The COUPAR Edit
Your go-to for design industry insights and education. Explore our monthly blogs, meet industry leaders in our Take 10 series, and learn from historic design icons. Enhance your business with practical marketing and design tips. Subscribe for monthly updates!
Celebrating Black History Month: Photojournalist Gordon Parks
As COUPAR observes Black History Month, we spotlight the photojournalist Gordon Parks' brilliant images. He called his camera a "weapon against poverty and racism."
Take 10 With COUPAR’S Kendra Boutell
There are seven days in the week, seven colors in the rainbow, seven deadly sins, and COUPAR'S Content Director Kendra Boutell has been with the company for seven years. The Marin County native began her design career working for San Francisco's To the Trade showrooms and investment-grade antique dealers.
Shedding Skin: The Year of the Snake
At COUPAR, we celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year; this year marks the "Year of the Wood Snake." The enigmatic serpent, symbolizing the cycle of life, death, and rebirth, is one of twelve astrological animals the mythic Jade Emperor, who ruled the Heavens, selected to guard him.
Looking Into the Crystal Ball: Predicting 2025 Design Trends
What will 2025 hold for the design and built worlds? We asked three Bay Area experts for their advice.
Remembering Peter West: March 6, 1968 to January 10, 2025
COUPAR: Marketing and PR for The Built World
When Krista Coupar founded COUPAR in 2007, the company's Marketing and PR division focused on supporting interior designers. Over the years, we organically grew to include professionals of the Built World: architects, builders, subcontractors, and artisans.
COUPAR Collaborations: Feldman Architecture and Kasten Builders
COUPAR Design's clients own a 1963 Northern California Modernist house designed by Henrik H Bull. The homeowners met the legendary Norwegian American architect before he died in 2013 when they found him wandering through the garden of their San Rafael home.
We’ve Moved! COUPAR on Sacramento Street
We've moved! After a long tenancy in the South of Market's San Francisco Design Center, COUPAR moved to Presidio Heights. Our 1920s storefront office at 3464 Sacramento Street shares space with Chloe Gallery.
Celebrating Halloween: The Winchester House
At COUPAR, we take holidays seriously, especially Halloween. We love our local haunted mansion, the Winchester Mystery House, in San Jose. Firearms and ammunition heiress Sarah Lockwood Pardee Winchester built the Queen Anne-style estate from 1886 to 1922. Along with its 24,000-square-foot labyrinth of 160 rooms, it has stairs, doors, and windows that lead nowhere.
Take 10 With COUPAR’S Roshie Larijani
Design Director Roshie Larijani has been with COUPAR for nearly nine years. She has managed projects from concept to installation and is instrumental in the training and ongoing education of the studio team members.
Authors’ Alcove: The San Francisco Fall Show
We've always admired Aubrey Beardsley's fin de siècle ink drawing for the cover of The Yellow Book series. Beardsley, who died of tuberculosis at age twenty-five, mastered the art of black and white in his brief life. His night scene depicts an elegant woman transfixed outside a bookstore, with the pierrot figure of the shopkeeper looking on. We hope you are equally transported by the COUPAR-sponsored Authors' Alcove at The San Francisco Fall Show this year (October 17 - 20, 2024, Opening Gala Night, October 16, 2014).
Celebrating Labor Day: The Building Trades
With the passing of Labor Day, COUPAR wants to celebrate the building trades. The architect and designer get the glory for a project, while the builder and subcontractors execute their vision.
Stop The Press! California Homes Magazine’s New Website
COUPAR Marketing collaborated with California Homes Magazine on their new website to replace an antiquated and static one that dated back fifteen years. It was an exciting project as the magazine, headed by Publisher Heidi Gerpheide and Editor-In-Chief Susan McFadden, celebrates the Golden State's diverse topography and fearless creative spirit.
In Black and White: The 2024 San Francisco Fall Show
The theme for this year's San Francisco Fall Show is "The Timeless Appeal and Elegant Contrast of Black-and-White." We anticipate seeing Gala outfits inspired by Truman Capote's 1966 masquerade, the Black and White Ball, and the recent TV series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans.
News Flash! Van Acker Construction’s New Website
Recently, COUPAR Marketing completed a new website for Van Acker Construction. The esteemed Bay Area-based general contracting and construction management firm has collaborated with elite architects and designers since its founder, Gary Van Acker, started his business in the early 1980s. Now that his son Danny Van Acker co-directs the company, they needed a website reflecting its future while referencing its heritage
Take 10 With Real Estate Agent Sage Penkin of Yost Quesada
As COUPAR Design expands into different markets, we are thrilled to have our go-to real estate partner in San Diego, The Yost Quesada Team. This savvy team of real estate agents seamlessly assists their clients with purchasing and selling in the San Diego area. COUPAR has particularly enjoyed collaborating with Yost Quesada team member Sage Penkin, who has her finger on the pulse in the real estate realm.
Pride Month Profile: Architect, Designer, and Visionary, Eileen Gray
“To create, one must first question everything.” Eileen Gray
June is Pride Month for the LGBTQ+ community, and COUPAR profiles Modernist architect, designer, visionary, and openly bisexual Eileen Gray (1878-1976).
COUPAR Out and About
The COUPAR Team has been actively participating in the spring bouquet of design events for 2024. From showroom happy hours to the San Francisco Decorator Showcase, the staff always appreciates these opportunities to spend time together, connect with familiar faces, and meet new industry professionals, all while actively engaging with stellar design.
COUPAR Design: Shopping For Antiques At Epoca And Garden Court
COUPAR Design is currently working on an Edwardian apartment in Pacific Heights showcasing jewel-toned hues and classic furnishings. The homeowner wants to add a few select antiques to the design. COUPAR agrees with designer Suzanne Tucker that “antiques give a room soul.” Lead Project Manager Monica Eng visited San Francisco's Epoca and Garden Court Antiques, conveniently located under one roof in a former SOMA cheese warehouse.
Celebrating Asian American And Pacific Islander Heritage Month: I.M. Pei
The hand of man joined with nature becomes the essence of creativity. I. M. Pei
Against the Parisian sky, the modernist Louvre Pyramid contrasts with the palace's French Renaissance architecture—the Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei designed the structure composed of glass segments and metal poles in 1983. Ieoh Ming Pei (1917-2019) was born in Canton (now Guangzhou), China, into a wealthy family from the scholar-gentry class.