Carmen is an Oakland-based interior designer from Aquilo Interiors specializing in bold, culturally-rich, curated design. Her design style is eclectic, layered and maximalist. She loves to blur the lines between clean modern pieces, playful shapes, bold colors, fun prints and dynamic patterns. Carmen brings those elements together to create a beautiful and unexpected work of art. She believes interior design is a personal journey where we can bend the rules to chase our wildest dreams.

As a classically trained designer in both Architecture (B-Arch) and Fine Art, Carmen loves to combine functionality and innovation. Over the past nine years, she has designed high-end residential homes, kitchens + baths, hotels, restaurants and bars throughout the Bay Area. As a potential client, you can anticipate a personalized experience that will be comfortable, authentic, exciting and just plain fun!

Carmen was featured as one of the 20 Changemakers of 2020 by Apartment Therapy. So in our interview, I selected pieces that reflect Apartment Therapy’s 2020 Trend list written by Danielle Blundell. Then I designed a mood board based on my conversation with Carmen. I hope this curated list of interior design trends that Carmen loves will inspire you to make your home more BOLD and playful.