After earning degrees in landscape architecture and horticulture, Ball founded Ed Ball Landscape Architecture in 2007 and now employs a team of 20.

He considers clients’ needs to be the main driver of the company’s creative engine. “Since every customer is unique,” he explains, “I don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach. We work hard to balance client desires, the architecture of their home and how the site speaks to us.”

When embarking on a new project, EBLA seeks ways to minimize its environmental impact. “We look at drainage and determine if there is a way to return water to the groundwater table,” says Ball. “We also try to use native plants and establish gardens as quickly as possible to reduce water needs.”

Ball relishes meeting the challenges a new job site presents. “I love projects that challenge my creativity, whether it’s finding ways to make a small space feel bigger or a large space feel more intimate yet connected,” he says.

Ball and his colleagues keep communication open throughout every project so clients remain in the loop. As he reflects, “That’s the key to a design that homeowners will enjoy for years to come.”

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Alexander founded Studio AKA in 2019. She teams with consulting designers to help clients formulate the best plan for their needs, then guides them through the design and construction phases of a project. “We set overall project principles that we return to through each stage of design, and we set the expectation that we are building a team of collaborators along the way,” she explains. “In this way, we build trust from the very beginning and hold ourselves accountable to the goals we establish at the onset.”

Alexander thinks of herself as a storyteller with a love of investigating the challenges in each project. She finds inspiration for her designs in the stories her clients share about past landscapes—places they knew as children, encountered through travel or cared for themselves. “The narratives,” she notes, “show me how to build strong connections between my clients and their newly designed landscapes—which will be theirs to steward for years to come.”

Studio AKA won Home & Design’s 2023 Grand Award for Landscape: Less Than One Acre and two 2023 Silver Awards from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers.

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After a decade in corporate marketing, Newman followed her mother’s path and combined her business savvy with her artistic training (she is also a painter) to develop her approach to interior design. “Both processes require a willingness to be flexible and the ability to solve problems that present along the way,” she explains.
Founded in 2019, Newman’s firm is located in Annapolis—though it serves clients “near and far,” she says. A solo practitioner, the designer takes special pride in building long-lasting client relationships through integrity, curiosity and creativity.

Newman’s projects take into consideration composition, color palette, texture and style. And as a painter, she loves color. “It injects unique personality, and character into a project,” she avers. “Those are the ones I find the most interesting, challenging and always unique.”

As for sustainability, Newman leaves nothing to waste, furnishing projects with a mix of vintage and beloved pieces from her clients’ own collections and timeless, quality goods that are made to last. “Old things tell a story, and reviving, repurposing and reupholstering heirlooms preserves and saves them from the
landfill,” she says.

Cathy Newman received Home & Design’s Grand Award for Whole House/Traditional Design in 2023.

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The designer’s passion for the era was further developed when she worked as a curator for the Dietrich American Foundation in Philadelphia, where she was surrounded by some of the finest examples of 18th-century American furniture and interiors. “This experience was my introduction to connoisseurship,” she recounts. “It sharpened my eye and taught me how to discern scale, color, patina and a host of elements that come together to create an interior that sings.”

Kannan launched her boutique firm in 1996 with a project on the historic campus of the University of Delaware. Today, she specializes
in residential interiors, working with senior designer, Stacey White, and an intern. “We consider ourselves part of a collaborative team along with the architect and landscape architect,” she explains.

Since the inception of her business, Kannan has lived in historic homes in Bedford, New York, and in Chevy Chase Village. “I look to the original bones of a house to guide my vision for its interior decorative scheme,” she reveals. “I believe that a seamless integration of vision and execution is imperative to delivering a home that is unique, beautiful and satisfying.”

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Hayes brings an expansive portfolio of knowledge and skills to her work—from architectural training to painting and furniture design. She also practices feng shui which, she observes, helps her make subtle observations and adjustments that bring harmony and balance to everyday living. “I weave a new-traditional aesthetic into clients’ authentic styles, curating homes with context, function and beauty,” she explains of her approach.

The designer walks clients through the design process, starting by studying their lifestyle, daily habits and long-term goals. “This information becomes the foundation of our design,” she notes. “In the second phase, we turn our attention to the space. We take photos and measurements and find out how it’s used, then take the information we’ve sourced and create a practical guide that includes lighting schemes, furniture placement and any structural changes required to enhance the flow of the home.”

Hayes has another secret power that makes her designs uniquely livable: motherhood. “As a mother of four, I understand the many needs a home must meet. It’s my goal and purpose to help families create homes that enhance their daily lives without sacrificing quality or style. My designs are a tribute to the unique lives
lived within them.”

