Meet the designer turning restaurant concepts into cultural hotspots across Houston

How it started

Braverman, a University of Texas graduate, said she first became inspired by design around the age of eight, while spending time in her grandmother’s house. She later worked on the design team for HGTV sets in New York before moving to work for a design firm in Taiwan.

She said her travels still influence her work today.

“Houston is such a wonderfully culturally diverse place that we've had the opportunity to do so many different concepts for different cuisines,” Braverman said. “It really informs my perspective to have actually traveled to some of these places in real life ... it's just a little different than looking at pictures on Pinterest.”

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When Braverman started her interior design firm in Houston a decade and a half ago, she said the industry was different from what it is now. For one, she said it wasn’t very common for independent restaurants to use interior designers the way they do now.

Braverman described her creative process as the opposite of formulaic and more of a feeling. As she works with hospitality clients, she said she interviews them about the space’s cultural attachments and the elements they want to see displayed. Then, she’ll reinterpret those into an interior design component.

“It’s a feeling. It's an essence,” Braverman said. “And I think people have said that when they walk into a space we've designed, that they get a feeling. It's not just visual, it's visceral.”

Looking Ahead

As for the future of hospitality in the Heights, River Oaks and Montrose area, Braverman said she is currently working on a few exciting projects, including building out Angie’s, a pizzeria coming soon to the Heights.

She said she is also working with the sushi bar Handies Douzo and on the wine club set to open later this year called 55 Seventy, as well as several other projects.

• 3227 Milam St., Houston
• www.gindesigngroup.com