Alison Giese Interiors

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Alison Giese Interiors Alison Giese Interiors is a boutique Interior Design firm based in San Antonio, Texas. We create timeless homes for soulful living.

I'm always so curious about the life behind the designs...What informs and inspires other creatives, and what parts of t...
10/13/2026

I'm always so curious about the life behind the designs...

What informs and inspires other creatives, and what parts of their lives inevitably find their way into their work.

Outside of being a business owner and designer, I'm a wife, mom, friend, dog lover, traveler, and coffee snob.

And I don't think those parts of my life are separate from my work. They shape how I think about homes, how people actually live in them, and the decisions I make as a designer.

Ultimately, I think they make me better at what I do.

What does your clocked-out life look like?

Ten years in, I think I’d spend a lot less time trying to become a better designer and a lot more time learning how to a...
10/08/2026

Ten years in, I think I’d spend a lot less time trying to become a better designer and a lot more time learning how to actually build a stronger BUSINESS.

Being talented at the creative part doesn’t automatically teach you how to price your time, manage a team, create repeatable processes, or protect your energy.

A lot of those lessons I learned by doing them wrong first.

And maybe that’s part of it. You build the systems because you remember the chaos before them. You get specific about who you hire because you’ve learned what the business actually needs. You track your time because you finally understand just how much of it goes into doing this work well.

The creative side may be what gets most of us into this industry, but learning how to support that creativity with a solid business is what allows you to keep doing it.

Fellow designers, what would you tell yourself if you were starting over?

One of the things you learn pretty quickly as a designer is that clients rarely care about the language we use to explai...
10/07/2026

One of the things you learn pretty quickly as a designer is that clients rarely care about the language we use to explain good design.

They care about what changed because of it.

They notice that mornings run more smoothly. That everyone gravitates toward a room they barely used before. That hosting feels easier. That their old house still feels like *their* old house, just better suited to the way they live now.

We can talk about scale, proportion, circulation and materiality all day long (and trust me, we do 😂), but those are the tools. They're not the outcome.

The outcome is a home that works so naturally for the people living in it that they don't need the design vocabulary to explain why.

They just know it feels right.

Designers, your turn: What's the most unnecessarily complicated design language you've ever used or heard?

I think the problem is that I know too much 🤣I know what's possible. I know what's out there. I know the difference the ...
10/06/2026

I think the problem is that I know too much 🤣

I know what's possible. I know what's out there. I know the difference the right piece can make.

So instead of buying something that's *almost* right and moving on with my life, I will apparently live with an empty corner for an unreasonable amount of time.

The cobbler's children have no shoes...

And the interior designer has an unfinished house.

😉 We'll get to it.

Possibly controversial advice from an interior designer...You do not need to redecorate your house every time the season...
10/01/2026

Possibly controversial advice from an interior designer...

You do not need to redecorate your house every time the season changes.

And while we're sharing hot takes: I hate Pumpkin Spice. 😂

To me, so much of seasonal decorating can feel a little forced. Fall doesn't need to arrive in the form of themed pillows, pumpkins on every surface, or a candle telling me what month it is.

My version of fall is College Football (Hook 'em 🤘), anticipating that first hint of crisp air, comfort food back in regular rotation, and finally wanting to spend a little more time outside.

It's less about changing how my home *looks* and more about enjoying the way we *live* in it as the season changes.

Maybe that's also the benefit of creating a home you genuinely love year-round. You don't feel the need to reinvent it every few months.

So yes, bring on fall.

😉 Just please leave the Pumpkin Spice candle at home.

The goal is for you to walk into a finished room and never think about most of these things.You shouldn't notice that th...
09/30/2026

The goal is for you to walk into a finished room and never think about most of these things.

You shouldn't notice that the mirror is exactly the right proportion, wonder why the sconces feel balanced, or think twice about how the wood tones relate to one another.

You should just feel that the room works.

Design is a series of decisions that build on one another, and even the smallest ones can change how the whole space comes together.

It's why so much of our process happens long before the pretty finishing touches arrive.

The details may not always call attention to themselves in the end, but you'll feel the harmony.

09/29/2026

The artwork in your home should tell us something about you.

What are you drawn to? Where have you been? What do you find beautiful, funny, strange, nostalgic, or completely irresistible?

I love watching a client light up talking about a piece. Maybe that's the painting they found while traveling or the piece they've owned for twenty years.

Art is part of the story of the people who live there.

Photographer:
Stylist:

09/24/2026

We weren't finishing this install without this piece.

Our clients found this vintage banquette booth, loved the cheekiness of it, and essentially built their game room around it.

So naturally...it didn't fit through the door.

Pierce was making deals with higher powers, the banquette had to be partially disassembled, and for a minute there, we were all probably questioning some life choices.

But it made it in.

There's almost always a little drama on install day. Something doesn't fit, something arrives differently than expected, or Plan A suddenly becomes Plan C.

And honestly? Those are often the moments when some of our best problem-solving happens.

When a piece has this much personality (and means this much to the clients), you figure it out.

And we'd absolutely do it again.

09/16/2026

“I love incorporating old, crusty or really personal elements into people's homes where we're building that sense of character and time and accumulation vs. everything being new.”

This is probably one of the easiest ways to explain what I’m always chasing in a home.

I want there to be evidence of a life.

Something inherited. Something found on a trip. Something a little weird that you love for reasons you can't quite explain.

The most interesting homes don’t just show us what you like, but rather tell us something about where you’ve been and how you’ve lived.

A color can be beautiful on a swatch, in someone else's kitchen, or saved to your Pinterest board and still NOT create t...
09/15/2026

A color can be beautiful on a swatch, in someone else's kitchen, or saved to your Pinterest board and still NOT create the feeling you want in your space.

Color changes once you give it context. It interacts with natural light, neighboring rooms, wood tones, stone, textiles, and every other color surrounding it.

And all of those relationships influence how you *experience* the room.

Color theory gives you a framework for moving beyond "I like this" and understanding WHY something works...and what you might want to pair with it.

I created my FREE Color Theory Guide to make those principles easier to understand and actually use in your own home.

Grab your copy at the link in my bio!

photographer:
stylist:

Address

2516 N Main Avenue
San Antonio, TX
78212

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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