I have always been a collector.
Not of art, though I love it.
Not of furniture, though I spend my days surrounded by it.
Not of objects, though I inevitably return home from every trip carrying something I probably didn’t need.
I collect spaces.
More specifically, I collect moments inside rooms.
A particular quality of light.
A material that has aged beautifully.
The way a staircase turns.
The sound a room makes when people gather inside it.
The feeling that lingers long after you’ve left.
For as long as I can remember, I have been storing these moments away.
A staircase in Bogotá that curved with such ease it felt almost drawn rather than built.
A hotel lobby in London where someone had placed a single oversized branch in a ceramic vessel. I remember almost nothing else about the space.
Just that branch.
And the confidence of knowing it was enough.
A room in Cartagena washed in late afternoon light. The walls seemed to absorb the sun and return it more softly. Nothing remarkable happened there. I sat quietly for nearly an hour.
Years later, I still think about it.
The spaces that stay with us are rarely the most elaborate.
In fact, some of the most memorable rooms I have encountered would never appear in a magazine.
A grandmother’s kitchen where nothing matched and yet everything belonged.
A small apartment where books occupied every available surface.
A house where the furniture was unremarkable but the atmosphere was unforgettable.
What those spaces shared was not style.
It was intention.
They understood something about the people who lived inside them.
Over time, I began to realize that this collection of memories was shaping the way I approached design.
When a new project arrives, I don’t begin with furniture.
I begin with a feeling.
How should this home greet you when you walk through the door?
What should a Sunday morning feel like here?
Where will conversations naturally gather?
Where will someone go when they want to be alone?
The answers rarely come from a catalogue.
They come from life.
Furniture matters.
Materials matter.
Art matters.
But they are all in service of something larger.
Atmosphere.
That elusive quality that cannot be measured and yet is often the thing we remember most.
I sometimes think the best rooms are like certain people.
You cannot fully explain why you enjoy being around them.
You simply do.
The same is true of spaces.
The rooms that stay with us are rarely shouting for attention.
They are quietly confident.
Comfortable in their own skin.
They reveal themselves slowly.
Perhaps that is why I continue collecting them.
Not because I intend to recreate them.
But because each one teaches me something.
A lesson about proportion.
A lesson about restraint.
A lesson about light.
A lesson about beauty.
A lesson about belonging.
Today, after years of designing homes, I still find myself collecting rooms.
A corner of a café.
A hotel lobby.
A library.
A courtyard.
A stair hall.
A forgotten passageway.
Each one joining the archive.
Each one becoming part of the invisible collection I carry with me from project to project.
And perhaps that is what design is, at least for me.
Not the creation of something entirely new.
But the careful gathering of moments, memories, and observations until they become a place that feels as though it has always belonged.
Marcela
About Marcela Cure
Marcela Cure is an AD100 interior designer, contemporary artist, and collectible designer based in Colombia. As the founder of Marcela Cure Design Studio, she creates luxury residential interiors, collectible furniture, sculptural mirrors, lighting, and decorative objects that explore materiality, craftsmanship, and the relationship between art and function.
Working across interior design, collectible design, and contemporary art, Marcela is recognized for her sculptural approach to space and her use of natural materials including stone, marble, brass, wood, concrete, and resin. Her work has been exhibited internationally and featured in leading design publications, with collectors and clients across North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.
Marcela is a member of the Architectural Digest PRO Directory (AD PRO) and has been recognized as an AD100 designer, establishing her as one of the leading voices in contemporary design from Latin America.
In addition to her full-service interior design practice, Marcela launched the Virtual Design Studio, a dedicated online service that makes her design expertise accessible to clients worldwide through remote consultations and curated virtual design packages. While her studio continues to offer comprehensive, full-scope interior design projects, the Virtual Design Studio is designed for clients seeking expert guidance and tailored design solutions in a flexible, remote format.
Her journal explores interior design, collectible design, architecture, craftsmanship, materials, contemporary art, travel, and the creative process, offering a behind-the-scenes perspective on designing meaningful spaces and collectible objects.