French-born Romain Baty arrived in the U.S. in 2016, leaving behind a burgeoning interior-design career inspired by years of art direction in elite Paris fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent and Dior. “I always wanted to live abroad,” he says. “When my husband was offered a job in Washington with the IMF, I said, ‘Yes!’”

The move turned out to be an opportunity for Baty, who now works on both sides of the Atlantic—currently completing a project on Capitol Hill while embarking on another in Paris. The designer espouses an eclectic sensibility. “I bring together different styles, shapes, and forms for contrast,” he explains. “This is what is interesting to me. I want to draw out my clients’ tastes but also expose them to something new.

“People have different values and cultures,” he continues. “Home is about intimacy and that means different things to different people. How you furnish your house is what you say to others about yourself.”

Interior Design: Romain Baty; Romain Baty, Washington, DC.