With a keen eye, intuition, and a lifelong passion for self-expression through tactile materials, Karen Okner has been creating artful living spaces for corporate and private clients for more than 20 years. Her career spans many facets of the art and design world, from gallery management to design, fabrication and installation of natural stone, architectural elements and decorative tile. She has held sales, marketing and showroom management positions with several of the West Coast’s leading tile distributors.

In 2000, Karen established Artful Living—a showroom that featured the top natural stone and decorative tile companies in the industry. Her portfolio includes prestigious Coachella Valley developments such as The Vintage, Big Horn CC, The Reserve, The Hideaway, The Tradition, Ironwood CC, and The Quarry, as well as custom homes in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Monterey Peninsula.

Most recently, Karen combined her skills in sales, management, and design to realize her goal of becoming a show house producer. After participating in Modernism Week for many years, she produced Mesa Modern, the featured home in Palm Springs’ Modernism Week 2019. One of the most successful show homes in the Coachella Valley, Mesa Modern has garnered praise in the design and real estate industries and the social media world. The beauty, integrity, and success of this project ignited Karen’s passion for producing and curating showcase homes, culminating in her founding of the Design Collaborative in October 2020.