The Authentic Home Interior Design Team

The Authentic Home team consists of talented designers that possess individual styles and insights into the world of interior design and home décor.

Kathy Banak’s Story
Owner, Authentic Home

Kathy Banak is the brains and creative insight behind Authentic Home, Ltd. the holding company for Authentic Home COLOR Paint™, Authentic Home Interior Style Guidance and Color Consultations. Banak blends decades of marketing experience and business expertise with her passion for interior style and color in her work for her Authentic Home businesses.

Banak started her interiors career as a consultant for clients in need of interior décor and design assistance. She found that a majority of clients were color challenged, with a need for her expertise designing color palettes for the whole décor. They loved her because she gets color. As part of her interior design business, where she focuses on authentic design, Banak uses paint color as a foundation upon which to build. She believes that paint can create a strong foundation.

She developed the Authentic Home COLOR Paint line with the desire to help people create living spaces that represent their authentic personality and style. Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ launched in the spring of 2007.

Banak is on a mission to make the paint selection process easier and more accessible. She strives to help people understand color and become comfortable with the paint selection process. In fact, Banak believes that picking paint should be a fun and engaging process. Ultimately, she wants people to feel that their home is a piece of themselves.

Banak’s business and marketing expertise spans over twenty years in the high tech industry. She moved to Seattle from the east coast in 1997, and provided marketing consultation services to non-profits such as the YWCA, School's Out Washington, and the Youth Tutoring Program. She was also involved with the philanthropic organization, Social Venture Partners.

Banak graduated from Central Connecticut State University in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. Her passion for color was inspired by her mother who always took care to fill their home with dynamic colors and fabrics. Traveling to Europe after leaving the high tech industry only bolstered her passion. “It’s hard not to be inspired touring the shops and spaces of Florence,” added Banak.

Colleen McLarney
Assistant

Colleen developed a passion for interior design when she remodeled her 40-year old house in Port Townsend. Selecting colors, appliances, furniture, and lighting, she doubled her investment in just a few months. Since discovering this new creative outlet, Colleen has also been working part-time assisting with staging homes for re-sale. Prior to joining the Authentic Home team, Colleen worked for various non-profit associations, got a degree in Japanese studies in San Francisco, and has taken numerous classes in painting, printmaking and other art mediums. Colleen lives in West Seattle with two very spoiled cats.