San Francisco-based interior designer Tineke Triggs has built an impressive reputation for creating spaces that masterfully balance bold imagination with inviting livability. Known for her fearless approach to design, Triggs specializes in jewel-toned living rooms, transformative ceiling murals, and homes layered with art and storytelling details that reflect her clients' true personalities.
Triggs' design philosophy centers on creating spaces that feel both comfortable and characterful. "Each project has its own identity," she explains. "I have to create a persona in my head of what the character will look like, the person who will live in the space." As someone who is dyslexic, Triggs relies heavily on visual cues and sketching, skills she developed as a peaceful outlet during her childhood. This visual approach helps her discover who her clients truly are, even when they themselves aren't sure.
When it comes to defining comfort in design, Triggs emphasizes the importance of not overthinking every detail. "It needs to be not overshowy - it needs to look like not every detail has been worried about," she states. "Don't over think design. It's like when brides over think their weddings. I remember walking down the aisle and not even looking at the stupid flowers I'd spent hours planning. Don't over-focus on the things that don't matter."
So what does matter in home design? According to Triggs, it's all about storytelling. "I feel like a home's decor is about storytelling, so what matters is what story it represents," she explains. While she admits to not being a minimalist and prefers to "over saturate" all her planes, each piece of art, accessory, carpet, and antique in her projects serves a narrative purpose. However, she maintains a practical philosophy: "Not every piece of furniture needs to be as important - it can just be comfortable and look nice and doesn't need to be a statement you've spent hours choosing."
Triggs has a particular passion for ceiling design, often incorporating murals and custom elements that encourage people to look up rather than down at their phones. "A ceiling is an opportunity to widen your space - I always feel that if your ceiling isn't done then it feels like it got left out," she says. She frequently collaborates with decorative artist Caroline Lizarraga on projects featuring gilded gold ceiling wallpaper with dripping paint effects down the walls, showcasing the custom imagination she brings to every project.
The pattern selection for ceilings depends on inspiration and the specific needs of each space. For a recent man cave project with low ceilings, Triggs used saturated gray tones on the walls and created an agate pattern on the ceiling that appeared to drip down. Her general rule is that when she uses dark walls, she wants the ceiling to become the focal point, creating visual interest and drawing the eye upward.
Even conservative clients benefit from Triggs' bold approach, though she adapts her vision accordingly. In one traditional project where everything was blue, she elevated the design with feathered wallpaper on the ceiling - a bold statement that wasn't overstated. This reflects her core design principle: creating spaces that are rich and inviting without being overstimulating, something that stems from her experience with ADD.
Triggs maintains that bold design can still feel inviting by focusing on comfortable, nature-inspired elements. "If something is comforting, it can still be bold," she notes. "Think about jewel tones - they're really rich but still really inviting because they're colors of nature." She also incorporates metallics for sparkle and visual interest, though she's careful not to go overboard with opulence.
Her approach to creating rhythm and depth within a room involves a seemingly chaotic but ultimately strategic process. "I will find lots of pieces I find interesting, throw them all into the basket, and then start taking things out as I build a presentation board," she describes. Working on up to 20 schemes simultaneously, she builds visual compositions by grouping fabrics and wallpapers together, relying on her need for everything to be visual.
Knowing when a project is complete comes down to more than just furniture placement. "The key to finishing a home is not the furniture, but everything else," Triggs explains. "An unfinished home is lacking art, accessories, plants, flowers, books and blankets and pillows - all that stuff that makes a space cozy. Once that's together, it feels finished." This attention to the final layers of decoration is what transforms a house into a home that tells a complete story about its inhabitants.
