Today we’d like to introduce you to Teouna Thomas.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I did not start in design school. I started in life, watching spaces transform people, watching a room that felt chaotic become one that felt like an exhale. I always had the eye. I just had to find the courage to build the business around it.
For years I balanced a full-time corporate career while quietly building Stellar Interiors on the side. Managing my time carefully, calling on mentors, doing the work in the margins. But there came a point where I had to make a decision. I had proven I could survive anything. It was time to prove I could truly thrive. I left the corporate job and went all in on Stellar Interiors.
That leap changed everything. I went from designing around my work schedule to actually building a business, a brand, and a legacy. I launched Studio S, a virtual design service that makes professional design accessible to homeowners who assumed it was out of their reach. And I have never looked back.
Today I work with clients across Central Texas helping them create homes that feel like an exhale. Not a showroom. Not a Pinterest board. A real home, built around a real life. I still believe what I believed when this all started it does not matter where you begin. It is how you choose to finish.
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Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ha! Smooth has never really been my road. But I have learned to be grateful for the bumps because that is where the growth lives.
When I started Stellar Interiors, I launched it in the middle of a pandemic with a full-time corporate job still on my plate. I was building a business in the margins of my life, early mornings, late nights, weekends. I had to manage my time like it was a precious resource because it was. There were moments of doubt. Moments where I wondered if the leap was worth it. Moments where the business felt bigger than my capacity to run it.
Leaving my corporate job was one of the scariest things I have ever done. There is a certain kind of security that comes with a steady paycheck and I had worked hard to get to where I was professionally. Walking away from that, from the title, the income, the safety net… required a level of faith I did not know I had until I needed it.
Building a luxury brand from scratch while also trying to make design accessible is its own kind of tension. I am constantly navigating between two worlds, the high-touch, elevated experience my full-service clients expect, and the streamlined, approachable experience I built Studio S to deliver. Holding both with integrity takes intention every single day.
And then there is the personal side of entrepreneurship that nobody talks about enough. The isolation. The self-doubt that creeps in when growth is slow. The comparison trap. The pressure to show up polished online when some days you are just figuring it out behind the scenes.
But I keep coming back to what I know to be true. I was not built for smooth roads. I was built for this.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
At its core, what I do is help people fall in love with their homes. That sounds simple but it is actually deeply personal work. Every space I design starts with a real conversation about how someone lives, what they value, and what they want to feel when they walk through their front door. The design comes after that.
Stellar Interiors by Teouna is a luxury residential interior design studio based in Liberty Hill, Texas. I work with clients across Central Texas, Austin, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Georgetown, Dripping Springs, Westlake, and I have expanded into Houston and Dallas as well.
My full-service clients hand me the keys and trust me to handle everything from concept through installation. My virtual clients work with me through Studio S, which I launched because I got tired of hearing people say they could not afford a designer. Good design should not be a luxury reserved for the few. Studio S makes professional design accessible at a fixed price per room with no surprises and no endless timelines.
I also do home staging through a service called The Reset for sellers who want their home to make a strong first impression on buyers without starting from scratch.
What sets me apart is simple. I listen more than I talk. I ask the questions other designers skip. I design around how you actually live, not how a magazine thinks you should live.
But honestly what I hear most from my clients is that I am just easy to be around. I am down to earth. I do not walk into your home throwing around industry jargon that leaves you nodding along while secretly having no idea what I just said. I speak plainly, I explain my reasoning, and I make sure you actually understand what is happening and why at every stage of the process.
For a lot of my clients, working with a designer for the first time can feel intimidating. I want to take that feeling away completely. There are no stupid questions in my world. Ask me everything. Ask me twice if you need to. My goal is not just to give you a beautiful space, it is to send you away a little more design savvy than when we started. I want you to understand why certain pieces work together, why scale matters, why the right paint color can change the entire feeling of a room. That knowledge belongs to you long after our project is done.
My clients tend to become more like friends and family by the time we finish. That is not something I manufacture. That is just who I am.
What am I most proud of? Honestly, the fact that I built something real from nothing. No trust fund. No connections. No blueprint. Just a gift I refused to ignore, a husband who never stopped believing in me, and a conviction that where you begin does not have to determine where you finish. Stellar Interiors is proof of that every single day.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Most people who follow Stellar Interiors see the mood boards, the beautiful spaces, the polished brand. What they probably do not know is that I am also a writer.
I am currently working on a faith-based devotional called Wounded but Willing: 30 Days of Serving While Healing. It is very personal work that has nothing to do with interior design on the surface, but everything to do with who I am underneath it. I have always believed that the spaces we create on the outside are a reflection of what is happening on the inside. That devotional is my way of speaking to that connection more directly.
I also think people would be surprised to know how much faith anchors everything I do. Stellar Interiors is not just a business to me. It is a calling. Every client, every project, every room is an opportunity to pour into someone and leave something better than I found it. That does not always make it into the caption but it is always in the room with me.
And one more thing that might surprise people. I still love to style hair. Mostly my own these days but the instinct is the same. See something, imagine what it could be, transform it. Whether it is a hairstyle, a room, or a life. I have always been wired that way.
Pricing:
- Full-Service Interior Design — minimum design fee of $5,000. Pricing varies based on scope and number of rooms. Primary spaces such as living rooms and master suites start at $4,500 per room.
- Studio S: The Edit — $1,250 per room. Virtual design package including custom mood board, curated shopping list with direct purchase links, scaled floor plan, paint recommendations, and designer installation note
- Studio S: The Overhaul — $1,750 per room. Elevated virtual design package with two virtual sessions, two mood board revisions, priority scheduling, and the option to add an in-home styling session.
- The Reset — Styled and Staged — $1,000 flat. A 4-hour in-home staging service for homeowners preparing to list their property. Works primarily with your existing furniture and decor.
- Free Consultation Calls
Contact Info:
- Website: https://stellarinteriorsbyteouna.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stellarinteriorsbyteouna/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Stellarinteriorsbyteouna/
