Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Nicoara.
Hi Emily, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Emily Nicoara Design Studio was born from an unexpected place: my career as a professional firefighter. After nine years in the fire service, I was carrying stresses I hadn’t yet learned how to process. The path that led me to design—rooted in Emotionally Evoked Interiors—was not a beautiful one, but an honest one.
Six years ago, I transferred departments to return to my hometown, where my husband also works as a firefighter. I began again from the ground up, entering the fire academy fresh off shoulder surgery. As I went through the repeated steps of academy and all the requirements of your first few years at a new department, I began to recognize how long I had been surviving rather than truly living. On paper, I had everything I’d hoped for: my dream department, marriage to my best friend, and proximity to family. Yet emotionally, I felt alone, angry, lost—longing for a sense of home while also fearing what I might uncover if I slowed down enough to find it.
That reckoning coincided with seeking trauma therapy and the start of remodeling and design of our own home. Project 1994, now published in both print and digital, removes all façade. The home observes humanity at its core—the beauty, the discomfort, and the truth. Each room reflects a chapter of my life, and while the past now feels like the past and not the constant state I was living in, revisiting it still carries weight. I’m deeply proud of the home itself, but even more proud of the emotional work behind it.
Emotionally Evoked Interiors comes to life room to room by traveling the emotions of turmoil to nostalgia, from tension to joy. Our goal with every project is to design for humanity at its core, honoring individual stories and creating spaces that offer the most universal feeling of all: that coming home to yourself and to your physical home should evoke true, personal emotion and connection.
We specialize in a Modern European aesthetic, inspired by my Romanian roots and a reverence for history, patina, and timeless materials. We are drawn to natural surfaces that age gracefully—collecting marks, scratches, and stories, much like people do. Perfection is not a value we believe in at ENDS. Our clients come to us knowing we design for real life, embracing authenticity over fear. Perhaps that’s where firefighting and design overlap: high risk, meaningful reward.
ENDS is a full-service interior design studio, with projects across Washington, Arizona, Florida, and Oregon. Our work emphasizes custom design and close collaboration with local artisans, vintage dealers, and trades. While we love the transformation of new builds and remodels, the relationships formed along the way have been the most rewarding. Nearly five years into building ENDS, that sense of shared values and community continues to shape our work—and fuels our excitement for what’s next.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Few people start a business on a perfectly smooth road—if they do, we’d love their advice. Much of ENDS’ growth has come from the unglamorous but essential work behind the scenes: refining our processes, strengthening client communication, and deepening our understanding of construction and execution.
Our projects often span months, and sometimes years, requiring close collaboration with clients, contractors, vendors, and trades. As our studio has grown, so has our fluency in construction, sequencing, and the realities of building—knowledge that is critical when working in highly custom environments. Custom design demands precision, foresight, and flexibility, and we’ve learned that beautiful ideas only succeed when they are supported by clear documentation and strong partnerships in the field.
That level of collaboration requires honest, sometimes difficult conversations—especially when your instinct is to move heaven and earth to give clients their dream home. At ENDS, we don’t shy away from those moments. A successful project for us begins with realistic expectations, clearly defined budgets and timelines, and consistent communication throughout the process. When clients understand the scope of custom work and feel confident in both the process and the investment they’ve made, the result is not only a beautiful home, but a collaborative experience built on trust.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The relationships we’ve built with skilled trades have allowed us to bring to life custom pieces that have lived in my mind for years. There’s something incredibly fulfilling about translating that internal blur of ideas into tangible forms that seamlessly integrate into our clients’ lives.
While we haven’t shared imagery of this piece yet, one of our most ambitious custom builds to date lives within Project Morningside. The home features fully custom cabinetry throughout—from hand-stained interiors to steel panel details—but one element stands apart. In collaboration with our longtime friend and master millworker, Rick, we designed a sculptural wood kitchen sink unlike anything we’ve seen before.
Inspired by the teak boats of Lake Como, the sink introduces a warm, unexpected natural material into a space often overlooked for craftsmanship. Its durability and performance are a testament to both thoughtful design and the expertise of the artisans behind it. With completion just weeks away, the kitchen’s custom tile backsplash—designed exclusively for the home—will add another deeply personal layer. It’s a true labor of love, where every detail tells the client’s individual story.
Our love for custom pieces is rooted in the belief that true design begins where familiarity ends—either by creating what has not yet existed, or by breathing new life into the most ordinary rituals. Beauty reveals itself in the overlooked and the unassuming, and with time, this way of seeing teaches us to find meaning in the smallest details of everyday life.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Any success we’ve experienced at ENDS is owed, in large part, to my husband and business partner—the person who shines in all the places I do not. Over the years, we’ve learned how to move as a team, constantly pivoting and adapting to the twists and turns of building a business together. While we remain deeply rooted in who we are at our design core, flexibility has become one of our greatest strengths—whether navigating shift work at the fire station or the growing pains that come with scaling a studio.
At the heart of Emotionally Evoked Interiors is more than a design philosophy; it is a partnership. He is my husband, my best friend, and my steady support—the one who drove me to therapy each week, took leaps of faith alongside me, and reminded me to keep going when doubt crept in. That foundation allows me to show up more honestly for our clients, even when authenticity can feel like an uphill climb in a market saturated with replicated trends.
I’m deeply grateful for my faith and my relationship with God. During moments when I questioned the trials I was walking through, I held onto the quiet reassurance that understanding would come—further along. Today, that clarity fuels my desire to share the healing power of creating a home that feels deeply and unmistakably like yourself.
We’ve intentionally surrounded ourselves with team members who excel in ways we do not. Staying humble enough to know I can’t do it all—and trusting the incredibly talented people we work alongside—has been essential to our growth and forward momentum.
Pricing:
- We offer three levels of service: 1: full service which incudes all construction documents, collabortion along side contractors and architects, procurement and project management.
- Option 2: Full furnishing: paint selections, hardware finishes, furniture and decor
- Option 3: Virtual design which is 10 hour prepaid package via zoom
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.emilynicoaradesignstudio.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilynicoaradesignstudio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@emilynicoaralifestyle
