Penelope August founded her studio in New York City in 2014. She designs elegant spaces that are calm, inviting and practical. She places a special emphasis on creating a feeling of space, while at the same time layering textures and juxtaposing contemporary and vintage furnishings. Hunting for found objects and materials allows Penelope to cultivate tension between old and new, minimalist and adorned. She is always seeking objects of authentic design, noble materials that evoke a sense of wonder. For five years, Penelope had an antique booth at the Showplace Antique Center, where she sold Scandinavian and Italian early mid-century furniture. 

A lifelong New Yorker, Penelope comes from a family of architects and art collectors, training her eye from a young age at auction previews, museums and through travel. Before founding her own studio, she worked for 10 years at Selldorf Architects, where she was the Senior Interior Designer and oversaw Vica, the firm's line of custom furnishings and hardware. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and Certificate in Fine Arts from Princeton University, where she wrote her undergraduate thesis on cabinets of curiosity and encylopediac collections as alchemy.

After 15 years in Brooklyn, Penelope now lives on the Upper East Side with her two daughters. When she is not designing interiors or parenting, Penelope can be found in the ceramics studio, or vermicomposting vegetable scraps for her many houseplants.

Contact:
Penelope@penelopeaugust.com