Stacy McCarthy Design

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Palm Beach, FL
Stacy McCarthy Design

Certified Master Kitchen & Bath Designer & Certified Interior Designer, providing design solutions.

Stacy McCarthy is a Certified Master Kitchen and Bath Designer, Certified Interior Designer providing design solutions for busy lives. With a background in architecture and disaster restoration, Stacy and the team understand the complexity a chaotic situation holds and bring compassion and decisive skills and design documents to settle the soul. Stacy is also the National Kitchen and Bath Associat

ion President for the South Florida Chapter, a national speaker, Brand Ambassador, Philanthropist and an accredited CEU Provider. The team works nationwide remotely and in person in South Florida.

09/04/2026

Something exciting is just around the corner! ✨

Next week, I’m heading back to New Orleans for NKBA W2W Conference, and I’m especially excited because this year I’ll be experiencing it from a very different perspective.

Last year, I had the privilege of attending W2W and meeting so many incredible women from across our industry. I had the opportunity to share with my dear friend Alena Capra, and enjoy the mentoring sessions with the amazing Arianne Bellizaire (you can check them out in last year's pictures!)

This year, I’ve been invited back as one of only six Expert Advisors and Mentors, and I’ll also be speaking during the conference.

What an honor.

Thousands of women apply to be part of W2W, and to be invited back in this capacity feels incredibly special. But beyond the recognition, I’m most excited about the opportunity to give back.

To share experiences. To listen. To encourage. To mentor. To connect with women who are building their own paths in this industry.

There is something powerful about women coming together not just to learn from one another, but to make sure the next woman has a little more support, confidence, and perspective than she had before.

I’m grateful to NKBA for this opportunity and can’t wait to see what this year’s W2W experience brings.

Ignite Your Path. Empower Others. Elevate Together. 💫

See you in New Orleans!

09/03/2026

If you know me, you probably know I’ve never been very good at sitting still. 😊

I’m curious by nature. I love people, conversations, beautiful spaces, unexpected details, and those little things that make you stop and look twice. I ask a lot of questions because I genuinely want to understand the *why* behind things, not just the way they look.

That curiosity has shaped the way I design, but it has also shaped the way I move through life. I notice things. I listen. I get excited about ideas. I challenge assumptions. And I love discovering what makes each person unique.

After all these years, I still feel incredibly lucky that this is the work I get to do, and even luckier for all the wonderful people I've met along the way.

So today, I want to turn the question around.

If we've met, what is one of the first things you remember thinking about me?

Not what you think of me now. I want that very first impression. Maybe you remember something I said, something I did, or simply the feeling you had after meeting me.

Tell me in the comments. I promise I can take it! 😂

09/01/2026

So… apparently I have an office. I’m just not always sure where it is. 😂

This morning, it was a coffee shop. ☕️ On another day, it might be a showroom, my car, a plane, a train, a client’s home, or somewhere in between. One of the funny things about being a designer is that my work takes me through so many different kinds of spaces that I have become a professional observer of where people sit, how they move, where they gather, and where they go when they need a little more quiet.

And lately, I’ve been thinking about what that means for the way we design offices.

We spend so much time talking about how a workplace should look. Open or private. Modern or traditional. Collaborative or quiet. But I think there is a much more interesting question: how should it feel to spend your day there?

Because a beautiful office isn't automatically a supportive one. The lighting can be gorgeous and still be exhausting. The open floor plan can look fantastic and still make concentration difficult. A beautiful conference room doesn't help much if there is nowhere to have a private conversation.

People experience spaces differently, and I think good design has to account for that.

A workplace should give people places to collaborate, places to concentrate, places to connect, and sometimes simply somewhere to step away and take a breath. Through the lens of trauma informed design, those details become even more meaningful because we are thinking not only about what people see, but about what their environment asks of them.

So yes, my office may be a coffee shop today.

But when I am designing a space for a client, I want to be much more intentional about the environment we are creating.

