BRINGING DESIGN TO LIFE FOR OVER 60 YEARS
MEET OUR INCREDIBLE TEAM
With over 60 years of combined experience, the Pacifica team's portfolio has been featured in numerous publications and has earned both national recognition as well as regional awards, including the Grand Aurora's best-in-category and Sand Dollar perfect score. Besides their extensive residential work, Pacifica has merchandised interiors for model homes in Southwest Florida's most prestigious communities including Grey Oaks, Mediterra, Quail West, Bay Colony and Lakewood Ranch.
LOU
SHAFRAN
CEO / FOUNDER
Lou Shafran’s first job after graduating UCLA, where she majored in political science, was an interior design project. “I just fell madly in love with art and design, so it was bye-bye pre-law,” she laughs. “Aim high and expect the best became my mantra,” says Shafran. That was 30 years ago and she’s been designing smart, stylish residences and commercial projects ever since. “I believe good design is not about trends or rules, but creating timeless beauty that enhances one’s daily life.”
Shafran and her team of professionals comprise the new Naples-based firm, Pacifica Interior Design. The company’s name reflects Lou Shafran’s California roots, where she launched her career designing grand homes in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills. The firm melds East and West Coast mentalities into a design aesthetic with a lasting quality—it’s why Shafran-designed homes are as fresh in ten years as they are today.
This comfortable, elegant style is sought by discerning local and national clients, alike. Shafran, who designs fabric, furniture and lighting, develops interiors she describes as “calm, comfortable, uncluttered—with a mix of antiques, contemporary pieces, and a few bold, breathtaking changes.” She seeks an enduring style in her interiors. “Fashion may influence design,” she observes, “but you can’t change rooms every season. I listen to my clients and give them interiors they never dreamed of.”
Pacifica Interior Design is a full-service firm, specializing in comprehensive interior design services, construction, remodeling and space planning for residential, multi-family and commercial projects. The creative team’s thorough understanding of a client’s needs and desires is critical to all in-house disciplines and projects. It sets her hallmark for design: “Our focus is about creating smart new looks. I believe in the beauty of simplicity and understatement, keeping the eye interest by balancing shapes, colors and textures.” And as always, Lous says the entire process is, “collaborative, exploratory and appropriate to the specific needs of each client.”
Shafran has repeatedly earned recognition for excellence individually in California and regionally as a team, with Grand Sand Dollar perfect scores and Grand Aurora best-in-category awards. They have created memorable homes for clients throughout Naples and the nation, as well as merchandised interiors for model homes in southwest Florida’s most prestigious communities, including Bay Colony, Bay Colony Estates, Grey Oaks, Mediterra, Park Shore, Pelican Bay, Quail West, Longboat Key and Sarasota. “People always remember our homes, even years later,” says Shafran. “The design is timeless and it leaves a lasting impression.”
KATIE PENN
ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE
Katie Penn graduated with a degree in Hospitality Management from Purdue University. After several years of restaurant management in major cities like Indianapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Katie decided to change careers. She moved to Florida in 2000 and joined Lou when the doors of Pacifica were first opened for business. Penn brings her passion for working with people to every client relation and her eye for detail to purchasing, bookkeeping and all things office at Pacifica.
RICK FOREMAN
DESIGNER & PURCHASING
Rick Foreman has worked for Lou Shafran at Pacifica Interior Design since 2006. Rick studied Fine Arts at Akron University in Akron Ohio, working for JoAnn Stores, Inc. in Hudson Ohio in store design and product merchandising. Moving to Naples, Florida in 1998, he was previously the gallery director for The Englishman Fine European Art and Antiques on 3rd Street South in old Naples, Vail, Colorado, and Atlanta, Georgia. His travels with The Englishman have taken him to the Sotheby’s Fine Art and European Antique auctions in London, England as well as the markets in Paris, France, including the Maison Objet at Paris Nord Villepinte. His experience also includes work with interior designer Jamie Merida from Easton, Maryland. Rick brings an extensive background in design, architecture and space management, all essential when designing interiors to their proper scale for the ever changing Naples market.
MARK VANAGAS
SENIOR DESIGNER
Mark Vanagas began working with Lou Shafran at Pacifica in 2002, starting as a Design Assistant and working his way up to Senior Designer. Vanagas started cultivating his discerning taste with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Studio Art, Painting and Illustration from Southern Connecticut State University. He continued his work with a fourteen-year career in store-line and corporate visual merchandising in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Now relocated to Florida, Vanagas uses these many years of visual presentation experience to bring a unique style and discerning eye for accessorizing client and model homes alike.