In pursuing her second career, Agni Pavlidou Kyprianou of APK Designs, LLC, feels she has finally landed in the job she was meant for.

A computer programmer of custom database applications for financial businesses, before taking off ten years to be at home with her children, Ms Kyprianou returned to school and received her bachelor of fine arts in interior architecture and design from the Academy of Art at the University of San Francisco. She has been working as a designer for four years.

“I always wanted to do this, but went into the computer profession because it was considered a ‘safe’ profession. Ever since I was a child, though, I’ve been looking at spaces and thinking about how it could be made better — what furniture could be moved around, what would make it work.

“After being at home for ten years, I knew I would have to go back to school anyway for computers, so I decided to pursue what I loved,” she said.

She opened her own business, operated out of her Sandy Hook home, in 2012. APK Designs, LLC, an interior design firm for commercial and residential customers, was the recipient of a Best of 2013 Award from Hauzz.com, a residential website.

Interior architecture is the art of devising areas in an interior. APK Designs will take a space down to the studs to reconfigure space, if needed, do ceiling designs and lighting schemes, on down to the selection of finish materials, fixtures, and furniture. “An interior architect will see a space through, from the beginning to the very finish,” Ms Kyprianou said. “I think of the end result and how to achieve it. When I design, my job is to express the vision of my client,” she said, “whatever that style is. I’m not expressing my taste, but that of my client. I feel that is very important.”

Aside from space planning, APK Designs, LLC also offers 3D renderings; assistance in materials selection; kitchen or bath design; and home staging when a house is on the market. From a single room that needs redesigning to the complete overhaul of 7,500 square feet of office space, APK Designs, LLC provides start-to-end service.

She has had great success in commercial work, she said, but is seeking to do more for residential clients in the area, as well as more office design.

“I get up and love going to work, whether it is a big commercial job or a smaller one. It’s a gift,” said Ms Kyprianou, “to do what you love.”