Discovery is a compelling thing. The urge to explore new places, to discover new people and customs, feeds the imagination and widens perspective. For design professional Kassandra Renard, exploration drives a creative process that is inquisitive and fluid—nurturing that process with new ideas and inspiration. When she’s not crisscrossing the Atlantic for adventures a world away, she’s flying between her coastal homes in Manchester-by-the-Sea, in Massachusetts, and Charleston, expanding the foundation of her work with mindful travel and study—and happy to weather the New England winters in sunny South Carolina.
“I love the city of Charleston, its history, its architecture and culture. I think it’s really special to have a city that showcases historic preservation and has this unique sense of place,” says Renard. “And I love the surrounding coastal area—I spend a lot of time on Kiawah Island.”
Renard discovered the dynamism of living on the coast when she attended college in Massachusetts. “I fell in love with the ocean and that part of the state, and never left,” says Renard. “I draw a lot of inspiration from the ocean. And the proximity to Boston is ideal. Boston, like Charleston, is a small-big city. All the luxuries of a big city—art, architecture, restaurants, shopping—with the accessibility and charm of a small town.”
The creative process at Kassandra Renard Design unfolds from a novel place, with an approach that embraces elements of design that are aesthetically pleasing and transformative, as well.
“I’ve always had a passion for interiors and architecture,” she explains. “They’ve always mattered to me, and I’ve always been affected by good and bad design. I think there are so many things we can’t control in our lives, and one of the things we can control is how our environment makes us feel. So as a designer, I love to create environments that look and feel inviting and help people thrive, and also to have the ability to maximize the functionality of the space.”
Renard brings up the COVID pandemic as a case in point, recalling the attending uncertainty it produced and how she used her approach to help mitigate some of the angst of the time. “Everything was so crazy,” she recalls. “I would tell clients, ‘Let’s take the things that we can control and make them positive, make them work for us.’”
A native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, Renard grew up immersed in the art world, traveling extensively domestically and making frequent trips to Illinois to visit the Art Institute of Chicago. “I saw a lot of art exhibits, different architecture styles—my travels really focused on those kinds of learning experiences. It instilled an appreciation for aesthetics that I’ve carried throughout my life,” notes Renard, who holds a bachelor’s degree in interior design and a master’s in interior architecture from Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts.
While Renard describes her personal aesthetic as minimalist, her goal is to bring her client’s vision to life. And bringing into the mix “all things beautiful and pleasing to the eye.”
“It’s all about communication,” she says. “My clients’ tastes reflect a wide spectrum of styles—I am comfortable with them all. What’s important to me is to ensure that the space is functional and works for their everyday life.”
Renard’s appreciation for stylistically diverse forms of design is informed by extensive travel both in the States and around the globe. “I’ve spent a lot of time in Italy,” she explains. “I’ve visited northern Italy, Tuscany, Rome. I’ve been all around Spain, as well as Budapest, Slovakia, Prague and Vienna. I love traveling. I try to make time for one trip out of the country every year. And every time I go, I take away something from that country—whether a pattern, a tile or a painting, an architectural detail, different colors or tones. I always come home from my travels with a refreshed and inspired mindset.”
Renard begins a project by focusing on what’s important to a client. “I try to meet the client where they are,” she says. “Every client is different, so I tailor my process to that person’s needs and preferences. I take them through the design process in a way that makes sense to them. I’m a big advocate of using vision boards. Not everyone is good at visualizing how a room is being assembled—it’s a great tool for helping them understand the elements in every single space and how the space fits into the entire picture.”
A trip to the Kassandra Renard Design website stokes the imagination with stunning photos from her travels. It reflects her sensibilities through imagery, both as a visual tool and as a means of evoking an emotional response. And telling a bit of her story, wordlessly.
Renard’s scope of work includes commercial and residential projects—from a single room to an entire home. She acknowledges that the process is different for each and that she enjoys both. She sources from a wide range of suppliers in cities up and down the East Coast. “Palecek is one of my favorite brands. Also Villa & House. Those are my main go-tos,” she says, noting their handcrafted quality. She admits that because she’s dealing with custom furniture and upholstery makers, sometimes lead times are a bit longer, a holdover from pandemic-related supply chain issues.
Other studios on the Kassandra Renard Design hot list include Megan Adams Brooks, Galbraith & Paul, Nile & York, These Walls, and Sister Parish Design. “I typically use a lot of Schumacher, but now I’m incorporating smaller boutique firms to find products that are less heavily used, to build a more individualized space for a client,” she says. “They’re a little more unique, and many of them are women-owned small businesses. I like supporting that.”
Renard approaches her work with a well-traveled eye, borrowing from her broad experiences a mindfulness that gives expression to her client’s vision.
Wendy Swat Snyder is a Charleston-based freelance writer (sweetgrassandgrits.com).
