Designer Spotlight: A Q+A with Andrew Suvalsky

We've long admired Andrew Suvalsky's work for its thoughtful layering, emotional clarity, and ability to feel both deeply personal and enduring. From residential projects across the country to his own Montclair home, his approach to interiors is guided by memory, rhythm, and how a space is meant to be lived in. We sat down with Andrew to talk about design influences, lighting decisions, and the elements that shape a home over time.

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Kelly: You've described design as a rhythm, shaped by how the eye moves and how light travels through a home. How does that idea of rhythm influence the way you approach lighting a project?

Andrew: Lighting, when it's right, adds so much to the design of a room. I rely heavily on layering various types: high lighting (ceiling fixtures and recessed) with medium-to-low lighting (sconces and lamps), always on dimmers. That combination creates a rhythm of highlights and softer moments, guiding the eye through the space and letting the mood shift naturally throughout the day.

Kelly: In your Great Falls, Virginia project - recently featured in House Beautiful - you selected a number of different Blueprint Lighting fixtures across the home's library, theater, and guest room, each with a very distinct look and mood. How did you decide on those designs, and what made them feel right for the role each room was meant to play?

Andrew: I start by asking what each room is meant to do and how we want it to feel, then choose lighting that supports that purpose and mood. Blueprint hits several marks for me: the pieces feel playful yet architectural, and they work beautifully as primary or secondary light sources depending on the space. The range of scale, color, and textural detail allows each piece to be tailored so it feels right for the room and distinct from the other lighting we're using.

Andrew's Great Falls Project, featuring our Molto 5-Arm (left) and Monarch 3-Arm (Right).

Kelly: You spoke with Design NJ in 2023 about renovating your personal home in Montclair - since then, has anything about the house, or your own design tastes, changed? And, on that note, do you find that being an interior designer changes how you experience your own home?

Andrew: We renovated our home in Montclair about five years ago, and I still love everything I chose, and I haven't tired of any of it. I often say my favorite part of living in Montclair is our home. That said, my creative juices never really stop, so I'm always thinking about what I might tweak next. Being a designer definitely comes with a little impatience and shapes how I experience my own home: I prefer making a fully realized plan and executing it down to the small details, rather than evolving it slowly over time.

Kelly: You've spoken about how early visual memories - like the interiors you absorbed through television growing up - helped shape your design sensibility. When starting a new project, do you try to uncover similar emotional or nostalgic references with your clients, and how do those insights translate into tangible design decisions?

Andrew: It's true that references from movies, television, and especially 1960s/70s interior design magazines are key reference points for me and find their way into many of my designs. But I'm not interested in replicating an era wholesale. Rather, I rely on launching a design from what inspires me. It might be a sofa profile we aren't seeing currently or a particular "vibe" that feels unendingly chic, and that feeling becomes the thread that guides the rest of the design decisions.

Kelly: Your work often blends antique, bespoke, and contemporary pieces. When it comes to lighting specifically, what guides your decision to go custom vs. sourcing an existing fixture?

Andrew: Designs are made richer and resonate more strongly when they mix elements from different eras, whether existing or customized. The mix has to feel curated, never chaotic. It's common for me to pair something 50, 60, or 70+ years old alongside new, customized pieces. I go custom when a space needs a very specific scale, finish, or detail to make the overall composition feel resolved; I source existing pieces when I find something with the right character and presence already built in. 

Kelly: After leading projects from concept through installation for many years, what's one lighting-related decision you've learned has an outsized impact on whether or not a home ultimately feels cohesive and balanced?

Andrew: My dominant principle for cohesive lighting and balanced feel is the inclusion of three key details: dimmers to control and change the mood, consistent color temperature throughout the home (ideally 2700–3000K), not too yellow and not too cool, and a variety of light sources (overhead, sconces, lamps) so the experience feels holistic rather than flat. The warmth and cohesion you get from those guideposts always elevate my designs.

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