Not just a place that looks beautiful.

A place that feels good to be in.

A place that supports the people who use it.

I wrote a little more about this in my latest article, "Your Office Is More Than a Desk", and I would love to know what you think.

👉🏻 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-office-more-than-desk-stacy-mccarthy-cmkbd-cid-jpvne

Does your workplace actually support the way you work, or have you simply learned to work around it? Let me know in the comments!

08/27/2026

One of my favorite things about being in this industry is that the conversation doesn't have to end when a project does. 💙

There is always something to share, something to learn and usually someone with a completely different perspective that makes you look at design in a new way. That's a big part of why I enjoy consulting, speaking and being part of educational spaces, but it's also why I love connecting with people beyond the studio.

I share weekly articles and reflections about design, the business of design and the industry itself, along with projects, behind the scenes moments, travel inspiration and the occasional opinion that might make you think a little differently. 😊

If you'd like to follow along and be part of those conversations, you can find me here:

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacy-mccarthy/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emergencydesigner/

I don't believe design should feel like a one way conversation. I want to share what I've learned, but I also want to hear what you're seeing, asking and thinking about.

So come say hello, follow along and let's keep the conversation going.

And if you're planning a conference, educational program or professional event and would like me to bring that conversation to your audience as a keynote speaker, I'd love to hear from you ! ✨

08/26/2026

I've always liked the saying, “Where there's a will, there's a way,” but I think I understand it differently now than I did when I was younger.

I used to think it meant that if you wanted something badly enough, you simply had to work hard enough to make it happen. Experience has taught me that sometimes the path you imagined simply isn't available. A project changes. A budget doesn't stretch as far as expected. Circumstances get in the way. Or someone decides that you shouldn't have a place at the table.

The answer isn't always to push harder.

Sometimes it's to think differently.

That is something design has taught me repeatedly. We work with constraints every day, and some of the best solutions come from the moments when our original idea no longer works. Restoration has taught me this in an even more meaningful way, because sometimes you cannot put everything back exactly as it was. You have to help someone find a way forward from what happened.

I think life asks the same of us.

A closed door can be disappointing, but it doesn't have to be the end of the story. Sometimes it simply asks us to reconsider where we're going and how we're going to get there.

I wrote about this idea in my latest article and about why I believe perseverance isn't necessarily about fighting harder. Sometimes it is about being creative enough to find a way through.

Read the full article and let me know what you think. What has a closed door taught you? I'd love to hear your thoughts! 💙✨

👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacy-mccarthy/

08/20/2026

PURPOSE.

I put on this hat recently and found myself thinking about what that word means after all these years in interior design.

For me, our profession has never been simply about making beautiful spaces. Beauty matters, absolutely, but it is only part of the work. Good design should solve problems, improve the way people experience their surroundings, and make everyday life feel more considered.

That takes more than having a good eye. It takes listening carefully, asking the right questions, understanding the technical side of the work, and being willing to challenge an idea when there is a better solution.

It also means remembering that we are designing for people, not for ourselves. Every project brings different circumstances, priorities, personalities, and stories. Our job is to understand those things and translate them into something that feels thoughtful and authentic.

I believe that is where the real value of a designer lives.

The beautiful materials, the furniture, the finishes, the details we obsess over... they are all part of the language. But they are not the purpose.

The purpose is knowing why we are making each decision, who we are making it for, and what we want the finished space to give back to the people who live with it.

The finished space is what people see.

The purpose is what makes the work matter.

What does purpose mean to you in the work you do?

08/18/2026

I think most of us have at least one room in the house that has quietly become a little bit of everything.

The kitchen is where you have your morning coffee, answer a few emails, help with homework, and eventually sit down with friends for dinner. The guest room becomes your home office. The dining table becomes the place where everyone gathers, whether they are eating or not.

Honestly, I think that is one of the most interesting things about designing homes today. We are not necessarily looking for more rooms, we are looking for rooms that understand how we live.

