A SMALL MAGAZINE –RISING STAR OF DESIGN

May 10, 2012

Award-winning interior designer and ASW member Liubasha Rose’s star is most definitely on the rise. From hotels to jewelry, we discuss her latest projects and uncover what inspires her work.

Liubasha Rose is a great name, where are you from?

I’m from Kiev and came to the US when I was 10. Liubasha is a nickname for “Liubov” which means love in Russian. So my name means something like “cute/little love”. When Russians meet me for the first time, they sometimes raise an eyebrow at such instant intimacy, but it’s what my family and friends have always called and I like the wait it sounds in English.

Did you always want to be a designer?

Actually, interior design was a bit of a whim for me. I was the proverbial art kid – I drew, painted, sewed – but when I went to undergrad at Cornell, I thought I would end up in humanities. My freshman year, I realized there were Interior Design and Textiles + Apparel majors, and from a toss-up I picked Interiors. A year into the program, I knew it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, but that I wasn’t finished with humanities. So I graduated with an English major, then went on to Parsons to get a follow-up degree in Interior Design.

Does your mixed upbringing factor into your work?

Absolutely. I’m very turned on by bold colors, lots of patterns and the over-the-top MAXIMALISM of Russian design. But at the same time, I gravitate towards an edited base. My dream residential project would be to design a sleek, ultra minimalist open shell, with an inhabitable sculpture in the middle – in an explosion of colors and patterns.