Interior decorator Bruce Buttfield (1897-1969) made his mark in the 1930s by creating distinctive furniture and rooms. In 1931, he designed the interior of the original Whitney Museum building on Eighth Street in New York City. The collection includes photographs and color renderings of Buttfield interiors.

After graduating from the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later, Parsons School of Design) in 1936, Eleanor Horst (1892-1995) led a long career as an interior decorator. The collection includes photographs and slides of Horst projects, as well as numerous renderings of Horst designs, several by fellow Parsons graduate Lyman Martin.

Giuseppe Zambonini (1942-1990) was an Italian-born and New York-based architect, interior designer, theater director, and teacher. This collection contains materials pertaining to Zambonini's architectural and design career, as well as items related to his tenure as dean of the New York School of Interior Design, founder and head of the Open Atelier of Design, and director of the architecture program at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dating primarily from the 1960s through the late-1980s, materials in the collection include sketches, drawings, plans, and blueprints of Zambonini's architecture and interior design projects, as well as photographs of the building sites and finished work. Also included are correspondence, photographs, and printed material related to his teaching and administrative career. Zambonini's work as a theater producer and director in Italy is represented by photographs, scripts, audio, and a variety of posters and programs. Finally, the collection contains a small selection of Zambonini's writings and lectures.

Interior designer and Parsons School of Design alumna Henriette Granville Suhr (1917-2015) specialized in merchandising and display design. This collection represents her work for such manufacturers, retailers, and designers as Baker Furniture, Bloomingdale's, and T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings.

Lyman Martin (1908-2003) graduated from Parsons School of Design in 1939 and joined Thedlow, an interior decoration firm. At Thedlow, Martin created interiors and watercolor renderings, and designed rugs and murals. In 1969, Martin became president of Thedlow, remaining until its closure in 1979. The collection includes student work, interior drawings, a travel diary, floorplans, photographs, clippings, and exhibition files.

Michael Kalil (1943-1991) was an interior architect, philosopher, educator and artist, known for his innovative work with new materials and for humanizing digital technologies. From 1981 to 1991, he was the principal of Kalil Designs/Kalil Studio, a firm that specialized in high-profile commercial, prototype and theoretical, and residential design commissions. Kalil also served as an adjunct faculty member at the Parsons School of Design. The collection includes Kalil's personal and professional papers, including original artwork, sketchbooks, journals, photographs, project records, architectural drawings, photoprints and sketches, design prototypes, and posthumous materials.

Violet Holsinger Mueller (1907-2003) studied fashion design at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later, Parsons School of Design) from 1926 through 1929. She worked as an interior designer for Stix, Baer & Fuller, a St. Louis-based department store, and founded her own design consultancy in Belleville, Illinois. Her papers include personal materials, and documentation created during her studies at Parsons and her design career.