Were highlighting talented Black interior designers who are thriving in the industry today.

He especially found design inspiration in those he was raised by: his grandmother and father.

What made you decide that being a designer was your calling?

A photo of David Quarles IV in his kitchen beside a photo of his yellow wallpapered wall

The Spruce / Photo Illustration by Amy Sheehan /David Quarles IV

When I was little my grandmother would change out her home every season and I was inspired by that.

It was just like “Oh, we can make a reality in spaces from our imagination.”

So, my grandmother and father had a big role in my becoming a designer.

a kitchen with green tiles, white color-flecked counters and colorful glassware

David Quarles IV

How would you describe your style and approach to designing spaces?

What life do you want to experience?

So why not make that be translated into how your home is designed?

A living room with a black couch and colorful pillows

David Quarles IV

And so my design style is free.

I’m very much known for my use of color so there will always besomething yellow.

My cultural inspiration comes from going back down toNew Orleansand visiting the Dominican Republic when I grew up.

A gray living room with colorful print on the wall, brown leather chair, and plants

David Quarles IV

And I just have always gravitated toward love and color.

Whats a design project that youve done thats stuck with you throughout your career?

Its a restaurant calledPanta.

A yellow tiled kitchen with a skylight

David Quarles IV

The chef came to me because he very much wanted a hodgepodge of culture.

He became a chef in Barcelona and became a new him but he has a lot of Memphis pride.

And so we merged the culture in Spain and Memphis into a space.

They couldn’t be built without the history of those who built it.

Whenever imposter syndrome comes back in and makes me doubt myself, I go there.

We also built it at the end of quarantine so the contractor and I had to fast-track it.

We did it in three weeks.

What does it mean to you to be Black in your industry?

It means being part of the pioneering team.

I was crushed and erroneously reasoned that everyone felt like that.

Whats your favorite part of your own home?

My kitchen because it’s the first space that I fully renovated from ceiling to floor.

So it’s my happy place.Yellowis the permanent or prominent color from the refrigerator down to the floors.

So yeah, the kitchen is my favorite right now sorry to the other places.