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Sung Yoo Design

@sungsation

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Sung Yoo Design
↓ Explore my work + philosophy

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Decorating around a fleeting aesthetic isn’t design. It’s shopping with a mood board without any real intention behind it. And that’s why so many spaces that look beautiful on camera but feel completely off when you’re actually inside of them.

Because a space can be full of the right objects and still have no soul. No flow. No sense of why anything is where it is.

Real design is about how a space performs for your life, your energy, your daily movement. How it shapes the way you think, feel and the way you decompress. That’s the part that outlasts any trend cycle 🔄

A trend can inform a decision. It should never be the reason for one especially in your home or long term lived in spaces.

What are your thoughts?👇🏽

Stunning cover 📷: @ad_germany @pinterest
#DesignPhilosophy #IntentionalDesign #IntentionalLiving #HomeDesign #InteriorDesign taken in New York, New York by @sungsation

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4 months ago

What a dayyy to participate in this milestone ✍🏽 The Court Residences breaks ground 🪏🪨🚜🏗️ 189 unit apartment is officially ready for building. So grateful for the vision, incredible teams, and the community shaping it together. What a beautiful opportunity and moment to be📍If you’re headed in the right direction, more paths will open up 🙏🏽 09.05.25 xx

A&R Corp @jpmorgan @bluehubcapital @kevintsaiarchitecture @jzarchitecture // 📷@mattoliver 📹 @dallendeta 🍽️ @caribbeanchildla tysm for your time and presence ❤️‍🔥 taken in Echo Park by @sungsation

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a year ago

You like the designer piece 💸 You hate the price 😕 But what is it about the higher quality piece you’re really reacting to?

Is it the scale, the material, the proportion, the color combination? How about the things you can’t see: engineering, weight, quality of mechanisms, intention.
A dupe isn’t the problem but knowing what makes the original worth it is so you know what you’re paying for.

Touch is our first language. Your body feels quality before your eyes and it feels when something is pretending, trying too hard to be something it’s not. There’s tension that builds in that, whether you are aware of it or not. The more aware you become of what your whole body is experiencing, the more you’ll start to recognize what to look for in materials, in form, in the details so you get the value of what you’re actually after.

Understand that, and “too expensive” or “too cheap” is an opinion but extremely variable depending on context and bigger picture. So, are you taking notice to observe what you’re willing to and want to pay for so you are choosing mindfully 🧘🏾‍♂️

#homedesign #intentionalliving #designphilosophy taken in New York, New York by @sungsation

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12 hours ago

Design Memo: Part 8 🪑🛏️🪔 How to buy ‘cheap’ without looking cheap 💸 mix & match + what not to buy at IKEA 🛍️

‘Cheap’ isn’t about price. A space feels cheap when too many pieces are pretending to be something they’re not with no balance between them or balanced elements.

Fake wood, wannabe brass, synthetic fabrics, plastic plants, flat textures on everything, all gathered in one room reads as cheap and hollow before you can explain why. This is because our bodies experience environments, not just our eyes.

Think about your selections this way: spend on what you touch, save on what you look at. The closer something is to your body, the more your whole body senses its quality. The things at a distance, you notice less. Because everything in your environment affects you 🕴️ your thoughts, your feelings, even the way you move.

📌 Save this before your next shopping spree:
Spend On - the couch, bed, mattress, the chairs you sit in daily, anything with a mechanism or real weight.
Save On - IKEA skip-list: the things you feel every single day, even bedding and towels
Save On - side tables, floating shelves, organizers inside closets, planters, anything decorative you don’t touch.

When a cheap piece can’t quite mimic a material, go the opposite way 👉🏾 Simple color, simple finish. Pretending is what looks cheap, not the price tag, which no one can see anyway.

📝 A space feels cheap when these details are unconsidered ✍🏾

In this reel:
Cup: @canvashomestore
Burning: Sage
Images: unknown @pinterest
Lamp, floating shelf, drawer: @ikea @ikeausa
#homestyle #interior #designtips #ikea taken in New York, New York by @sungsation

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2 days ago

We design for the eyes 👀 and forget the nose 👃🏼 even though scent is the sense most tied to memory 💭
 A space you can smell is a space you’ll remember. Scent is the fastest way to change how a space feels and how you feel in it 🙂‍↕️
 📌 Save this for your space: Grounding — sandalwood, rose, cedarwood Calm — lavender, neroli, bergamot Clarity — sage, palo santo, lemongrass Lift — yuzu, lemon, lime, black currant Comfort — fig, ginger, peach, pear 
What memory do you want your space to make?
#designphilosophy #homedesign

Images: Unknown @pinterest taken in New York, New York by @sungsation

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7 days ago

I see the relationship between space and well-being as one of the most overlooked yet influential aspects of how we live. Drawing from principles of essentialism, spatial intelligence, Feng Shui, and environmental psychology, I approach design as a tool for shaping human experience rather than simply designing aesthetic places. Every decision from circulation, proportion to natural light and the tactile qualities of materials influences how people move through a space, interact with it, and remember how it made them feel.

I work with teams and individuals that view design as a strategic tool rather than simply an aesthetic exercise. Beyond aesthetics, thoughtful design and architecture shape how people feel, behave, connect and live.

Ultimately, I’m interested in contributing in creating environments that support people, strengthen communities and remain memorable because of they make people feel.

Full article on Bold Journey @boldjourneymag 🖤 taken in New York, New York by @sungsation

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10 days ago

In response to requests 💇🏻‍♀️ Low effort, high impact wave tutorial ⏱️ Only takes 5:32 max 🤍 I value practicality & efficiency in routines 🏃🏾‍♀️
What I use:
1. Iron @ghdhair Chronos Curve Conical Wand the tapered shape creates variation and texture, heats up extremely fast 🔗 in bio
2. Heat Protectant - @sachajuan light weight, very light scent formula 🤍
3. Wooden Mini Brush - compact for travel 🧳
Fold Comb 🪮- from a hotel 😬
4. Texture spray - only use some days @kristinesshair
5. Matte hair stick - so easy for baby hairs in Amazon store 🔗 in bio

💇🏻‍♀️ Cut & Color with the bestest Satuski @obacchi_salon 🗽 ny

🍵 Double lined Nero cup @blomusofficial
☕️ I drink cortados

#hairtutorial #hairstyle #easyhairstyles taken in New York, New York by @sungsation

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13 days ago

Design Memo: Part 7 🌬️🪟🏮
Rental-friendly ways to elevate your space without losing your deposit 💸 You can’t paint, you can’t touch the hardware, you can’t renovate but you can transform how a space feels with reversible layers that impact how you live in your space. Intention is what makes a space yours 🤍

📌 Save this before your next refresh:

Lighting: add warmth from below and layers throughout Drapes: mounted high, they soften and lift your ceilings
Drape as divider: adds texture and separates zones in a studio or open space
Rugs: add one for texture or layer them to add depth
Scent: add natural grounding scents is a part of the design🌲 pine, cedar wood, sandalwood, lavender, sage
Side Tables / Accents: Use atypical objects when you can to solve for small moments
Objects: make them reflect your character, love and joy
Oversized art: one big piece > a wall of small frames

Slowing down the process of how you design your space with intent is what creates a beautiful, energetic and considered home ❤️🏡❤️

Glass Cup: @canvashomestore
☕️: @teeccino

My Reccs:
Custom Drapes & Track: @chateau.window.fashion
Semi Custom Drapes: @thoahome
Wool Rugs: @elikorugsdavidariel
Drape track / divider: @evertrackusa
Insence Cones: @cactusbodega
Insence: @hinok.us

#interiordesign #designtipsandtricks #homedesign taken in Santa Monica, California by @sungsation

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17 days ago

Design Memo: Part 6 🍵🫖
You don’t have a space problem. You have a perspective problem 🙂 A ‘small’ space isn’t an issue, it’s concentrated. You can make the choices more meaningful and matter at every moment with intent. Eliminate what you don’t use. Organize what you keep. Optimize for how you actually live. Then design it through scale, composition, and texture.

Because your space isn’t just something you look at but live inside of it and experience with all your senses. It should look good, function well, and feel good to be in.

