Claudia Schultheis and her signature houses

Claudia Schulteis, in addition to being an architect and interior designer, is passionate about aesthetics, innovation, organic forms, the unconventional, and the feelings and emotions that a space conveys.

After working on the design of commercial spaces and hotels around the world, she specialized in signature homes, a branch of interior design that she develops in Madrid, the city where she currently resides.

We spoke with her to tell us about her understanding of interior design and how she develops her projects.

Before we begin, we'd like you to introduce yourself and define in your own words, who is Claudia Schultheis? Where did your calling for this profession come from?

I am Colombian but have a German surname. I am an architect and interior designer, and that's my training. I believe my vocation is as a decorator; I love dance, I love dogs, I love transforming spaces, and I'm passionate about spaces that vibrate.

You have lived in many cities around the world. Has this personal and professional experience influenced your understanding of interior design? And your projects?

I've worked in different areas of architecture, starting with hospitality. We did many social clubs in Colombia. From there, I moved into hospitality, designing hotels in the Caribbean and Brazil, then I returned to residential work, designing custom homes in São Paulo that we delivered turnkey, and I've picked that up again in Madrid.

Many of your projects involve working with the Bathco brand. How would you define the Bathco brand? Why do you choose their products for your projects?

In many of our projects, we use Bathco products. Honestly, we love them. We love the price-design relationship, it's perfect, and the quality is sensational. In this case, we used the pedestal sink and included it in a very fun, very eclectic space in this bathroom.

In this industrial-style bathroom, we used this product from Bathco, which is a bit more rectangular and fit perfectly with the countertop we had custom-made. With this mirror, it truly adapted perfectly to what we wanted.

What are, in your opinion, the keys to maximizing bathroom customization? What details should we focus on?

Keys to personalizing a bathroom? Making it look like it's not a bathroom. So a decorative pendant light, for example, a backlit mirror, a mirror hung from the ceiling, wallpaper that has nothing to do with a bathroom, a countertop in a different color. In this case, for example, we made these cabinets with this reeded detail, we put a countertop basin from the brand Bathco. I think it's the Magdalena, I hope I'm not mistaken. And well, the accessories and we played with a different color scheme for the towels and decorations, and that has really personalized it for the person who is going to use it.

Regarding the bathroom: What importance does it have for you within the home? What is the current trend?

Ugh, current trends in bathrooms? I don't follow trends, but I can tell you a bit about my trend. What do I manage to do? I try to divide the bathroom space so that we can have a vanity that is, for example, very spectacular with a mirror, a space where we can just fix ourselves up or brush our teeth. And then there's this other area, which I consider the less "noble" zone of the bathroom, I separate it. So what I do is keep the wet areas and the toilet area separate and independent from this other zone. I do this whenever space allows. This allows us to enlarge the area of each space and make the bathroom not just a bathroom.