Paula

Paula da Mata was born in Lisbon. Until the age of seven, she lived in Envendos, Mação, Santarém, a place she recalls as an outdoor childhood spent surrounded by the green of nature, filled with walks through the mountains, waterfalls, and rivers. She evokes these bucolic memories to express the tranquility with which she defines herself both personally and professionally.

She completed a bachelor’s degree in Interior Design and General Equipment at IADE (1982) and began her career in advertising at Unitros Portugal Agency in Lisbon between 1984 and 1985. There, she worked as a model maker in advertising, designing and building models for advertising campaigns. In 1985, she started her first stint at Paris Sete, where she worked until 2012, initially managing the store and doing Interior Design. She was responsible for selecting purchases, organizing exhibition spaces, and handling the interior design projects. Between 2012 and 2015, she worked as a freelance Interior Designer. Since 2015, she has collaborated with the Architect Your Home network in the same field, while also returning to Paris Sete in 2016, where she continues to work in Interior Design.

In this field, she emphasizes the pursuit of harmony in the environment around us, in the spaces where we live and work, describing it as fundamental for our well-being and balance. Therefore, helping the client transform the space is what motivates her the most, and it is also why the residential area is the one that interests her the most. She highlights the process of understanding what is important to each person—references, habits, and tastes—and the design phase, which starts with a layout plan where the function, ambiance, position, and size of the furniture are determined. As a challenge in Interior Design, she mentions the constant need for updates, both in terms of new trends and the changes in behavior and use of spaces.

On a broader scale, she emphasizes that an architect’s perspective is crucial to recognizing the qualities, characteristics, and cultural values of each city, making the most of the space, construction technologies, and contributing to a more qualified city.

The organic architecture of Gaudí, full of imagination, colors, and textures, fascinates her. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, with her children Pedro and Gonçalo, and has been skiing since she was young. She draws inspiration from the words of Paulo Coelho: “The wisdom of water: it never argues with its obstacles, it simply goes around them.