Studio Black Oak’s Larissa Peixoto on her firm’s modern, global style.
Larissa Peixoto has had a somewhat circuitous route to both living in Buckhead and being an interior designer with a thriving business. The Brazil-born creative started her professional career as a lawyer before pivoting and moving to the Atlanta area. Now, she and her team work with residential and commercial clients, bringing a design perspective she calls “global modern with a twist.” Here, we learn more about Peixoto’s path.
You started your career as an attorney. How did you end up in design?
I went to law school in Brazil and worked with contracts and all the boring stuff, but I always loved design and architecture. It was always in me, this passion. When we moved to the U.S., I had the opportunity to start all over again. It was either study to be a lawyer here or start a new career with something I really enjoyed. It was a no‑brainer for me. I went back to college in Chicago and graduated in interior design. I worked for a few companies there, including celebrity designer Nate Berkus. That’s really where my design career started.
What drew you and your family to Buckhead?
When COVID hit, we were just by ourselves in Chicago. It was cold and depressing. We thought, “OK, we need to move somewhere warmer where we can have more outdoors and more nature.” Atlanta sounded like the perfect place. We originally lived in Sandy Springs, which is also a great area, but we wanted this Buckhead vibe. I really like the shops, how you can just walk around and go to Phipps Plaza. I feel like I’m in the city here. I love Buckhead.
Tell us about Studio Black Oak: the name, the team and the kind of projects you take on.
I know a lot of designers just put their names on the business, but I didn’t want it to be about me. I wanted it to be about the people who work with me, the vendors, the designers, the clients, everybody. Black oak is a tree that’s very strong and steady. It grows slowly but very steadily. That really relates to what I’m doing here: starting like a tree and, step by step, getting bigger and stronger. We work mostly with renovations and from the ground up, with architects from day one. We’ll still take on smaller projects if it’s the right fit, but we really prefer full renovations or new builds. We have a team of three people.
How is your aesthetic different from what we see all over online design inspiration sites?
We like to keep things timeless but not boring. With Pinterest and now AI, everybody can pull a picture of a room and think they’re a designer, but everything looks the same. You see all these images and all the houses are starting to look very similar. We try to bring something that is timeless but also unique. Our approach is very global. We try not to look only at what’s happening around us. When you do that, you start to repeat what everybody else is doing. Instead, we look at different places, materials and ways to use those materials.
You describe your style as “global modern.” How do you keep that global perspective fresh?
I try to travel at least once a year to a design show somewhere in the world. Last year I was in Vancouver for the Interior Design Show. This year I went to Brazil for Casa Cor, one of the largest interior design exhibitions in the Americas. Next year I’m planning to go to Italy because they have Salone del Mobile Milano there, one of the largest furniture fairs in the world. I also go to High Point Market in North Carolina. At least once a year, I want to be somewhere where there’s a design show happening, just to see what people are up to and what’s coming next.
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