Business & Tech

From International Development to Interior Design: Arlington Woman Follows Her Passion

Eva Suwak started designing homes last year.

Eva Suwak is raising twins, speaks five languages and previously had a career in international development and finance, but design has always been her passion.

And the Arlington woman seized on that in the fall, starting her her own interior design business after her friends saw her home and asked, "Can you do that for me?"

“Maybe I have something here,” Suwak remembers thinking.

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And so, Home Fashion by Eva launched in October. Suwak, who is from Slovakia, grew up watching her father build the family's home, and she picked up how to work with tools.

“I have a natural interest in how things are made,” she said. “I want to take it apart and put it back together.”

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Suwak started out designing a room for a friend’s father and went from there, focusing on small projects and relying on word-of-mouth recommendations for finding new clients.

“It’s not full interior design where I come and design the whole house,” she said. “I help if someone is missing a headboard or they need advice on choosing a fabric for a chair.”

Suwak designs items for clients, taking her own measurements and installing everything herself. 

“I do everything from scratch,” she said.

One of Suwak's friends, Jill Lennox, recently hired her to design her codices and is now asking her to look for area rugs.

“She has a great eye; she’s very particular,” said Lennox, of Arlington. “She has a good sense of style and just kind of knows how colors go together and what things look good together.”

Growing up in Europe has added a bit of flair to Suwak's style.

“I very much like a style that’s modern, but I’m not afraid to mix it with antiques or with old-world furniture,” she said.

I would think that my style is innovative and that people can look at it and think, ‘I wouldn’t think I could put this and this together, but I like it.’ "


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