Riya cares more about how a room makes you feel than how it looks. That is the whole idea behind her interior design studio, rya°.

She started it with one simple belief. A home, an office, any space, is something people dream about for years before it exists. Riya wanted to help build that dream, not just decorate it.

This is the next story in a series on The FoundHers, a platform that shares the stories of women in business.

From Global Degrees to a Studio of Her Own

Riya is the founder and principal designer at rya° interiors, based in India. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Interior Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design in the US, along with a Bachelor of Architecture from Sushant School of Art and Architecture, India. Before starting rya°, she interned at Gensler in Chicago, one of the largest architecture firms in the world, and at Mangera Yvars Architects in London. She also completed a summer entrepreneurship course at the University of Oxford. Her graduate thesis won an Outstanding Thesis Award at SCAD, and one of her projects was nominated for a Red Dot Design Concept Award. For anyone wondering how to become an interior designer in India, her path is proof that the degrees matter less than the range of real projects you put yourself through early.

None of that was the plan when she started. She says she never expected building a studio to mean taking on so many different roles herself.

Why Riya Designs For Feeling, Not Just Looks

Riya’s approach is rooted in environmental psychology, the idea that a space can genuinely shape how you feel and behave inside it. For her, great design goes far beyond making a room look beautiful. It’s about creating an environment that feels completely intuitive, comfortable, and personally connected to the people who use it every day.

She mentioned she wants every space to feel “deeply personal and considered.” That single idea runs through everything rya° builds, whether it is a home, an office, or a holiday villa.

Source: Photo from @ryainteriors

A Studio Built on Family Roots

Growing up in a close, multi-generational home, Riya is deeply shaped by her grandparents. Her grandmother taught her the softer side of design, how small, thoughtful details transform a house into a home, sparking Riya’s focus on comfort and care. 

Her grandfather, on the other hand, taught her to think bigger. He pushed her to dream large, take her ambitions seriously, and stay grounded through it all. He also named the studio. Today, rya° carries his choice in its very identity, keeping the business deeply personal to her.

Being a Woman on a Construction Site 

People usually think the hardest part of interior design is the creativity. But design is only half the battle. The other half is actually building the business. On any given day, Riya isn’t just designing; she’s the accountant, the HR person and the project manager. It’s been a massive learning curve, proving that running a studio is really about managing budgets, vendors, and timelines.

Doing all of this as a young woman in a traditional, male-dominated industry has its own challenges. Riya often has to work twice as hard just to be taken seriously on-site, especially by contractors who have been doing this for decades. But she didn’t want to get louder or change who she is just to push back. Instead, she learned to hold her ground simply by knowing her stuff inside out and keeping communication completely clear and honest.

The Cove: A Project That Shows Her Approach

One project shows exactly what Riya means by designing for feeling. The Cove is a 4,500 square foot luxury interior design project in Assagao, Goa, covered directly by Architectural Digest & Architect and Interiors India. It reinterprets Indo-Portuguese living through white textured walls, arched openings, cobalt blue windows, and terracotta accents, all designed to feel light, breathable, and connected to nature.

The brief was never just to make the villa look beautiful. It was to make it feel like a slow, tropical holiday, every time someone walks in.

Source: Architectural Digest, Riya at The Cove 

Her Playbook

What you can take back from Riya’s journey in a male-dominated field: 

  • Don’t be precious about your role. Riya learned design, accounts, hiring, and site work all at once, and that range is what makes her confident running the whole studio today.
  • It is okay to ask for help. Some of her best lessons came from simply asking someone who already knew better.
  • Understand the person before you design for them. The brief is rarely just about how a room should look. There is almost always a reason behind it, and that reason is where the real work starts.

Follow Riya on Instagram and LinkedIn, and see more of rya°’s work on Instagram and LinkedIn.

For more real, unfiltered stories of women building businesses on their own terms, follow @thefoundhers_ on Instagram.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who is Riya, and what is rya° interiors?

Riya is the founder and principal designer of rya° interiors, an architecture and interior design studio in India. She holds an MFA in Interior Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design and a Bachelor of Architecture from Sushant School of Art and Architecture.

2. Should you hire an interior designer for your home?

Renovating or setting up a home comes with an endless checklist of choices, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. That is exactly where an interior designer makes all the difference. They figure out what actually works for your space, streamlining everything from layouts and storage to lighting and materials. They also help you avoid costly mistakes along the way and help you end up with a home that feels like you.

3. What is The Cove, and why is it a good example of her work?

The Cove is a 4,500 square foot holiday villa in Assagao, Goa, designed by rya° and covered by Architectural Digest & Architect and Interiors India. It reinterprets Indo-Portuguese architecture through white textured walls, arched openings, and terracotta accents, built to feel like a slow tropical retreat rather than just look like one.

4. What challenges do women face in interior design and architecture in India?

Women in interior design and architecture in India often have to work harder to have their decisions taken seriously on site, particularly in an industry that remains largely male-dominated. Riya has said she addresses this by knowing her work thoroughly and communicating clearly, rather than changing how she presents herself to be heard.

5. What advice does Riya give to someone starting a career in design?

Riya advises against being too precious about your role. Learning every part of the business, from design to accounts to site management, builds real confidence in running it. She also encourages starting before you feel fully ready, since actual experience teaches faster than waiting ever will. On top of that, it is vital to keep learning because the industry changes every day. Whether it is a new material, a brand, or a different technique, you really do discover something new every single day in design.