Architect-designer duo Peter Pennoyer and Katie Ridder make for unique partners. They’re married, but they don’t work together—or at least, they don’t work in the same office. But when a renowned architect and a celebrated interior designer share a roof, collaboration is bound to happen. A telling example: Pennoyer’s firm recently won a competition to design the clock that hangs in the redesigned Penn Station (they beat other firms, he says, simply by designing a legible timepiece). It was a Pennoyer creation—but!—Ridder played a part.

“He did show me the colors,” Ridder tells host Dennis Scully on the latest episode of The Business of Home Podcast. “And I did voice my opinion, and that is the one he went with.”

If design can have power couples, Ridder and Pennoyer are certainly one. The two connected in the late 1980s, while Ridder was working at House & Garden as an editor. She met him for a project, they had lunch, and four months later, they were engaged.

Ridder stayed in the magazine world for a time, ending up at House Beautiful before she officially hung up a shingle in 1995, launching her New York design firm and building a formidable reputation for her ability to wield dazzling color schemes in classic settings. Meanwhile, Pennoyer was establishing his own bona fides. A veteran of Robert A.M. Stern’s office, he became known for his lively spin on traditional architecture.

The two never officially joined professional forces, but together they represent a considerable body of expertise. In this episode of the show, Ridder and Pennoyer share how they get clients to make the right decisions, why technology in design can be a double-edged sword, how designers and architects can learn from each other, and the secrets of great color.

Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. This episode was sponsored by Ben Soleimani and SideDoor.

Homepage photo: Katie Ridder and Peter Pennoyer | Eric Piasecki