Five Under 40 Award: Interior Designer Kristen Terjesen

July 23, 2015

Norman Kolpas,

The response last year to our first-ever Five Under 40 Design Awards was so overwhelmingly positive that we decided to do it again. This year the mass and magnitude of talent that arrived in Colorado Home & Lifestyles' inbox was both exciting and inspiring.

We called on last year’s winners to help us with the difficult task of selecting five of the finest (well, actually six, with one designing duo among the recipients) from a pack of worthy contenders. Here we get to know one of the award recipients, interior designer Kristen Terjesen, and see some examples of her work.

[Portrait photography: Susie Brenner]

Kristen Terjesen, ASID
Interior Designer
Studio 10 Interior Design, Denver

Why she was selected: Terjesen launched her firm in 2008, after post- Colorado State stints as a senior set designer at Home Shopping Network and then at a residential design-build business in Evergreen. In seven years, she has built Studio 10 into one of Denver’s most respected interior design companies, with particular strengths in new construction and remodels, kitchens and baths, project management, and commercial and hospitality projects.

Fun facts: She was born in Minneapolis, but her family moved to Denver when Kristen was 9. “I was always organizing my friends to go sell candy or have a lemonade stand. And I liked creating three-dimensional games, building them and making up the rules, too.” If she hadn’t been an interior designer, she would have loved a career as a dancer. “I guess all the tap, ballet, hip-hop, and jazz competitions I was in made me quick on my feet.”

When did you know you wanted to be an interior designer?
"The year before entering Colorado State at Fort Collins, I was visiting there with my cousin. We ran into the wrong building, and it happened to be the interior design department. They had all these student projects up on the walls, and the moment I saw them I thought, Oh, this is what I’m going to do."

How do you hope people will feel when they experience your work?
"I hope they’ll feel not only excited but also understood—that we had a good clear idea of what they wanted and made that happen for them."

What’s your favorite place in Colorado?
"Any sunny patio with a view of the Rockies at 4 o’clock on a Friday afternoon, having happy hour with my team after a work week well spent helping our clients make their dreams come true."

"We focus on helping our clients bring out their own personal styles. That’s why a portfolio of our work looks so diverse.”

Take a look at some of her work: