I am always fascinated by certain people that were drawn to their destiny as young as eight years old.

Ursula Kloeters knew beauty and creativity would be an integral part of her life. As a child, she watched her mother at the sewing machine in Krefeld, Germany, a small town a few kilometers from Dusseldorf. Ursula first designed and made dresses for her dolls and then her own line of clothing and as she got a little older,

“I made my own mini-skirts and I could make them as short as I wanted.”

She admits she was always creative.

“I made things no one else had.”

She wanted to continue with her creative pursuits, but her parents did not feel that a creative life would be practical or lucrative. They asked their daughter,

“Bist Du Verrueckt?” (Are you crazy?)

They proceeded to send Ursula to Business School.

“I kicked and screamed of course. I learned about typing and Accounting, which later on was useful.”

After Business School, Ursula continued her studies in Dusseldorf, the fashion capital of Germany. She was classically trained as an Interior Architect, where she studied the Bauhaus style focusing on clean lines, aestheticism and functionality.

A Post Graduate scholarship took Ursula to the American University in Cairo, Egypt where she studied Islamic Art and Architecture.

“This was a great addition to my studies in Germany. Because in Germany it’s all about the Bauhaus which is very modern, classical and contemporary, and the Islamic world is colorful and decorated. It was a great joining of these two styles.”

In 1984, Ursula came to the Bay Area. She liked the International flavor as she speaks English, German, French and Arabic. For seven years she worked for various Architects and Interior Designers. In 1991, she registered her company name, Square One Interiors and embarked on her own. Today, she works from her home office in the Inner Sunset.

Why Square One?

Her passion ignites.

“Everyone comes back to Square One.”

It seems that there is a delicate balance in this work: part artist, psychologist and manager, combining beauty, personality and efficiency.

Ursula explains,

“I don’t do cookie cutter designs.”

In her relationship with her clients,

“I have a bright new approach to their project and I listen to what they need and want. I hardly ever do two things twice.

This includes vendors as she shows me her massive rolodex.

Over a twelve year period, Ursula has designed four different homes for one of her clients. This started as a condo in San Francisco, the clients then moved to Atlanta, then Hawaii and now she just completed the design for their loft in Santa Monica.

“95% of my business is word of mouth.”

Last year she designed seven different bathrooms in San Francisco and several kitchens.

“Out of that very often comes the whole house. Lighting in one room, carpets in another, paint in another. I get involved in re-structuring the house to make it better.”

Presently she is working on a home in Diamond Heights.

“This woman had a huge room with an incredible view and it was used as the Media room. It had a dinky bathroom off to the side that didn’t have a tub. Her bedroom was a small room that looked out over the garage.”

Ursula employed her skills.

“I said something is wrong here. This should be flipped around. So we did. We expanded the bathroom into the crawl space underneath the house. The house is on a slope, so there was extra space underneath. We made a huge master bathroom with a free standing tub, with glass enclosures, stand up shower and double vanities. She now has a 300 sq foot bedroom with an absolutely incredible view. You see the ocean on one side and the bay on the other.”

This leads me to the illusive quality of beauty as I could lose an entire day immersed in the fantasy presented in Architectural Digest, Elle Décor or House Beautiful.

She offers her explanation.

“The gist of the work is to make the client feel better in their own home. I want them to come home and say, Wow! I live here.”

It is about the synthesis of fantasy and reality.

“I listen and elicit their dreams. I use books and magazines to see what they love. People don’t know how to say it. It’s very subliminal.”

She takes their dream and brings it to fruition.

“I need to be the advocate for my clients.”

There are challenges to the business.

“Sometimes there are problems with the contractors, not showing up or things not coming in, or the bathtub is delivered with a chip. I have to deal with the problems.”

“Form follows function. Things need to work correctly. If you have to go a long way from the living room to the bathroom or the refrigerator is in the wrong corner in the kitchen, you are constantly irritated, so it needs to work and on top of that you need to make it look fabulous.”

She explains the individual aspects of this.

“Some people love ocean colors, some people want things to be warm and cozy and a little bit darker. You have to listen to the client.”

She discusses the sensuous qualities.

“A beautiful fabric, a silk or a velvet or the texture or the finish on the wood… This all syncs together and makes a room beautiful in the end.”

Ursula’s greatest accomplishment?

“I’ve been able to make a good living with my passion.”

NEXT WEEK: MEET RAJ, SALES REP FOR EZ MENUS.