CALVIN HREZIK

    I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio - a place that taught me early about grit, hospitality, and the quiet poetry of everyday life. My true sense of home lived in my West Virginia-born grandparents’ brick Craftsman, where they built their version of the American dream after settling in the Midwest.

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    That house - full of porch sits, catching lightning bugs at dusk, toile countryside wallpaper, a tended garden, flea-market finds, and the steady hum of love and care - became my emotional blueprint. It’s where I learned that spaces carry memory, and that comfort is something you feel as much as you see.

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    At the same time, I was dreaming of escape from that white-picket-fence world. As a kid, I was utterly enthralled by pop culture, fantasy, and far-off places - anything that felt glamorous, theatrical, or just a little exotic compared to suburbia. That tension between grounded Americana roots and imaginative escapism still defines my work today. It’s the push and pull between grit and glamour, nostalgia and fantasy, restraint and indulgence.

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    My love for interiors began alongside my gunsmith grandfather, waking before dawn to scour Ohio flea markets. From him, I learned the thrill of the hunt, the beauty of worn things, and how objects can carry stories long before they ever land in your hands. Design, for me, has always been about meaning.

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    Travel later deepened that instinct. At sixteen, a school trip to Spain and Portugal - with a single, unforgettable day in Morocco - opened my eyes to a world beyond my Midwestern roots. I bartered for a rug in a bazaar; it now anchors my bedroom, a reminder of how places, objects, and experiences quietly shape who we become.

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    I studied interior design in Miami, chasing a teenage dream that quickly taught me discipline, resilience, and the value of working with my hands. After graduating, I set my sights on New York, interning with maximalist legend Miles Redd. My career has since spanned visual merchandising, high-end residential design, and creative leadership within established studios and showrooms. Each chapter sharpened my eye, but more importantly, reinforced my belief that good design is deeply personal.

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    Today, I describe my approach as cozy opulent maximalism: an embrace of extravagance without stiffness, where lived-in comfort, personal history, and expressive beauty coexist. I strongly believe a home should honor your past, support your present, and ignite your fantasies for the future. It’s about living your fantasy while making sure it’s one you can actually live in.

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    At its best, design gives people permission: to be bold, sentimental, theatrical, or tender in the spaces they inhabit. Especially for those who feel othered in the outside world, home can become the most intimate form of self-expression. That belief guides everything I create, whether I’m designing a private residence, styling a retail space, or curating a single vignette.

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I design spaces meant to be lived in, remembered, and loved.

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