Lisa Staprans brings two decades of experience and an anything is possible customer service attitude to the table when she sits down with interior design clients. She brings a cadre of unique artisans, architects and art dealers who can provide clients with exquisite objects of reliable provenance and reasonable prices. She brings an incomparable eye for color and composition that has been refined through university training in fine arts and architecture. But most importantly, Staprans' designs stand out in a crowded field because of her firm belief in environmentally and socially responsible business practices.

Staprans says she's had green leanings since her earliest years, starting at age 13, when she became a vegetarian. It's been a part of me as long as I can remember, she says. However, she says her concerns over mankind`s wear and tear on the world have evolved and developed as the projects she works on get larger and larger. For example, Staprans says she did three years of extensive research on the use of reclaimed wood that she used in one residential project in Aspen, Colorado, pictured here. Though she would like to share the details of more projects, Staprans won't divulge too many names or places in the interest of promoting herself, as her first consideration is for a client's privacy. After finishing her studies at the University of California at Berkeley, Staprans left for New York in 1984, where she spent six years working for both large and small firms, and continuing her education both at Parsons School of Design and the School of Visual Arts. While in New York, Staprans embarked on one of her most ambitious projects to date - a 55,000 square-foot space that used 80 species of Native American woods that are indigenous to the North American continent. The project took more than 10 years and living on two coasts to complete. Relocating to the west coast for good in the early 90s, Staprans now lives with her family in Portola Valley, where the serene, tree-lined, bucolic atmosphere reinforces her belief in sustainable consumption.

I spend time away from my two boys and two dogs in order to work, so I have to be sure that I'm doing something fulfilling and worthwhile, she says. It's more than simply making a living. There is great satisfaction in seeing that your clients' lives have been enhanced. In and of themselves, the designs are gorgeous. Staprans' signature style involves a layering of old and new that creates a wonderful depth to a space without feeling cluttered or pretentious. She has a California sensibility that is enhanced with elements from other cultures. Rather than designing with mass-produced items in mind, Staprans is guided by the notion that a single perfect piece is worth a room full of mediocre or common ones. She will scour the earth to find just the right accent. Yearly trips to Europe and Latvia help her locate antique and handmade pieces that delight clients, and give just the right feel to a modern room.

During these trips, Staprans has developed relationships with antique dealers whose families have been in the business for generations, and can procure pieces unavailable to more casual shoppers. She hopes to establish a second base of operations in the south of France, so she can maintain and strengthen these professional ties. In the states, she has established a small, enthusiastic guild of woodworkers, glassblowers, and artists who create pieces from materials they often find or re-use. This guild includes people like Rhode Island-based Hank Gilpin, who makes poetry out of wood. Architecture plays a big part in the designs, and Staprans frequently collaborates with her husband Armin Staprans, trained in architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a licensed contractor, who she calls her best kept secret. Together, they turn ideas into unconventional realities, where carefully-considered elements come together to enhance the functional aspects of a space. Design should enhance functionality, because you've put time and thought into the personal requirements of each client, she says.

Outstanding design and social principles set her apart, but ultimately, Staprans credits the rapid expansion of her client base to an emphasis on service, and she prides herself on being able to figure out an answer for every client concern. I've worked really hard to get where I am, and I work really hard for my clients. We never give up on a project, she says. Though her firm once employed up to 12 people, Staprans says she reduced her staff to a team of six, so she would be able to personally oversee the design process with each individual client.

It is impossible to imagine how she has the time for it, but Staprans is also hard at work on a book about her design philosophy, The Soul of Design, that she expects to complete in the near future.