Abigail Kahan is the founder and principal of Abigail Kahan Design, an interior design studio known for thoughtfully tailored environments grounded in architecture, real estate insight, and refined interiors. With a background shaped by her family’s three-generation real estate firm and formal training from the Academy of Art University, Abigail brings a holistic approach to each project, balancing strong architectural foundations with unexpected finishes and carefully curated detail. Her work results in spaces that feel elegant, distinct, and deeply considered. Meet Abigail Kahan and her architecture-led approach to refined, deeply considered interiors in today’s Designer Friday.
In this bedroom, repeated dark wood tones connect the millwork, windows, bed frames, and chair bases without making the furniture feel overly matched.
Andrew Joseph: Can you describe your design philosophy in three words?
Abigail Kahan: Reverence for history. Great design is rooted in what came before us. I try to draw from centuries of proportion, craftsmanship, and architectural language, reinterpreting them in a way that feels timeless rather than trend-driven.
AJ: How do you approach designing for different types of clients?
AK: Design is part psychology, part archaeology. We’re excavating taste! The childhood home my clients loved, that hotel that makes them feel incredibly comfortable and welcomed… My job isn’t to impose a style; it’s to distill identity. Every person has a distinct history and point of view, and each project becomes a study of that individuality. No two homes should feel alike; each one is a reflection of a specific story.
In this entryway, the heavily veined marble table delivers an immediate graphic punch, while the sprawling branches seem to reach toward the chandelier above, drawing the eye through the height and openness of the stair hall.
AJ: What is your favorite design element to incorporate into your projects?
AK: Stonework with conviction. Mouldings with authority. I believe in architectural tension – depth, shadow lines, details that require craftsmanship. If it can be peeled off in a renovation, it probably shouldn’t be there.
AJ: How do you stay organized while working on multiple projects?
AK: We run a design studio like a precision operation. Systems are freedom. Every selection, every revision, every invoice is tracked. Clients experience beauty and ease – behind the scenes is rigor and infrastructure. Strong process allows creativity to flourish without chaos, and we continuously refine how we operate.
AJ: What is your favorite design era and why?
AK: 18th-century Neoclassicism. It took the whim of Rococo and gave it posture. Symmetry returned. Proportion mattered again. It proved that restraint can be far more interesting than excess.
This living room has a refined, gallery-like restraint, using a sculptural pendant, a minimalist side table, and a crisp acrylic coffee table to let each piece stand on its own.
AJ: Style (or design) icon and why?
AK: Estée Lauder. She understood that luxury is choreography. Product, packaging, persona – it was all aligned. She didn’t follow taste; she defined it. That level of authorship is powerful.
AJ: What’s a new hobby/skill that you have learned recently?
AK: Snowboarding. It’s speed, risk, and recalibration. You commit, or you fall. Something is clarifying and inspiring about that.
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