That might mean creating zones without adding walls, incorporating custom storage so work can disappear at the end of the day, or using layered lighting to change the feeling of a space from morning to evening.

The goal is not to make a room do absolutely everything. It is to make sure the things it needs to do can coexist beautifully. When a home is designed around your real life, flexibility does not have to look like compromise.

What room in your home has had to take on more than one job? I’d love to hear about it.

08/13/2026

On a recent cross country road trip, I found myself noticing the little design decisions in the hotels along the way.

Like this yellow SMEG refrigerator.

Was it necessary? Probably not. Did the minibar need to be yellow? Absolutely not. But the moment I saw it, I smiled.

And that is exactly what I love about good design. It doesn't always have to be grand or expensive. Sometimes, it is one unexpected detail that gives a space personality and makes the experience feel more memorable.

Hotels are especially good at this. They understand that comfort and luxury are not just about what you have. They are about how a space makes you feel.

When I work with clients, I often ask them to think beyond the finishes they like and consider the experience they want to have in their home. What should feel effortless? What should make you smile? Where can we introduce something unexpected that feels completely you?

Those answers can lead us to some of the most meaningful design decisions.

So if you're looking at your home and thinking, Something is missing, but I can't quite figure out what it is, that is exactly the kind of conversation I love having with my clients.

Let's talk about how your space could feel more like you.

Send me a message or reach out to schedule a consultation.

👉🏻 https://calendly.com/stacymccarthydesign/

08/11/2026

Good design is a team sport.

A recent conversation in an interior design community got me thinking about how often GCs ask designers questions that may fall outside the usual scope of design.

My answer? All the time.

Recently, a GC reached out to me with an engineering question. I answered what I could and brought the engineer into the conversation. To me, that's not about stepping outside my role. It's about understanding how my role connects to everyone else's.

I was fortunate to be part of an Olympic training team earlier in my life, and one of the things that stayed with me was how much our coaches emphasized communication, collaboration and understanding each person's role. We weren't expected to do everything ourselves. We were expected to know our responsibilities, trust the people around us and work together toward the same goal.

I bring that same philosophy to my projects today.

I actually love being in the loop. Not because I need to control every decision, but because design decisions are connected to everything else happening on a project. When the right people are part of the conversation, we can catch issues earlier, make better decisions and keep the client's priorities in view.

And there is something the client gets from that kind of collaboration that doesn't always show up in photographs.

✨Peace of mind.✨

We often think of luxury as beautiful materials, custom details and exceptional craftsmanship. But I think peace of mind is part of luxury too. Knowing that the people working on your home communicate, respect each other's expertise and know when to bring someone else into the conversation has tremendous value.

I wrote more about why the right team can make such a difference in my latest article, “Good Design Is a Team Sport.”

Read the full article in my LinkedIn profile 👉🏻 www.linkedin.com/in/stacy-mccarthy 💙✨

08/07/2026

One of the questions I hear most often from fellow designers is, "How do I even begin entering a design competition?"

It is a great question because submitting a project can feel intimidating. There are deadlines, photography, documentation, and storytelling, all on top of running a business and serving clients.

During my recent Lunch & Learn with the NKBA California Capital Chapter, we focused on making that process feel much more manageable. My advice is to approach your competition entry exactly the way you approach a client project. Break it into milestones, schedule important dates, create reminders, and give yourself time to build a thoughtful presentation instead of rushing at the end.

Planning removes so much of the stress and allows your work to truly shine.

A sincere thank you to the NKBA California Capital Chapter for the opportunity to speak, and to Lofings Lighting for hosting such a welcoming event. It was a pleasure connecting with so many passionate designers and sharing ideas that encourage professional growth.

Have you entered a design competition before, or are you thinking about it this year? I'd love to hear about your experience or answer any questions in the comments.

Address

Palm Beach, FL
33480

Website

https://www.stacymccarthy.design/

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