In my Residential Interiors II class, we learned about personality types.  I am an ESFJ.  That's extroverted, sensing, feeling judging.  I feel like this is a pretty fair assessment, although I do border between extroverted and introverted.

We were then given the assignment to design an office for a female attorney in her late 50's who had just been appointed as a D.A.  Her personality type was ESTJ.  After learning more about ESTJ's and some fairly well known, powerful women who share the same personality type, I set out to design her office space.  I also wrote a profile about her that I will share.

In designing a space for this client who is in her late fifties and recently appointed as a District Attorney, I learned that she is an ESTJ on the Myers-Briggs personality Indicator.  ESTJ or Extroverted, Sensing, Thinking Judging people are known as rational or logic based people.  ESTJ’s value tradition and laws and expect others to as well.  They are strong, assertive people who are natural born leaders.  They are quite confident and bold. 

Some notable ESTJ women include Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Condoleeza Rice, Martha Stewart, Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter.  All of these women exude strength, leadership, hard work and determination. 

In designing a space for this client, I knew that she is used to working in what is considered to be a man’s world, and as such, she is most likely used to a more masculine aesthetic.  I wanted to take that typical lawyer’s office and add just a few bits of softness or femininity to it without overpowering the space.  I chose to do this with a bold geometric print rug that reads gender-neutral and then a few gold and glitzy pieces including the gold Barbara Barry credenza.  Soft supple caramel color leather warms up the space while the chairs sitting opposite the desk have a feminine caning and soft lush mohair, the color of both the chair and cushions maintain a gender neutrality.  The lighting is soft and gold but oversized and play up the design principles of balance and scale which are coincidentally a primary theme of the law ethos. 

We chose a few pieces of art work, including a mobile art/book shelf that operates on the theme of balance and a build-able wood sculpture game that serves as functional art.  We also included the client’s law diploma and an emblem of her undergrad alma mater, UNC Chapel Hill. 

My concept for this space was a woman who could have a quaich of brandy or scotch with her co-workers in her black or navy power suit, but she’s probably sporting a pair of Louboutin’s and just a touch of gold! 

When designing spaces for clients, it is definitely worth considering their personality type.  If you're interested in finding out your own personality type, you can take the quick quiz right here.