A Good Eye: Tama Sundstrom’s Early Spark for Design
Some designers discover their calling in college. Others find it through travel, mentorship, or years of professional practice. But for Tama Sundstrom, the spark ignited much earlier—long before she knew what to call it. It began with a pair of parents who believed their daughter had “a good eye,” and weren’t shy about saying so.
A Childhood Filled with Color and Creativity
Growing up in a home filled with Scandinavian furniture, saturated colors, and clever design, Tama absorbed beauty and function without realizing it. Her parents framed her childhood paintings and hung them proudly around the house. They let her choose wallpaper at age seven—a vinyl masterpiece in green, pink, and purple—and paint the bedroom she shared with her sister in pink and lavender. She “helped” her dad build bedframes, mostly by holding nails and refilling iced tea, but the experience planted a seed: design wasn’t just something you admired. It was something you made.
By eight, Tama was designing magazine worthy homes in her imagination. In reality, she was building wobbly lemonade stands out of scrap wood and leftover paint. As a teen, she turned her creativity toward sewing, making custom tights for herself and her speedskating friends. Her favorite pair? A watermelon inspired set with one green leg and one pink leg—bold, playful, and unmistakably hers.
The Great Backyard Waterpark Project
Her siblings weren’t spared from her ideas either. They still laugh (and wince) about the Great Backyard Waterpark Project, a weekend long excavation effort Tama orchestrated while their parents were out house hunting. The plan was simple: build a backyard paradise so irresistible their parents would abandon the idea of moving. Instead, they ended up with sore backs, mosquito bites, and a mountain of dirt to replace. But the spirit behind the project—creativity, determination, and a desire to shape her environment—was unmistakable.
Her parents didn’t give them a waterpark, but they did give them a covered porch with a suspended table and transparent roof. It became the most used space in the house, hosting everything from quiet summer reading sessions to boisterous birthday parties. The family remodeled bathrooms, bedrooms, and living spaces, creating a home that felt intentional, personal, and deeply lived in.
More Than Aesthetics
Somewhere in those years, a realization began to form. Design wasn’t just about aesthetics. It was about creating spaces that supported the people who lived in them—places of comfort, refuge, joy, and connection. Tama couldn’t articulate it then, but the idea was there: if you paid attention, you could help people build homes that made their lives better.