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In 2021, she launched her namesake firm, Edith Gregson Interiors, which is now run, she says, “by a dynamic team of five women who collectively bring a wealth of experience to the table.” Gregson adds that she and her colleagues view the world of interiors as “a greater exploration of form and function. We believe that creativity is all about pushing past the line of expectation and landing in a personal and unique place.”

At EGI, inspiration is drawn from clients’ personalities and life stories. The firm’s final designs are informed by homeowners’ families, their favorite places to travel, the ways in which they entertain and use their given spaces, their dream amenities and what inspires them aesthetically.  “We share our process and plans with our clients early on to build trust, which in turn allows space for creativity and risk-taking,” Gregson explains.

The designer’s favorite projects are those that involve collaboration and building on the talents of allied professionals such as architects, landscape designers and craftspeople. Gregson credits her business partner, Anne Hetz, for valuable contributions made to the growth of their firm, and fellow designer Christopher Boutlier for his early support and encouragement of her launch of EGI.

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Crosby earned a master of arts in interior design after finishing college, eventually joining Baltimore interiors studio Jenkins Baer Associates, where she worked for 15 years. In January 2024, she and principal Jay Jenkins established Crosby Jenkins Associates, with Crosby spearheading the firm. “We are the same talented team of designers and support staff numbering 25,” she explains. “While each of us has a personal aesthetic, we aim to guide our clients seamlessly through the design process to create spaces unique to them and their lifestyle. We favor a collaborative and creative approach.”

The team at Crosby Jenkins starts by getting to know the clients—meeting with them, touring their spaces and asking questions so they can create a visual inspiration file. The project designer directs the process through detailed drawings, the creation of finish schedules and regular communication with the clients and contractors. “Our goal is to manage each detail of the project so the client can focus on the joy of shaping a new space,” Crosby notes.

Crosby received a 2023 Home & Design Excellence Award for a primary bath renovation. Her work was featured in the local edition of the AD 100 in 2024.

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After a decade working for design firms and developing retail spaces, Gottlieb founded her own firm in 2020. Her expansive portfolio includes “boutique hotels and historical restorations, with project locations on almost every continent,” she says. “Over time, I learned how to separate my personal style from what is best for the client, with each project having its own point of view.”

Gottlieb takes much of her inspiration from her clients, striving to achieve unique solutions tailored to their lifestyles. “My goal is to have a portfolio of projects that varies in style, inspiration and diversity,” notes the designer, who admires style icon Iris Apfel for conceiving “relevant products and staying true to her authentic self for 102 years.”

As a LEED-accredited professional since August 2004, Gottlieb avers, “sustainability has always been embedded into my thinking and design process.”

She takes special pride in a project recently published in The Wall Street Journal. “It felt amazing,” she enthuses. “It was an achievement that I know my grandmothers would have loved to see.”

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Cooper founded Art & Design Partners, LLC, in 2012. The firm, which offers both interior-decorating and art-consulting services, now employs a staff of five. She and her team take pride in the fact that their work isn’t one-dimensional or tied to a signature look. “We bring out a client’s style through a personalized approach. We get to know them and the way they live, incorporating art and custom details that are specific to each individual project,” she explains. “We make sure a home functions smoothly for owners’ current needs, but also anticipate future demands.”

Cooper encourages clients to invest in furniture with staying power. “Fast fashion exists in the design world just as it does the clothing industry,” she observes. “But well-built, high-quality pieces won’t need to be replaced every few years. We repurpose, refinish and reupholster items whenever possible.”

In short, the designer concludes, “We believe a home should bring joy, providing spaces in which to create memories.”

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As a female immigrant with English as a second language, the journey through architecture school and to establish herself as an architect and designer “required effort and perseverance,” Buendia-Corrochano says. After 25 years at a global architecture firm, she founded estudioMBC in 2023, a boutique design firm specializing in commercial and residential architecture and interiors. She and a staff of three designers focus on workplace and real estate strategy, building repositioning and transformation, hospitality, new homes and renovations and conversions of historic structures into net-zero Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). Buendia-Corrochano has extensive experience in product and custom furniture design, artwork integration and accessories curation.

“We propose a bullet-proof process that engages the client and provides a white-glove service,” she notes. “Our spaces convey a sense of humanism with a touch of forward thinking. We pride ourselves on creating places that reflect our clients’ goals and delivering experiences that make their architectural journey a delight.”

Recent accolades include a 2022 Best of the Year Award from Interior Design magazine and a 2022 award from IIDA Mid-Atlantic. Buendia-Corrochano’s work has been pub-lished in Home & Design, ArchitectureDC and The Washington Post.

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