Within three and a half years, 26-year-old Katrina Stumbos has transitioned from college graduate to business owner.

In her newly minted office on Fair Oaks Boulevard, Stumbos invites clients to brainstorm their dream spaces inside her treasure trove of fabrics, woods, wallpapers and tiles. Some fabrics in her sample collection belong to her own custom furniture line, many pieces of which are fabricated locally. When she’s not at her office, Stumbos is in her clients’ homes and offices, on construction sites, working with local artists and turning creative vision into reality.

“I took a leap of faith,” she says. “I wanted to work for myself and be on my own. I knew it would be a lot of hard work, but I didn’t know how much I would love it.”

Stumbos now runs Four Design, designing spaces in four markets: residential, commercial, hospitality and health care. In the past year, she’s worked on the remodeling of more than a dozen homes and commercial spaces around town, including office renovations in the historic Regis Hotel building at 11th and K streets. She’s even recently hired an intern from UC Davis and will be expanding further in the new year.

“My clients become friends and family. They let me into a very personal part of their lives, and I hold that dear to my heart,” Stumbos says.

Before striking out on her own, Stumbos worked alongside other designers and created spaces on the DIY Network’s “House Crashers” television series.
“It’s fun to see something you dream of come alive so quickly,” she says.

Though she’s always had a flair for design, Stumbos went a roundabout way to pursue her passion. She attended Sonoma State for a sociology degree and Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo for an English degree.

On a fateful day at her parents’ home, while painting her childhood bedroom, she realized her path was headed in the wrong direction. Within months, she was enrolled in the Art Institute of California in Sacramento to start her interior design career.

Aside from her business, Stumbos is heavily involved in local philanthropy, including work with St. John’s Shelter for Women and Children. “There is always time to give back,” she says.