Rosanne Sachson recalls constantly changing her room around as a little girl and even helping relatives design their spaces. In college that changed to designing rooms for her friends, long before today’s concept of dorm décor became the fascination of young people and the industry.
Although she has pursued many other creative endeavors, interior design remains a primary passion. From her studio in downtown Gig Harbor, where she moved from Beverly Hills more than two years ago, she offers a full range of residential and commercial design as well as renovations. With more than 30 years of experience in interior design, she has an extensive list of prominent clients ranging from attorneys to actors like David Shwimmer . Her commercial work includes large space planning, corporate offices, reception areas and medical buildings.
She landed her most exciting project, however, from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratories . She was hired by visionary Kane Casani to do something unheard of at JPL, design a Flight System Testbed that incorporated the entire project, not just separate stages, so that entire missions could be simulated. That meant swapping cubicles for workspaces where engineers could communicate during the project.
Besides designing the space and almost all the furnishing and components, Sachson took her mission one step further: She came up with an inviting design that included warm colors and bird’s-eye maple. The Flight System Testbed had since been used all the Mars missions and missions to other planets.
After opening her interior design firm in 1972, she took a hiatus a few years later, going to work in the hotel industry for nine years, traveling, and “having a good time.” But when a friend asked for help with a design project, and some old clients got word, she found herself busy with interior and exterior architectural design work, and reopened her business.
Sachson, who uses classic techniques in her work, believes good classic design has not changed with the ages. People may use different textiles, colors and products, but the basic principles are the same. “Time stands still,” she said, adding that the challenge is to have good design that is functional.
One of the areas of functionality she has been focusing on is “aging in place.” She believes people don’t need to wait until they are old to think about the future. There is an incredible number of products on the market that can help people live with dignity at home even through physical challenges.
She brushes aside the notion of “paperless society” and says good functionality, besides good lighting and other basic elements, includes having appropriate filing systems both at home and at the office, using the concept of office portability by reflecting in the design the idea of “bringing the office home,” and integrating technology.
To achieve those goals of practicality, she asks new clients a lot of questions. “To me, any good designer will ask a lot of questions to help the client achieve functionality. We are there to assist, we’re not there to dictate,” she said.
Considering the computer “an incredible tool,” Sachson stays current with all the bells and whistles. The age of the Internet has changed design not just in the way technology is integrated into spaces. It also has changed the consumers, who are more sophisticated about what they want.
“The client is much more astute and wants to know why and how, which I personally love because they will get the most out of the finished project,” she said.
One of her passions includes historic preservation. An experienced lecturer, she started a “Passion for Preservation” series in Gig Harbor, and will launch a new lecture series in 2006 for the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.
“I love museums. I love collections and I really enjoy people who have a passion for collecting,” she said.
