ELIZA COSTABEL

Principal

Eliza Costabel has over 10 years of experience in the design field acquired in Asia, North Africa and Europe.

She started off her career in Hong Kong as far east liaison for the buying department of Italian luxury department store ‘La Rinascente’. She later relocated to Egypt and set up a children’s clothing firm, where she designed and managed the distribution of her line.

After moving to Los Angeles she joined a small residential firm as the lead interior designer and has freelanced as a set designer on a number of independent films and A&E tv makeover show “Makeover Mamas”.

Before co-founding DLFstudio, Eliza has worked for several years at Gensler, a large commercial architecture and interiors firm, in the role of Interior and Environmental Designer in the ‘Branding and Environmental Design studio’ and later in the Workplace practice group. Here she worked on high-profile commercial projects such as The Beverly Hilton, Cotai Resort in Macao, House of Blues, Tokyo Disneyland, AEG Music Club at the Millennium Dome in London, Mercer Dental, Neocon/Westedge design exhibit and the law offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher among others.

Eliza received a BFA Magna Cum Laude in Interior Architectural Design from California State University at Long Beach and was the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards, including the IES Student Lighting Design Award and the American Institute of Architects/LA Interior Design Competition.

DOUGLAS ESPARZA

Principal

Prior to co-founding DLFstudio, Douglas spent over 10 years as a lead designer and job-captain in small to medium high-end residential architecture firms working on contemporary and Spanish-style custom homes.

While working at Dean Larkin Design and later at Thursby Architecture, Douglas was responsible for several challenging hillside construction projects and major remodels of celebrity homes. He also collaborated on a variety of hospitality and office projects including the Farmer’s Daughter Hotel. Over the years his mix of conceptual and hands-on experience has allowed him to gain an excellent understanding of all aspects of design, city permitting, client relations and construction administration.

More recently he collaborated on a Habitat for Humanity project and has freelanced as a set designer on the independent movies Miracle MIle and Clear Blue Skies. Since 2004 Douglas has taught an upper division Design Presentation class at California State University, Long Beach.

Douglas received a BFA in Interior Architectural Design from California State University at Long Beach and is the recipient of numerous awards for academic excellence. He is currently a candidate for the State of California architectural license.

Thanks to our diverse background we can take on just about any kind of interior project. When needed, we can assemble and coordinate ad-hoc teams of contractors, landscape architects, graphic and product designers, engineers and other consultants to best suit your needs.