Create rooms you love with Eyewondrous
COLOR, proportion and style are key elements in decor, says Suzanne Smith.
Suzanne Smith has been helping friends pick a paint color or an upholstery fabric or suggest how best to arrange artwork, well, “forever.”
In 2017, she turned her keen eye and passion into a business. She is “chief organizational officer” at Eyewondrous.
It was a natural transformation from design to decor, as the same elements apply — color, proportion and style.
“I walk in with the hope that in some significant or small way I can make somebody’s life happier… I just want to add a little joy and a little beauty,” says the Manhattan Place resident.
Of course these days she visits clients’ spaces mostly via FaceTime.
In her former life, the San Francisco native was a buyer and worked in product and fabric development at companies such as Levi Strauss and Co., The Limited and Urban Outfitters; her work in the fashion industry took her on many trips to China, and she lived in Hong Kong.
While hers is a clean and modern style, she can adapt to any format, as the same rules apply to modern and Old World alike.
You wouldn’t place a teeny tiny chair next to an oversized settee, for instance, she advises. And most people hang art way too high, whether it’s a Rembrandt or a Pollock.
Then there’s the mismatched look, which sometimes works and sometimes not so much.
“Sometimes people just buy what they like, and they’re all different styles, so much so that their house will look like a furniture warehouse…
“Antique crystal or an old chair can warm up a space, but when it doesn’t fit together, then it becomes a problem. I would take the essentials and get rid of the rest… no matter how much you love it, put it in storage…”
Organizing closets
ORGANIZING closets can be soothing.
She finds organizing closets “peaceful and soothing… It brings me great joy to have everything as tidy as possible. For others, it makes them very agitated,” especially when it involves letting go of possessions.
Sentimental stuff can be cared for in treasure boxes.
Maybe you never liked the present from a friend for your 40th birthday. Maybe you’ve never used it.
“I would say it’s okay to have treasures but not every treasure has to be out.”
Cleaning out a client’s closet often results in a new wardrobe and a shopping spree. Sadly, that part of her job description is on hold pending the termination of this pandemic.
She finds solace in simple tasks.
“My file cabinet is a work of art,” she says, having recently changed all the folders to one color. “Everyone should own a label maker,” she adds.
Her closet is museum quality, she says with satisfaction.
“For the price of new hangers, you can transform your closet… and by putting all the pants and tops together,” she adds.
Being borderline OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) doesn’t hurt in her line of work, she notes.
Seasonal work
Seasonal work, decorating trees and wrapping gifts during the holidays, is also part of her expertise. And, year round, she sets party tables, and will do so again — once the parties resume!
But for now, she is meeting with clients on Face Time to rethink living rooms, consider kitchen spaces and more.
“They bring me to their wall of artwork and ask what I would do differently. I’ve been doing a lot of that.”
She’s busy online shopping for clients, curating to find the right accessories. Some stores, she admits, including a few at The Grove, bring her to a “state of nirvana.”
Village Heights and Landis are favorites among favorites on Larchmont.
For a free consultation or more information, visit eyewondrous.com.
Category: People