Carmen Alcaraz Gomes, Founder

Inspired by travel, art and fashion, interior designer Carmen Alcaraz Gomes grew up in Brazil surrounded by design, bricks, floor plans and construction. Since both sides of her family—dating back several generations—were engineers, developers, designers, inventors and creators, Gomes knew early on that she wanted a career in design. 

“Design and construction are in my DNA,” says Gomes, the daughter of an interior designer mother and engineer-industrialist father. “I don’t know of another profession I could have pursued other than design. I love it.”

As a creative and excitable child, mom and dad calmed her down with pencils and paper for drawing. Enjoying the fantasy land of her mind, she would execute visions inspired by her surroundings, and an all consuming passion for making the world a better place. 

“By age 6, I was developing Barbie doll outfits to sell at school along with my drawings,” she recalls. “As a young teen, I was the best student in art, and by 18, I was giving free advice to my friends’ parents on how to decorate their homes as well as helping my classmates coordinate their outfits.”

For college, she moved to the U.S. and studied at Miami International University of Art & Design, graduating with a BA in Interior Design. Her first job was with Ethan Allen in Miami where she worked as an interior designer taking simple furniture and making it shine with custom fabrics and accessories. 

“Great and innovative design requires thinking outside of the box,” she says of the seven year position. “I am very critical and a perfectionist, I always push myself to do better. Those qualities helped me become a top designer for them nationwide.”

In 2012, eager to branch out on her own, Gomes opened Cg1 Designs in Coconut Grove. Skilled in finishes, floor plans, furnishings, color schemes and customer service, this was a good opportunity for the designer to handle a variety of international clients since she is fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish. 

Gomes created an office facing the ocean for daily inspiration. Gazing at the water helps clear her mind so she has the perception and tenacity to develop a design theme for a stranger’s home. “Water is life and nature inspires me in everything I do,” she says. “It helps me find my clients comfort levels and areas that illustrate their personalities.”

Known around the world for designs that show a timeless elegance with the use of white amid pops of color like royal blue and gray, Gomes research and conversations with clients help her understand what they want even if they don’t know. She shows a client many ideas then helps find the right one.

 “I am intuitive, flexible and honest with a strong work ethic,” explains the designer of her 24/7 career. “I move mountains to give my clients their dreams. Trust is the key to success for a designer with client collaboration. For me, it is a very rewarding challenge.”

Recently, Gomes designed an entire Miami interior around an orange silk scarf. A Brazilian client had just returned from a trip abroad were she bought a variety of Hermes scarves, and asked Gomes to incorporate them into the decor. “I used the colors as inspiration and also put the scarves in white frames against the wall of the apartment’s foyer,” says Gomes. “The result was refreshing, colorful and exotic.”

For a Coral Gables client, she used custom silk rugs as a theme and built the home's interior design around them with appropriate art work. In another home, she selected brushed metal column mosaics and created the design around them. “I like to start a project like this with ideas flowing in my mind,” she says. “If my mind could talk people would be in shock! I have one thousand ideas a minute.”

Gomes loves the challenges of creating interiors abroad. For example, three years ago, she did a large capacity vessel remodel in a Chinese shipyard. Last year she did a house in Brazil, and recently, she finished another home in Mexico. “Working abroad enriches the experience of any designer, becoming that person more tridimensional,” she says. “You need to learn the local architecture, design, and worth ethic to be able to adapt to a new culture.”

 Much of her design inspiration comes from other creative people: the art of Marc Chagall, the ”craziness” of Pablo Picasso, the simplicity of Italian designers, and the lifelong influences of Brazilian and Mexican architects. She also scours museums, art galleries, books and opera sets, as well as learning all she can about flowers, vegetation and birds.

Gomes has visited about 40 countries where she discovered something from each that could eventually land as part of a design theme in a lucky client’s home. She is smitten by China’s opulent buildings, Japan’s simple yet elegant buildings and furnishings, Greece’s use of white, Marrakech, Morocco’s abundance of huge doors, and Tunisia’s mosaics on floors. She also loves Vienna, Austria for luxury after visiting its palaces, Milan, Italy for its good, functional design, and all of Colombia for a never-ending treasure trove of art and design.

On the drawing board are plans to design her own line of pottery, vases, silverware and crystals. This way, the busy, globe-trotting designer can help her clients achieve their total vision in   coordinated homes that make them feel happy, organized and productive. 

Still, since Gomes is aware that the world is changing faster than most can comprehend, she intends to stay one step ahead by constantly reinventing herself to help clients achieve their dynamic dreams for home design. 

“What makes me happy is my personal relations with clients who love the end result of our collaboration,” says Gomes. “If I can come out of successful projects where clients are pleased, and I have learned something new, I become a more multifunctional designer able to conquer the changes and challenges that we are living right now.”