Small isn’t the limit. An unfinished, unconsidered space is. If anyone you know thinks a small space is the issue 👉🏽 Save, send, comment and follow for more ❤️

Black Kettle @fellowproducts
Linens + towels @halemercantile
Furniture @designwithinreach
Leather table + stool @atelierfomenta
Lamp @atelier.alz @_paguet

👗 Guizio @danielleguizio @guizioo

My Recc’s 📋
Bedding: 🛏️ @citta
Glass cups ☕️ @canvashomestore
Images: Unknown @pinterest

#smallspaces #interiordesign #smallspaces taken in Santa Monica, California by @sungsation

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23 days ago

Basic in budget but bougie in taste? Best gift ever 🚀

Budget doesn’t determine quality it’s just one parameter in how we solve a design problem. So, I’m going to help you see the framework of what you’re actually looking for. Lead someone to water and they drink for a day. Show them the river, and they’ll never be thirsty again🚰 Yeah so, I’m here with you.

I can make recommendations but what I really want is for you to identify your own values, build your own point of view, and find what’s ultimately your personal style.

💈Hair takes 5 min 32 sec max!
💇🏽‍♀️ Conical Quality is legit and heats up really fast @ghdhair 🔗 in bio
🪥 Folding Comb you can get it from a hotel 🤷🏻‍♀️
🧴Heat Protectant & Finishing Cream @sachajuan
🧴Hair Styling Stick for baby hairs @matomage_official
🫗 Spanish Beer Glass @canvashomestore
👚 Men’s M @flaneurhomme_ams
👖 @uniqlousa @uniqlo 🇰🇷
#design taken in Santa Monica, California by @sungsation

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a month ago

Design Memo: Part 5 🧑🏽‍💻🛋️🪩🪑
The difference between a pieces you keep for decades or replace in two years is not only about the price tag. It’s the quality, details and materials you need to pay attention to. This is exactly why buying online is so tricky and how a photo and the vibe of the actual piece can feel completely different.

Here’s what to look for and the mistakes to stop making:

1. Not all wood is equal. Solid hardwood is the real investment it ages beautifully and lasts generations. Next, solid-core and wood veneer can be amazing when designed well. Then MDF, laminate, and vinyl-wrap: fine in the right place, as long as you know exactly where and how you’re interacting with each. Online, don’t just trust the word “wood” in a listing look for the actual material named, check the weight in the specs, and zoom in on the grain and edges. If a listing won’t tell you what it’s made of, that’s your answer.

2. Linen is the same story. Crisp and structured is one thing; soft washed linen is another pre-treated so it’s supple from day one and won’t shrink or stiffen on you. That lived-in quality that only gets better with time. Buying online? Order a swatch before you commit. The biggest mistake is trusting a screen for color and texture.

3. Couches are where the money most often gets wasted by not knowing what to look for in longevity & comfort. Look past the style and what’s inside: high density foam that holds its shape, a down or down blend fill or feather down. They’re different. Does the cushions have springs so it doesn’t sag within the year. Check fill and frame details, not just the star rating. If they’re not listed, ask before you buy and order searches for the fabric.

4. Fabric or paint swatches - order & feel the materials in your hands as well as for color. Looking at color in all different times of day in natural light.

The objects and you live with, touch and interact with every day affect you mentally and emotionally. They deserve to be chosen with intent to gracefully patina with you 🤍
📌 Save or send this to a friend this before your next furniture purchase 🛌
👖: @moussyvintage
#interiordesign #homedecor taken in Santa Monica, California by @sungsation

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a month ago

The more environments that move you, the more dimensions you have for being alive & the more you see, the more perspective you gain.

I don’t know much but here are two thoughts 💭

1st: Our time here is uncertain. The one choice we do have is how we live it - in ease and flow, or in rage and tension. Every environment, every person, every experience leaves us with something to learn from and grow through.
2nd: Design is the same principle. The environments you live in and move through shape your point of view, your values, the way you see the world. It’s your point of view that you’re building.

Your home should reflect all of it the personality, the balance, the energy of who you actually are but you have to experience a range to gain range.

Energy moves outward, endlessly, and we are made larger by it.

Designing a home that feels beautiful means intentionally choosing things that hold your perspective. It has to be consciously designed exactly the way life is. So go 🏃🏾🏃🏽‍♀️🏃🏿‍♂️ See the places that are unfamiliar, not only physical places but do inner work, let go, be uncomfortable, learn from others, get curious about anything, let new ways and environments do their work.

The perspective you gather becomes the person you are and everything you build afterward. You’ll carry it with you and that’s where design, and a life, really begin🫀In order to know what is truly essential to you, you have to go through things to figure it out 🙂‍↕️ It’s a life long process but again, we don’t know how long that is ❤️

@kawasakiusa @foxmoto #travel taken in Earth by @sungsation

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2 months ago