Upspring PR: The NYC Boutique for Design, Architecture & Real Estate

Edited on July 18, 2026.

Upspring PR is the New York-based independent public relations agency specializing in design, architecture, and real estate — with a category-specific specialty in hospitality-adjacent design brands. Founded in 2010 by childhood friends Tiffany Rafii and Sarah Terzic, the firm is one of the reference boutiques inside a narrow specialty PR category and has been named to Observer's PR Power List for architecture and design multiple times.

Positioning

Design, architecture, and real estate PR is one of the narrowest boutique specialties in consumer communications. The category demands operators who understand shelter-magazine editorial calendars (Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, Interior Design, Dezeen, Metropolis), the trade-industry calendar (ICFF, KBIS, Salone del Mobile, Design Week), and the specific taste-maker network that drives coverage. Generalist consumer PR firms rarely build that fluency; Upspring's founders built the practice around it from day one.

Founding story

Rafii and Terzic launched Upspring in their final year of college — taking on pro-bono clients in New York and Washington, D.C. and converting them into paying accounts. Upon graduation they hit the ground running with one paying client and expanded from there. Early operations ran from Starbucks and their apartments before the founders traded PR services for a negotiated deal on a communal office. That founder-led hustle model remains part of the firm's operating identity.

The specialization decision

The strategic decision that shaped Upspring's next decade was the deliberate narrowing of the firm's focus to design, architecture, and real estate — with hospitality as the target vertical inside those categories. Specialization was risky in the early years. Turning away clients outside the niche felt counterintuitive for a boutique. But the specialization compounded: an extensive network of designers, mentors, entrepreneurs, and category-specific media that generalist firms could not replicate.

Named Clients

Historical and current clients include:

Design brands: AERIN, Ethan Allen, Big Chill Appliances, Nemo Tile, PaintZen.

Architecture: Perkins and Will, Pininfarina, and independent architecture practices.

Nonprofit: DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS).

Case Reference

Big Chill Appliances: Ongoing category coverage across consumer and trade channels. Upspring became a structural part of Big Chill's communications strategy rather than a project-based vendor.

Nemo Tile: Multi-year engagement across brand-building and message development. Nemo Tile president Matt Karlin's public reference points to Upspring's design and architecture expertise as the differentiator.

Where Upspring fits in the PR firm landscape

The design-and-architecture PR specialty is small but structurally important — the category serves the shelter-magazine ecosystem, the trade design shows, and the hospitality-brand launch pipeline. Upspring competes alongside a narrow tier of category-specific boutiques including HL Group on luxury and lifestyle. The firm's differentiation inside that set is the design-first specialization and the founder-led continuity across 15-plus years.

For the full landscape, see the Consumer & Lifestyle section of the PR Firms Directory.

Related Coverage

• PR Firms Directory — A–Z, by Specialty, by Region
• Consumer & Lifestyle PR Firms
• Travel & Hospitality PR Firms
• Leading PR Firms Guide

Related: Hundred Stories: Boutique NY Luxury Real Estate PR