Long before I formally studied graphic design or even knew that design was a thing, I was learning through my mom’s self taught design practice. Her ability to transform everyday spaces, from her fashion and our home to food and gardens, shaped how I now think about design instincts.
My mom grew up in a Polish American family in northern New Jersey. She was born Barbara Malanowski. Her design aesthetic was shaped as much by garbage picking, exploring antique stores, garage sales, and home tours with my dad as it was by hours spent at the local nursery on her own and attending workshops at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum with her friend Beate.
Looking at her spaces today, and looking back on my childhood, I recognize that my mom’s gardens were my first studio school. They taught a young Kristina how much a design consciousness can bring joy, curiosity, and meaning to everyday life, and how those instincts can become the foundation for both a personal and professional way of seeing the world.