Reena Venkatesh

Interior designer and design communicator focused on how design decisions are made

I am an interior designer and design communicator whose work focuses on how design decisions are made, long before finishes are chosen or walls are moved.

For over two decades, my practice has centered on kitchens, renovation-critical spaces, and the systems that support them. These are environments where decisions compound, sequencing matters, and early judgment shapes long-term outcomes. My work lives at that intersection where design thinking, lived experience, and practical constraint meet.

I don’t approach design as a stylistic exercise. I approach it as an interpretive one.

What I Do Now

My work today spans design, education, and communication. I translate design thinking into clear, usable frameworks that help people navigate renovation, space, and complexity with greater confidence and less noise.

This takes different forms:

decision-making tools and resources
practice-led design frameworks
written design reflections and case observations
speaking, moderation, and educational conversations

Whether the audience is a homeowner, a designer, or an industry group, the goal is the same: better thinking before irreversible choices are made.

How My Work Is Structured

The work on this site is intentionally organized:

My Approach explains how I think about design, judgment, and decision-making.
Background & Experience documents the practice-led foundation behind that thinking.
Recognition & Press reflects third-party validation, professional trust, and engagement.
Design Stories show how ideas surface in real situations and lived projects.
Resources translate thinking into tools and frameworks others can use.

Each part supports the others.

Together, they form a coherent body of work rather than a list of services.

Why This Work Exists

Design today is often reduced to surface choice, style, trend, or visual preference. In practice, most design failures are not aesthetic failures. They are decision failures - made too early, made without context, or made under pressure without structure.

This work exists to slow that moment down.

By prioritizing interpretation, sequencing, and judgment, I aim to help people move through complexity with more clarity and fewer regrets, whether they are renovating a kitchen, teaching design, or facilitating industry conversations.

A Continuing Practice

This work continues to evolve through practice, writing, conversation, and long-term engagement with how people live in and make decisions about space.

It is grounded, iterative, and shaped by use rather than performance, and by judgment developed over time rather than trends or immediacy.