Before RANDY HELLER even considers a chip of paint or a swatch of fabric, she grasps the architecture of a space. “Proportion, form, and scale come first,” says the founder of Pure & Simple Interior Design on Chicago’s North Shore. “The room has to be right architecturally. I love working with the shell of the house first.” Heller, a graduate of the International Academy of Art in Chicago, learned this lesson early in her career when she studied under celebrity designer Kelly Hoppen in the U.K. to broaden her scope of interior design and architecture. Upon returning to the United States, she spent 10 years working on homes as varied as multi-level living and converted horse stables before opening her Design House and Learning Center, a hybrid design studio and art gallery, in a renovated 1925 English Caldwell in downtown Ravinia. There, in her signature neutral palette, Heller combines her love of art, contemporary design, and antiques, and invites clients and design enthusiasts to immerse themselves in the transformative world of design. “I believe design has the ability to change the way we feel on a daily basis,” she says. “Successful design creates monumental experiences in one’s life.”

Randy Heller Pure & Simple Interior Design, and Design House and Learning Center, are located at 836 Judson Avenue in Highland Park. For more information, call 847-926-7025 or visit randyhellerdesign.com.