About

photograph by Katie Gebala

The spring of 2020 brought many changes for us all. As the world we created pivoted away in bits and pieces from our beloved cafe-bar in the Central District, we moved into a cottage-industry set-up with a bi-weekly Third Place Virtual Reading Room and Coffee Shop, and sometimes hosted small concerts online. The support from the community was overwhelming, but sadly it was not something we could sustain. In the winter of 2022, I was asked to join a project to restore a beautiful home on Shilshole Bay after a devastating King Tide. The role was to lead design solutions & project management to bring the house back from the ravages of saltwater damage to an exquisite, market-ready waterfront bungalow. This became the inspriration for what would become PRUF Studio — a woman-owned, Seattle-based, general contracting firm specializing in residential/commercial projects with a bend toward atmospheric design and sustainability.

With an extended resume in the arts, I had been actively creating unique spaces throughout my work  life, for my businesses, my employers, collaborative art projects, film, music videos and now my clients. It has always been my goal to achieve the desired effect as envisioned by my clients/collaborators, while keeping my eye on the best outcome for the setting, circumstance, budget and timeline given. Limits are good — they help us define things.

Decades of living abroad in Europe and Asia has provided me with a broad visual memory bank, allowing me to innovate novel aesthetic solutions and elevate the value of any space. I guide my clients through the renovation process and leave room to tell their story through color, materials and atmosphere. While not all tangible items, I believe in cultivating confidence through expression of self in the lived environment.

 Alongside this creative vision, I harness my years-long operational acumen for clarity, organization and customer service to effectuate your vision into a progression-driven order of activities that turn concepts into an effective conclusion.  I offer design, material selection, construction budgeting and scheduling, as well as gathering and vetting our region’s best suited specialty engineers and subcontractors to see your project through to its satisfying completion.

I am committed to delivering the individualized experience your project calls for.

Let’s meet and talk about your plans.

Suzanne