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Zengen Studio

Interiors that are good to live in, for a long time.

Portrait of Maria Kowalsky, founder of Zengen Studio, standing by a window in a pink jacket

Maria Kowalsky

Founder and principal designer

Why the studio exists

Maria Kowalsky studied interior design at Texas State University and started Zengen Studio at the beginning of 2026. The studio grew out of one question: what happens to a room after handover? Too often the answer is weeks of new-paint smell, furniture that can't be repaired and finishes that look tired within a few years.

The studio was set up to work the other way round. Start with what a room is made of, choose materials that are healthier to live with and that age well, and keep as much of what is already there as possible.

The name reflects the balance the studio looks for in every project: calm rooms, made with care, that ask very little of the people living in them.

Made with Austin artists and makers

Much of what fills our rooms is made close to home. We work in partnership with artists and furniture makers in Austin, commissioning tables, benches, lighting, paintings and sculpture for the rooms they will live in.

Working locally keeps each piece specific to its house, cuts the distance things travel, and means our clients can meet the people who made what they live with.

Four stages, with sustainability in each

  1. Stage 1: Listen and audit

    We start with how you live and what you already have. A material audit of the existing space notes what can be kept, repaired or reused before anything new is drawn.

  2. Stage 2: Design and source

    We design around a short list of materials and check each one: what it is made of, where it comes from, and what it releases into a room. You see the evidence behind every choice.

  3. Stage 3: Build with less waste

    We work with builders, and with artists and furniture makers in Austin, who share the approach. Materials are ordered to measure, offcuts are reused where they can be, and salvage is planned from the first day on site.

  4. Stage 4: Handover and care

    Every project ends with a care guide: how to clean, oil, patch and refresh each material, so the rooms stay healthy and keep improving with age.

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