National Decorating Month: Cola Studios

April is National Decorating Month. This year, we wanted to do something a little different: a weekly interview series with designers we admire. We'll be talking to them about what decorating actually means to them, what they're sourcing, what's on their mood boards, and what advice has stuck with them over the years. It's a chance to get inside the process a bit, and to see how different people approach the same big questions about how we live in our spaces.

For us, decorating is where so much of what we do comes together. We spend our days thinking about the objects, the art, the ceramics, but it's often designers who bring those pieces into real rooms and real lives. We love seeing where our work ends up, and we love learning from the people who put it all together. This series is our way of celebrating that.

First up: Cola Studios.

Photography by Adam Kane Macchia

Cola Studios is a full-service interior design firm run by Olya Dmitrieva and Sam Colamussi out of New York. Between them, they have over 20 years of experience across residential, hospitality, and retail. They met at Gensler, hit it off over a shared sensibility, and started Cola Studios four years ago when they decided to focus entirely on homes.

Their work is rooted in comfort, craft, and finding pieces with real character. They're drawn to things that feel one-of-a-kind, and they like mixing vintage with contemporary in ways that don't feel forced. They also run a Substack newsletter with thousands of subscribers where they share sourcing finds, design news, and opinion essays. It's become a go-to resource for people who want design media that actually has a point of view.

L: Photography by Jeanne Canto. R: Photography by Madeline Tolle.

What's the last piece you sourced that you're excited about?

Impossible to choose! Every other Friday, we put out our COLA Curated Substack where we share finds we've been sourcing for clients that week. We usually start with auctions because they're just so much fun, and you can find the most interesting things that way. It's honestly addicting once you start, and we share our finds to inspire other people to have the same shopping addiction. Makes us feel better.

We also dig through deep corners of the web, design fairs, art fairs, and brands that curate unique artists and vintage pieces like LES Collection. In our last issue, some favorites were The Weaving Chair from hm-LI Studio (on view at Collectible Brussels recently), a Grandpa Beaver Chair by Frank Gehry, and a Mirko Baricchi painting. We're really into the round dimensional canvas right now. It reminds us of Otis Jones, one of our favorite artists.

Photography by Jeanne Canto

What's the best design advice you've ever received?

Learn the rules, then break them. We love that. If you know us, we're endlessly curious. We want to know how the sausage is made on literally everything. We ask questions and then more questions. Learning about history, art, different cultures through travel, all of it makes us better at what we do. We love meeting people who are passionate about anything, and we try to surround ourselves with people who share that energy. Having a broad foundation lets us keep pushing, keep expanding, and actually break those rules when it counts.

What do you collect?

We just got back from Morocco, actually. We do a big sourcing trip every year to reset, get inspired, learn, and bring back treasures. Some for us, some for clients. Every place has its thing, but we're always looking for textures, objects, materials that spark something, even if we don't know yet how they'll show up in a project.

We both love ceramics and tend to bring some home every trip. A vessel, a teapot, an object. Something with a great patina or glaze. Something weird. There's nothing better than when one thing in a sea of treasures at an antique shop or a roadside vendor just pops out at you. This trip we went deep on rugs, which Moroccans do better than almost anyone. We brought back a bunch, contemporary and vintage, and we're excited to share them soon.