The Studio
Katara Design Studio is an independent design practice founded by Maruka Tarabay.
The studio was established from a simple belief: our environments influence far more than how we live—they shape how we feel, connect, restore, and experience everyday life.
Katara exists to explore that relationship between people and place. Through thoughtful interior architecture, materiality, sensory experience, and a deep respect for context, we create living environments that are quietly refined, deeply personal, and grounded in the lives of the people who inhabit them.
Today, the studio is intentionally centered on residential living environments—from individual homes to multi-family communities—along with select lifestyle-driven private-market projects. This focused practice allows for close collaboration with homeowners, developers, architects, craftspeople, and design teams, approaching each project with care, curiosity, and lasting intention.
Maruka Tarabay
Founder & Principal
Maruka Tarabay founded Katara Design Studio after more than two decades of experience in interior architecture spanning residential, hospitality, workplace, civic, institutional, healthcare, and other complex environments.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design from the University of California, Davis, with concentrations in architecture, interiors, and furniture design. While at UC Davis, she graduated with Outstanding Performance and received recognition for Outstanding Service to the Department of Design.
Maruka's professional foundation is unusual for an interior designer. Her early career began in structural engineering, where nearly a decade of experience gave her a strong technical understanding of buildings, structural systems, construction, and interdisciplinary coordination. That foundation continues to inform her work today, bringing technical rigor together with creativity, material sensitivity, and careful attention to detail.
Throughout her career, Maruka has worked with respected architecture and design firms on projects ranging from complex renovations and large-scale environments to intimate residential interiors. Her work has included published projects and projects recognized for sustainable design.
Today, she continues to explore the relationship between people and place, with a particular interest in how the built environment influences human experience and well-being. Her work is informed by a longstanding curiosity about the visual, emotional, sensory, and environmental dimensions of space—and how thoughtful design can support the experience of everyday life.
Her approach begins not with a predetermined aesthetic, but with understanding the people who will inhabit a place: how they live, what they value, what they carry with them, and how their surroundings can support a deeper sense of comfort, connection, identity, and belonging.
Certifications
State of California Certifications
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Small Business (SB)
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Minority Business Enterprise (MBE)
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Women Business Enterprise (WBE)
Professional Affiliations
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International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) — Member
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WELL AP — Pursuing Credential
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San Diego Green Building Council — Member
Professional Journey
KATARA DESIGN STUDIO
Founder & Principal | 2024–Present
An independent interior architecture and design practice focused on residential living environments, multi-family communities, and select lifestyle-driven private-market projects. Katara represents the evolution of Maruka’s broader design practice into a more focused exploration of how people experience the places they inhabit.
Through interior architecture, materiality, sensory experience, and a deeply human-centered approach to design, the studio creates environments that feel personal, connected, and responsive to the lives of the people who inhabit them.
URBANA DESIGN STUDIO
Founder & Principal | 2011–2024
Founded and led an independent interior architecture and design practice serving residential, commercial, institutional, and private-market clients. Over more than a decade, the studio's work encompassed projects of varied scale and complexity, providing a broad foundation in interior architecture, programming, space planning, material development, project coordination, and design delivery. That experience ultimately provided the foundation from which Katara Design Studio evolved.
INTERIOR RESOURCE
Senior Project Manager | Project Designer | 2004–2011
Led and managed multidisciplinary interior architecture projects from concept through construction, with responsibility for design quality, documentation, client coordination, consultant integration, schedules, budgets, and project delivery.
CARRIER JOHNSON ARCHITECTS
Project Designer | 1999–2004
Worked across residential, civic, institutional, and commercial environments through all phases of design, including programming, space planning, concept development, construction documentation, FF&E, custom furniture, consultant coordination, and construction administration.
ARTHUR E. ROSS STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS
Project Manager | 1989–1999
Developed a strong technical foundation in structural systems, construction documentation, quality assurance, shop-drawing review, interdisciplinary coordination, and building technology—experience that continues to inform Maruka’s approach to interior architecture today.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design
University of California, Davis | 1998
Concentrations in Architecture, Interiors & Furniture Design
Graduated with Outstanding Performance
Recognition for Outstanding Service to the Department of Design
“I believe the environments we inhabit become part of the experience of our lives. My work begins with understanding how people live, what they value, and how design can create a deeper sense of connection between people and place.”
— Maruka Tarabay
