Born on the Great Plains. Shaped by faraway histories.
Born on the Great Plains and shaped by faraway histories, Studio Eckström creates interiors that unfold like stories: rooms layered with memory, material, and meaning. Founded by Mark and Mikal Eckström, the Nebraska-based studio transforms spaces into narrative, where elegance meets ease and craftsmanship becomes poetry. Each project is guided by an historian's eye and an artist's touch, blending Old-World nuance with modern restraint to craft environments that feel timeless, tactile, and deeply personal.
A full-service residential interior design firm, founded in Omaha in 2022.
Studio Eckström is led by Mark Eckström (Creative Director and Principal Designer) and Mikal Eckström (Director of Operations, PhD in History, Ford Foundation Fellow). The studio provides complete interior design services, including space planning, custom millwork design, material and finish specification, furniture and fixture procurement (FF&E), contractor coordination, and full project management, for high-end residential renovations and new construction interiors.
Project budgets range from $150,000 to $4,000,000 or more. The studio serves clients in the Great Plains (Nebraska, Iowa, Texas, et. al.) and accepts commissions nationwide. Studio Eckström has been featured in Architectural Digest, Veranda, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and Luxe, and was selected for the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club Show House 2025 in Dallas, Texas.
Full-service Omaha interior design, residential renovations built to last.
Studio Eckström, founded by Mark and Mikal Eckström, emerged from a deceptively simple belief: a home should reflect the people who live in it and carry a sense of history, even if everything is brand new. What started as an intimate side project has grown into a nationally recognized design practice, transforming homes from Omaha's historic Dundee neighborhood to the celebrated rooms of the Kips Bay Show House.
Unlike other firms that impose a signature style, Studio Eckström's work is a reflection of your life, richer, more layered, and deeply considered than you imagined. Every project begins not with color swatches, but with conversations about the books on your shelves, the places you've been, and the objects you've carried with you over the years.
The result is a home that doesn't announce itself; it simply feels, unmistakably, like the place you were always meant to inhabit.
The founders of Omaha's most celebrated interior design studio.
Mark Eckström
Design has been in Mark's DNA since birth. He jokes that he "came out of the womb knowing where to place an ottoman." Raised in his mother's interior design studio, Mark developed an intuitive understanding of proportion, texture, and flow. His formal path took a detour from architecture to journalism before spending two decades in New York City. There, he shaped culture and storytelling at Spin, worked alongside Quincy Jones to launch Vibe, and served as publisher of Out.
Upon returning to Nebraska, Mark renewed his first love: interiors. His work blends restraint and exuberance in equal measure, with a signature mastery of color, pattern, scale, and whimsy. Drawing on a profound knowledge of decorative arts and art history, Mark creates rooms that feel timeless yet utterly fresh.
- •Two decades shaping national editorial culture in New York City
- •Co-founder, Spin Magazine era; Publisher of Out; Vibe launch team with Quincy Jones
- •Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club Show House 2025, one of the first Nebraska interior designers ever invited
Mikal Eckström
Mikal brings a scholar's precision and a storyteller's soul to Studio Eckström. Holding a doctorate in history from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he is a Ford Foundation Fellow and National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow whose work has been published in the Wall Street Journal. His scholarship has shaped how we understand narrative and meaning, and it shapes every project he touches.
At the studio, Mikal orchestrates the operational heartbeat, managing relationships with vendors, artisans, and global sourcing partners, and ensuring that every decision serves the larger story being told. For Mikal, interior design is a form of narrative construction: each space a carefully assembled argument, made not from words but from texture, material, light, and form.
His academic background in history and material culture gives Studio Eckström a differentiator that no other luxury design firm in Omaha, or the broader Midwest, can replicate: the ability to situate every object, every finish, every spatial decision within a larger conversation about time, meaning, and human experience.
- •Doctorate in History, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- •Ford Foundation Fellow
- •National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow
- •Published in the Wall Street Journal
Interior design services for residential and select commercial clients.
Space Planning and Architectural Layout
Floor plan development, furniture placement, traffic flow optimization, and structural coordination.
Custom Millwork Design
Built-in cabinetry, shelving systems, paneling, coffered ceilings, and architectural detailing drawings for custom fabrication.
Material and Finish Specification
Selection and specification of flooring, tile, stone, paint, wall coverings, and surface materials.
Lighting Design
Fixture selection, layered lighting plans, and coordination with electrical contractors.
Furniture, Fixture, and Equipment Procurement (FF&E)
Sourcing, specification, and procurement of furniture, lighting, textiles, rugs, art, and decorative objects.
Contractor Coordination and Project Management
Management of general contractors, subcontractors, and vendors throughout the renovation process.
Show House and High-Profile Installation Design
Design and installation for major design show houses including the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club Show House.
Design Consulting
Concept development, material palette curation, and sourcing guidance for partial-scope engagements.
Landscaping Coordination
Exterior design consultation and coordination with landscape architects for full-property projects.
Design principles applied to every project.
Story Precedes Style
We begin every project by listening, not to a budget or a Pinterest board, but to the life being lived. Only then does design begin.
Restraint is a Form of Generosity
A room that tries too hard asks too much of its inhabitants. We design spaces that give back: rooms that serve, not perform.
Time is the Best Material
We choose things that improve with age. Patina is not decay. It is evidence of a life well lived. We design for decades, not seasons.
Place is Never Incidental
Whether in Omaha's Dundee neighborhood or New York City, a room should feel like it belongs exactly where it is. We always honor context.
Omaha interior design rooted in the Great Plains, and built for the world.
Our Omaha interior design practice is inspired by the Great Plains, where collaboration, craftsmanship, and resilience are woven into the fabric of everyday life. Studio Eckström believes that design has the power to unite people, creating spaces that nurture connection, celebrate culture, and honor heritage.
We partner with local artisans, regional craftspeople, and philanthropic organizations across Nebraska. We source from makers who share our commitment to quality over convenience. And we invest in the stories, traditions, and individuals that make Omaha and the Great Plains exceptional.
Your initial consultation fee is donated to a nonprofit organization of your choice, because every conversation we have should contribute something beyond the room it begins.
We take on a limited number of projects each year. If you have a space worth caring about, we would like to hear about it.Studio Eckström · Omaha, Nebraska · (402) 482-2593