ABOUT US

Some homes have to balance clashing tastes, competing needs, or a tricky layout. That’s where we do our best work.

WHAT SABIWABI MEANS

Sabiwabi 侘寂 is a celebration of the imperfect

how things age, how we relate to them, and how they hold up to real life.

Signs of time should be something to welcome, not something to prevent. Wood that darkens. Leather that creases. Brass that grows a patina. Same goes for signs of life: your quirks aren’t something to smooth out, but rather what makes a home unmistakably yours.

Good design should involve every sense. The sound of the table when you place a cup on it. The warmth of the floor when you’re barefoot in winter. The memories of your childhood when you smell fresh laundry.

This means paying attention to the seemingly unremarkable moments. The ones that make up a meaningful life: messy, sticky-fingered, unpolished.

For us, Sabiwabi means: figuring out what truly matters to you and building a home around it.


This means paying attention to the seemingly unremarkable moments. The ones that make up a meaningful life: messy, sticky-fingered, unpolished.

For us, Sabiwabi means: figuring out what truly matters to you and building a home around it.


DESIGN AS COLLABORATION, NOT COMPROMISE

We’ve lived it, and made a craft of solving it.

As a couple and a family, we understand firsthand what it takes
to bring different perspectives into one home.

Modern living room with natural light and wooden accents

Many people think building a home together is a matter of compromise. But we see an opportunity for collaboration, to get to know each other better. We’ve seen it happen in our own home, and built our process around making it happen in yours too.

It’s not a quick fix. It takes curiosity to look at your partner’s (or roommate’s, kid’s, pet’s) preferences: what they notice, what they care about, and why. But when it all comes together, you end up with something better than either one could have designed alone. And if you’re overwhelmed, that’s okay, we’ll walk you there.

OUR STORY

We met in Berlin in 2019.

By then, we’d each already spent over a decade working in design — just in different disciplines.

Alexei studied graphic design, created sets for theater, and worked as a creative director in commercial interiors, exteriors, and urban gardens. He later moved into residential construction management, and discovered a love for helping people conquer their clutter inspired by the KonMari Method™.

Rahel studied engineering and business, specialized in sustainable construction (including an Earthship® certification and study of the LEED® framework), and co-ran a small real estate venture that turned neglected properties into family homes.

Two paths meant two ways of seeing every space, which is exactly what you need when tastes and needs pull in different directions.

“Our first home together taught us something we didn’t expect: that designing together was its own skill, quite different from designing alone. It took time. In that process we developed a way of working through different perspectives — and now we bring it to you.”

“Our first home together taught us something we didn’t expect: that designing together was its own skill, quite different from designing alone. It took time. In that process we developed a way of working through different perspectives — and now we bring it to you.”

So bring on the quirks,
the disagreements,
the half-formed ideas.

So bring on the quirks,
the disagreements,
the half-formed ideas.

You don’t need to know what you like yet. We’ll take the time to figure out what works for you.

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