10 Lessons From 10 Years

Reaching ten years in business feels both surreal and grounding. When I founded Kuchar in Chicago a decade ago, I didn’t have a perfectly mapped plan. But I did have strong instincts about the kind of studio I wanted to build and the kind of work I wanted to put into the world.

Over the years, our practice has grown across workplace, showroom, residential, and experiential design. But no matter the scale or sector, the lessons have been remarkably consistent. Here are ten that have defined our first decade—and continue to guide where we’re headed next.

Build the studio you wish you’d worked in 

Kuchar began as a response to my own experience in the architecture world. I wanted to create a studio that felt different—inclusive, ego-free, and deeply collaborative. Creativity thrives when people feel supported, trusted, and heard, and that belief has shaped everything from how we work together to how we designed our own office here in Chicago’s Fulton River District.

Our studio environment is intentional: flexible, expressive, and human-centered. It’s a daily reminder that culture isn’t separate from design. It’s the foundation of it.

Don’t let one vertical define you 

Although workplace design was our original focus, I never wanted Kuchar to be boxed into a single category. From the beginning, the goal was to be multi-market—and that design dexterity has become one of our greatest strengths.

Working across commercial, workplace, hospitality, and residential allows ideas to travel. Lessons learned in one vertical inevitably sharpen the work in another. In workplace design especially, drawing from hospitality or residential thinking helps create offices that feel experiential rather than purely functional.

Design is about experience, not just aesthetics

This belief is at the core of our office and showroom work. A space can be visually striking, but if it doesn’t leave a lasting impression—emotionally or experientially—it hasn’t done its job.

Showrooms, in particular, have reinforced this lesson. They’re not traditional retail environments; they’re immersive storytelling tools. The goal is to evoke emotions and create memories—helping people imagine what’s possible, not just what’s on display. That same thinking carries directly into workplace design, where experience shapes how people feel, collaborate, and return day after day.

For a financial office project in Amsterdam, we experienced the city at street level, wandering on foot and absorbing its quiet details. Colorful tiled doorways, brick-lined canal bridges, and the rhythmic silhouettes of historic canal houses became our points of reference. These impressions found their way into the space through tactile wall textures in the conference center, luminous tiled restrooms, and an architectural language that subtly echoes the city throughout.

Trust comes before opportunity

Earning trust is often the hardest part of growth, especially when expanding into new scales or typologies. Many of our most meaningful opportunities came only after clients took a leap of faith.

That trust is built slowly: through listening, collaboration, and consistency. Once it’s earned, it opens doors—to bigger projects, greater creative freedom, and long-term partnerships. Every major step forward for our firm has started there.

Flexibility is a signature

If there’s one defining characteristic of our commercial work, it’s adaptability. Unlike residential design, where clients often seek out a specific aesthetic, workplace clients need designers who can interpret and elevate a brand—not impose a look.

Our role is to adapt, respond, and push ideas forward. That might mean introducing unexpected color, rethinking materials, or challenging assumptions about how an office should function. Flexibility isn’t a compromise; it’s a creative advantage.

For the design of the Farmer’s Fridge headquarters—a Chicago-based start-up delivering fresh salads to vending machines across the city—we brought the brand’s “farm-to-city” story to life through a carefully curated mix of materials that juxtapose urban and rural influences. Corrugated metal paneling and a chain-link fence stair enclosure serve as key elements of the design. The project exemplifies what’s possible when creative freedom is paired with a strong, authentic narrative.

Creativity thrives in inclusive cultures

Our studio is almost entirely female—not by design, but by circumstance. We’ve simply assembled an incredible group of creative, hardworking people. What matters most isn’t who fits a demographic, but who brings curiosity, generosity, and ideas to the table.

Inclusive cultures produce better design. When people feel comfortable sharing ideas—regardless of title or tenure—creativity multiplies. Some of our strongest concepts have come from unexpected voices, and we work hard at Kuchar to protect that openness.

Mentorship isn’toptional. It’s foundational 

Mentorship has been critical to sustaining our studio culture and creative momentum. One-on-ones aren’t just about project check-ins; they’re about growth. For younger designers, that often means being trusted with new responsibilities, like presenting for the first time, leading a project, or managing a client relationship.

Growth happens when people are supported through challenges, not shielded from them. Investing in mentorship strengthens the studio as a whole. 

Big projects come after brave ones

Some of our most pivotal projects felt like risks at the time. The Bernhardt Design showroom—completed just a few years into our business—was one of them. Larger in scale, more restrained in palette, and markedly different from what we were known for, it challenged expectations. The vision was to create a gallery-like space designed to evolve year after year. With each new product introduction, the showroom can be reimagined, transforming a blank canvas into a fresh expression of the work.

That project expanded how others—and we ourselves—understood our capabilities. It proved that brave choices often precede meaningful growth.

Color is strategic, not decorative

As a firm, Kuchar is often associated with bold color. But for us, color is never about decoration alone. It’s a strategic tool—one that shapes experience, signals identity, and supports longevity.

In workplace environments especially, color can guide movement, reinforce brand values, and influence how people feel in a space. We’re increasingly interested in helping clients think about color beyond immediate trends—planning for the next five to ten years rather than the next season.

In 2023, we reimagined the Scandinavian Spaces showroom at The Mart in a rich spectrum of mauve tones. Now one of the most popular destinations during NeoCon, the space attracts visitors with its mood-boosting color palette and keeps them engaged with a welcoming mini café designed for interaction and lingering.

It never gets easier, you just go faster.

There’s a quote I love from American cycling legend Greg LeMond: “It never gets easier, you just go faster.” That perfectly captures what ten years in business feels like. The challenges don’t disappear; they evolve. Experience simply gives you the ability to respond more quickly and with greater confidence.

Editor’s Note: Sarah Kuchar-Parkinson is the owner and creative director behind Chicago-based interior design studio Kuchar. A concept-to-completion interior design studio that specializes in commercial, residential and hospitality projects that break with convention, Kuchar’s portfolio of work ranges from offices and showrooms to restaurants and homes located in Chicago, Austin, Amsterdam, London, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Silicon Valley and Singapore.