go beyond expectations to deliver exceptional quality. We therefore work with loyal vendors, suppliers and tradespeople that share our values, and look for clients that love and appreciate great design as much as we do.

These values have resulted in well-established relationships with our collaborators and longstanding friendships with our past clients, and we’re confident that this will continue well into the future.

Founders

Leading a purposefully small team, partners James and Christine work together in perfect symbiosis, balancing organic and linear; texture and sheen; artistry and precision; old and new in each and every one of their projects.

The duo lives and breathes design, having developed a broad knowledge and deep comprehension of this discipline over their years of combined experience. Yet they are constantly exploring and experimenting in order to blend influences, styles, and eras into residential spaces that feel both contemporary and timeless.

Intuitively understanding what a home and its owners require to live harmoniously, the designers utilize their background in creating emotive retail experiences to craft spatial narratives that not only look beautiful and feel comfortable, but also add value, function effortlessly, and offer something imaginative and unexpected.

Stewards of great design. Shepherds through the creative process.

Stewart-Schäfer combines James’s middle name, derived from steward—a custodian, in this instance of thoughtful and impactful design; and Christine’s grandmother’s maiden name, German for shepherd—a guide, to help navigate the often wildering creative process.

Intro

Specializing in crafting thoughtful and timeless residential and commercial spaces, our innovative interdisciplinary team of interior designers and architects in Darien, CT infuses each project with a fresh perspective. Anchored by our expertise in interior design and architecture, we leverage our keen insights into industry trends to deliver unparalleled results. Whether nestled in Fairfield County, neighboring Westchester County, or other sought-after locales in Connecticut and beyond, we are committed to excellence, ensuring the highest quality and best value for every ground-up new build, home renovation, or home extension.

As a seasoned husband and wife duo with over two decades of experience, we have adeptly executed a myriad of projects, spanning from family homes to diverse residential spaces. Our portfolio speaks to our ability to seamlessly integrate clean, modern aesthetics with luxurious materials, intricate details, captivating paint colors, exquisite window treatments, and bespoke furniture pieces crafted by our in-house atelier. Whether conceptualizing a living space, dining area, or any other facet of the home, we approach each design with a discerning eye, meticulously blending functionality with a signature style that withstands the test of time.

At our esteemed residential interior design firm, we offer a breadth of services, including landscape architecture, reflecting our dedication to delivering stunning, modern interiors and meticulously crafted residential spaces. Renowned as top-tier interior designers and architects in Darien, CT, we extend our architectural services to clients across NYC, New York State, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. With an unwavering commitment to excellence, we prioritize providing clients with an exceptional experience, inviting you to consider our interior design services for your upcoming residential or commercial project.

Our Philosophy

living room interior design in Southport Connecticut by Stewart-Schafer

We believe in a nonlinear approach to design that disrupts limitation and stirs imagination in Darien. (Read More)

We strive to create timeless and unique spaces that are purposeful and detail-oriented, and that perfectly balance function and beauty.

Brooklyn brownstone interior kitchen design, by Stewart-Schafer

Our Values

Timeless living room interior design by Stewart-Schafer

We take a people-first approach to our thoughtful, emotive work. (Read More)

Always at the forefront of our practice are the people with and for whom we are working.

What we do

Stewart-Schäfer is a New York and Connecticut-based architecture and interior design studio, serving Darien, that balances unique insight and progessive approach to create enduring value and timeless spaces.

Studio

Sharing an immense passion for design, we create timeless and unique architecture and interiors that bridge disciplines and transcend genres. We go above and beyond to ensure every space we complete is enriched with narrative, exudes beauty, and receives the utmost attention to detail. (Read More)

Learn More About Us

Elegant hallway design by Stewart-Schafer

Testimonials

Stewart-Schafer has been our trusted partner for over 3 years as we have worked together to build out our physical retail footprint in the United States. From conception through execution, Stewart-Schafer took the time to understand and infuse our brand and mission. As a result, they helped us rethink how we could deliver our premium brand experience in a new and innovative way

Tom Patterson

CEO and Co-founder
of Tommy John

Stewart-Schafer designed and built one of our most iconic stores in NYC. They managed to work in a difficult environment, kept costs in check, and delivered a stellar result... heartily recommended.

Jay Sternstein

Head of retail
Thom Browne

They completely understood our style, and translated that to every fixture, color choice, and design scheme. They stayed on budget and time, and in fact they were early with part of the process.