Some people think in color. Donna Wintzen thinks in lines—measured, layered, and built to last.
As Duet Design’s Senior Design Drafter, Donna is the mind behind the construction documents that bring our interior designs to life. Whether she’s building elevations from site measurements or translating a designer’s vision into something that can actually be built, she’s the one bridging concept and constructability. Her work touches every project, and her clarity in the details ensures nothing gets lost between the design studio and the job site.
“I build the plans and elevations to help bring each project to life,” she explains. “I coordinate with the designers to ensure the constructability of their ideas, and with the construction crew to make sure design intent is carried all the way through.”
WHEN WALLS START TALKING
Her favorite moment? The first pass at elevations.
“Bringing in all the detail and watching bare walls or ceilings come to life—it’s the moment where the space starts to feel real. Seeing those elevations become reality through construction is just… cool.”
And Donna would know. She’s not just behind the screen—she stays involved through the full buildout to ensure what we draw is what gets built.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: SPICY MARG
Ask Donna which project has stuck with her most, and she doesn’t hesitate: Spicy Marg.
“It was the first project I contributed to at Duet,” she says. “The lighting really got me—the island perimeter lighting, the great room chandelier, all the integral layers. Even though I had the technical knowledge going in, the installation images still took my breath away.”
BEYOND THE PAGE
Her toolkit might be digital, but one analog item is always within reach: her scale.“If I can’t scale things, all is not right with the world,” she laughs.
And while Donna’s precision runs deep, her adventurous streak is just as sharp. At 16, she started saving to travel cross-country by train—and by the time she graduated high school, she’d gone coast to coast solo, with nothing but a train schedule and a backpack.
Currently? She’s rewatching The Repair Shop and finding every excuse to go camping.
WHY DUET WORKS
“The collaboration here is constant and active,” Donna says. “That matters. Designers and drafters, drafters and builders—we’re in conversation the whole time. We’re not working in silos. We’re building it together.”
DONNA’S ADVICE TO CLIENTS
“Even the smallest detail matters. The more we know, the better we can deliver.”
