TIMELESS CRAFT

Gladys Schanstra is a designer known for creating interiors that balance beauty and function while reflecting each client’s personality. Her work is rooted in classical craftsmanship, thoughtful layouts, and timeless materials, blending contemporary design with hand-set details, mosaics, and carved stone. As the President, Creative Director, and Senior Designer at Drury Design, she draws inspiration from travel, art, and personal collections to craft spaces that feel elevated, purposeful, and deeply personal. Each project is tailored to how clients live, resulting in homes that are both stunning and practical.

What does luxury mean to you in 2026?
Luxury today means creating a space that elevates daily life by serving the way people actually live. It’s the freedom to have both beauty and function working together, tailored to the individual rather than a price point.

How do you tailor your approach for clients who expect both beauty and performance?
We start with how the space needs to function—who uses it, how often, and for what—and let the layout lead the design. When performance is resolved first, the materials and details naturally fall into place in a way that feels intentional and architectural.

What materials, technologies, or processes are exciting you right now?
I’m especially inspired by the renewed use of stone and wood, and the return to classical craftsmanship. We’re seeing centuries-old techniques—carved stone, mosaic inlays, hand-set details—reinterpreted in fresh, modern ways that bring depth and permanence to a space.

If you could collaborate with any tastemaker or public figure, who would it be and why?
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Beyond her sense of style, she had an exceptional eye for art, photography, and hospitality—an intuitive understanding of how spaces shape experience and memory.

Drury Design is located at 512 N. Main Street in Glen Ellyn. For more information, call 630-534-9794 or visit drurydesigns.com.

---