Designers Celebrate First Year in Storefront Studio

Marisa Drogin and Brian Garcia want people passing by to know just what goes on inside their curious looking storefront at 163 Second Street – they're designing interiors for homes and businesses all over Hoboken.

“We always see people looking in our windows and asking what we do here,” Drogin said.

Drogin and Garcia, who work together as D&G Interiors + Design, have both been in Hoboken since 2005, started collaborating in 2009, and are about to celebrate one year in their joint studio and retail store. The firm specializes in lighting, color consulting, custom window treatments and furniture, home staging, space planning and other services.

Drogin has a background in architecture, while Garcia studied art history. “We see things in different ways,” Garcia said. “I'm a little more abstract.”

Drogin agrees. “We balance each other nicely,” she said. “I handle the more technical aspects, while Brian is very hands-on with our clients.”

Garcia said he and Drogin decided to open the storefront because they wanted a place where they could invite clients to see the design process up close. The space is also very much a store. Everything D&G uses for display, whether a light fixture or throw pillow, is for sale.

The partners have designed several commercial and residential properties in Hoboken, including , and the Cliffs and Observer Lofts buildings. Drogin said many of their residential clients are newly married couples, young families in need of a nursery, and groups of new roommates who want to blend their own styles.

Drogin and Garcia have a coworker, none other than former city council president Tony Soares. Soares said he had first met Drogin and Garcia in January when he hired them to help renovate his own home. At the same time, he was thinking of leaving his career in advertising, and he had always had an interest in interior design.

“I told them how I was interested in switching careers, and they gave me an opportunity to work as an associate,” said Soares, who joined in May. “It's been working out pretty well.”

Garcia said Soares adds a special insight given his many years living in Hoboken, and also from having served on the city zoning board. “Tony has a good understanding of our clients' needs,” Garcia said.

Soares said his new career has shown him the other side of his previous work. “On the zoning board I would always see the outside of buildings, but never the inside,” he said. He added that a lot of architects are looking more nowadays to carry their exterior design inside, throughout hallways, elevators, lobbies and elsewhere.

All three members of D&G agree that right now in the interior design world modern is more trendy than traditional. But Drogin said she and her associates can work with any variety of their clients' tastes.

“It's your home, it should be everything you want it to be,” Drogin said.

Coming Soon: The Kolo Klub opens, and Luxe retools.

The Business Beat covers businesses opening, closing, renovating, relocating and celebrating anniversaries in the Mile Square. Have a Hoboken related business tip? Send an email to alanskontra@hotmail.com.