“I actually enjoy doing more traditional period rooms, but most people don’t know me for that,” says Seattle-based interior designer Terry Hunziker. If there’s one look that’s most often associated with Hunziker, it’s the Pacific Northwest style. After all, its characteristic soft, muted colors, raw or weathered materials and modern forms appear prominently in many of his projects. What’s changed in Hunziker’s more than two decades of designing in that distinct vocabulary, he says, is that the style is no longer seen as regional. Whether their projects are based in Oregon, Texas or New York, Hunziker’s clients tend to gravitate to the style’s trademarks—but only after being led by their designer through a rigorous and tactile process of initiation into what’s available to them.

“I work with large and varied samples that I keep in my office,” says Hunziker, “from sea-grass limestone and Mombasa granite to fumed oak, lacewood and Carpathian burl elm, as well as metals, fabrics and carpets. After consulting with a client, I generally have a good grasp of their needs, and I compose all of the materials on a long steel table until it works visually for me, sort of like painting on a canvas until it looks right.” Irrespective of a project’s location, size or budget, Hunziker’s goals remain the same: “My main objective is determining how a space will feel, not how it will look. There’s always an emphasis on form, material, texture, color, light, volume and proportion.”

Terry Hunziker

206-467-1144