I rarely come home from a trip with souvenirs.
I usually come back with books.
Sometimes a small ceramic piece. Sometimes a material sample. Sometimes a magazine that was far too heavy for my suitcase. And occasionally, nothing at all except an idea I couldn’t stop thinking about.
They all end up living together.
The books I brought back from Mexico City sit beside resin samples from the studio. A small object I found years ago shares a shelf with prototypes for pieces that don’t exist yet. Every few months, I rearrange those shelves. Not because they’re messy, but because I like seeing different conversations happen between the objects.
Sometimes that’s where a new project begins.
I’ve always been fascinated by the objects we choose to live with.
Some are works of art.
Some are pieces of furniture.
Some are collectible design.
I love them for different reasons.
What they share is something much harder to describe. They don’t simply occupy a room. They quietly change the experience of living in it.
They catch light differently throughout the day. They create unexpected shadows. They make us pause, even if only for a second.
The pieces I return to again and again aren’t always the loudest ones.
They’re the chair whose silhouette feels different every time you walk around it. The mirror that transforms a familiar corner. The painting you continue discovering years after you first hung it. The object that slowly becomes part of your daily life until you can’t imagine the room without it.
There are a few objects I’ve lived with for years.
Every time I find them a new place, the house begins to feel a little more like home.
Working in interiors, creating collectible design, and living with art has taught me that each brings something different to a space. I’ve never felt the need to place strict boundaries around the objects we choose to live with. What interests me is not where one discipline ends and another begins, but how each has the ability to shape the atmosphere of a room in its own way.
The beauty comes from allowing every piece to be exactly what it wants to be.
Not everything has to ask for attention.
Not everything has to be functional.
Not everything has to tell the same story.
Together, they create something richer than any one object could on its own.
When I design a home, I rarely begin by asking where the artwork should go.
I ask where the room deserves a moment of wonder.
Sometimes that moment comes from a painting.
Sometimes from a sculptural mirror.
Sometimes from a chair whose presence quietly changes the entire room.
Sometimes from an object with no obvious purpose other than making you pause every time you walk past it.
Those are often the pieces people remember years later.
Not because they were the most expensive.
Or the rarest.
But because they changed how it felt to live there.
Maybe that’s why I’ve never thought of these objects as things we simply own.
I think they become companions to our lives.
They witness birthdays and ordinary Tuesdays. Quiet mornings and crowded dinner tables. They gather fingerprints, memories, and stories that have nothing to do with the day they were made.
And somehow, they become even more beautiful because of it.
Perhaps that’s what I’ve always loved most.
Not filling a room with remarkable objects.
But finding the ones that make everyday life feel just a little more extraordinary.
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.