Studio Em Design principal Emily Boya finds joy in the details.
A family room with Studio Em Design’s signature pops of color and feelgood furnishings.
When it comes to interior design, Emily Boya’s philosophy is simple. “If it brings you happiness and makes you feel good, then why not have it in your house,” she posits. It’s an ethos the designer repeatedly invokes when speaking about her firm, Studio Em Design (studioem-design.com), where she specializes in dreaming up personalized homes for families in the Bay State and beyond. “When I meet with a client, I learn a lot about them: what inspires them, where they like to travel, what colors they’re drawn to [and] what they like to do,” she says. “Each one of my projects is very unique in terms of what it looks like, who it’s designed for and how [the clients] want the space to make them feel.”
Boya’s desire to craft bespoke residences dates back to her early years. Thanks to her father’s penchant for renovation projects, she recalls her childhood home as “always under construction,” she says, which helped spark her interest in the industry. Although she initially planned to study architecture—a profession she regularly explored by sketching floor plans for fun—her time at an arts-focused high school in Boston changed her mind. “I learned about interior design and interior architecture, and that meant a lot more to me. In New England, we spend a large percentage of time indoors; whether you’re in a hotel, an office space or at home,” she says. “How those environments play on how you feel really interests me.”
After earning her degree in interior design at Boston’s Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boya spent several years refining her skills through hospitality design, focusing on hotels and restaurants before pivoting to a high-end residential firm that solidified her passion for home design. After working at the company for two years, the interior designer “took the leap,” she says, and struck out on her own, officially launching Studio Em in 2021.
These days, Boya works with families in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, channeling her transitional aesthetic into pretty yet functional homes layered with playful wallcoverings, thoughtful furnishings and strategic pops of color. One especially bright spot in the designer’s portfolio? Her joyful (and decidedly durable) kids’ spaces, outfitted to feel at once youthful and elegant. Currently, Boya—who has two young children of her own—is juggling a dozen projects, including a trio of nurseries. “Kids’ spaces are always so fun,” she says. “They’re just a spot where people are more willing to take a risk and … [be] more imaginative and bright and cheery.”
In the end, whether she’s devising a scheme for a toddler’s bedroom or masterminding down-to-the-studs transformations for busy households, her main goal is to create feelgood spaces her clients will cherish. “If you love it, I say [go for] it,” she advises.
Photography by: EMILY SIDOTI
