Stephanie Thatenhorst Interior Design: Hospitality, Craft and the Courage of Instinct

Based in Munich, Stephanie Thatenhorst Interior Design operates with a quiet authority shaped by experience, intuition and a finely tuned understanding of space. Her studio stands for holistic interior concepts with personality, working fluidly across hospitality, private residences, retail, offices and health environments. Each project is approached as an individual narrative, shaped by people, place and atmosphere rather than a fixed visual signature.

Thatenhorst’s interiors are grounded in a strong architectural sensitivity, treating the building as a given framework and the interior as its emotional articulation. Materials are selected for their tactility and honesty, proportions are carefully considered, and atmospheres are composed rather than styled. Sustainability is embedded as a natural responsibility of contemporary design, expressed through durable materials, regional production and an enduring respect for craftsmanship.

Hospitality is one of the studio’s defining hallmarks. Over the years, Stephanie Thatenhorst has built a substantial portfolio of restaurants and hotels, developing a reputation for interiors that enhance experience without overshadowing it. These are spaces designed to be inhabited, not observed. Flow, acoustics, lighting and material rhythm are calibrated to support comfort, conversation and mood.

Among the most recognised projects is Ullrhaus in St. Anton, a design-led Alpine hotel completed in 2021. Named after Ullr, the ancient Norse god of skiing, the hotel translates reductive luxury into a mountain context with warmth and restraint. Natural materials, tactile surfaces and spatial clarity give the hotel its calm authority, allowing Alpine character to emerge without cliché. Ullrhaus remains a key reference point within the studio’s hospitality portfolio.

Restaurant design plays an equally important role. Recent work includes KOMU, the two Michelin-starred restaurant, where the interior is deliberately composed as a measured backdrop to culinary precision. Here, design supports rather than competes, relying on proportion, material restraint and spatial calm to frame the dining experience. Other restaurant and hospitality projects under the studio’s belt demonstrate the same fluency, moving between intimate retreat and urban energy with ease.

This hospitality expertise informs all areas of the practice. Private residential interiors benefit from the studio’s understanding of comfort and flow, while retail and workplace projects draw on hospitality principles to create environments that feel welcoming, human and intuitively navigable.

Thatenhorst’s aesthetic language is deliberately plural. Her work often oscillates between two worlds. One is expressive, urban and confident, embracing colour, bold combinations and unexpected moments. The other is quieter and more withdrawn, favouring monochrome palettes, natural textures and spatial stillness. This duality allows her to respond instinctively to context rather than imposing a fixed style.

Craft is a constant. Handcrafted carpentry, handwoven textiles, traditional loom fabrics and raw materials appear throughout her work, grounding even the most playful interiors in substance. She has a particular affinity for smaller manufacturers and independent makers, seeing collaboration as a way to support craft cultures while enriching her own design vocabulary.

This curatorial instinct led to the opening of her studio shop in 2019 on Theresienstraße in Schwabing, conceived as a lived-in apartment rather than a conventional showroom. In June 2025, the studio enters a new chapter with the opening of its new showroom at Pacellistraße 5, just steps from Maximiliansplatz in Munich. No longer based in Maxvorstadt, the move signals an evolution in both positioning and ambition. The new space presents a top-tier exhibition programme of national and international manufacturers within an interior designed to be experienced rather than browsed. It is intended as a place to feel good, to discover and to linger.

Health and wellbeing projects have become an increasingly important strand of the studio’s work. Medical and clinical environments are reimagined through warmth, colour and material sensitivity, proving that functional spaces can also be humane and emotionally intelligent. Offices are treated as social landscapes rather than corporate shells, shaped by zoning, acoustics and domestic cues that support both collaboration and retreat.

At the heart of Thatenhorst’s practice is instinct. Her guiding principle is simple and uncompromising: trust the gut, be brave, and when in doubt, bring colour into play. This courage extends to her choice of collaborators and clients, many of whom value her ability to think beyond convention and approach each brief with fresh eyes.

Stephanie Thatenhorst is a designer of opposites, and it is precisely this balance that defines her hallmark. Her interiors are joyful yet composed, eclectic yet disciplined, contemporary yet timeless. From Michelin-starred restaurants to Alpine hotels, urban showrooms to private homes, her work demonstrates that individuality, when guided by craft and intuition, remains one of the most compelling forms of modern luxury.

I would love to create for a yacht - either a motorboat or full sail, I think there are so many possibilities to deck out a marine vessel - preferably anchored somewhere warm

Stephanie Thatenhorst | Architect + Design Studio | The Aficionados