Luxe October 2011

For interior designer Suzanne Lovell, creating exceptional, personal spaces comes down to one important thing: using your imagination. “What we’re doing is orchestrating a visual experience,” explains Lovell, whose eponymous Chicago- and New York-based firms oversee renovations, custom furniture design and fabrication, millwork and art sourcing. “It’s not about the rooms, it’s about the individual space where you sit, feel and dream.” Working in tandem with a variety of artisans and craftspeople, Lovell and her team produce one-of-a-kind interior masterpieces, influenced not by trends and styles but by their clients’ own unique personas and the history of each place. “You create a language of architecture first,” says Lovell, who has worked for renowned firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, “then you bring in architectural materials, textiles and imagery,” this method, she says, is unique, and has prompted the launch of her first book, Artistic Interiors: Designing with Fine Art Collections, which debuts this fall. Says Lovell: “I love that I can share the process with others,”

Design period you find most engaging:
The Bauhaus Movement, for its honest expression of materials.

Dream dinner party guests:
Dries Van Noten, Marina Abramović, Olafur Eliasson, Chicago artist David Hartt and Madeleine Grynsztejn, the Pritzker director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

Favorite decorating sources:
Bernd Goeckler Antiques and Studium in New York, and also Twill Textiles.

Coveted items:
Pieces of Boston & Sandwich glass from my great uncle’s collection, which was the foundation of the Sandwich Glass Museum in Massachusetts, and  John Blunt portrait of my paternal great-great-great grandfather as a young boy, along with a photograph of him 90 years later.

Every designer should:
Understand proportion and scale and be willing to challenge them.

Most people don’t know:
That I am an avid fly fisher.

Photo captions:
(left) Interior Designer Suzanne Lovell strikes a pose amidst a few of her showroom’s treasures, including her devoted sidekick, Lance.
(right top) Lovell’s book, Artistic Interiors: Designing with Fine Art Collections, takes readers through a dozen beautifully photographed and presented homes, from a grand Victorian-style residence in Chicago to a glittery Beaux Arts pied-à-terre in Manhattan.
(right bottom) An installation at Bernd Goeckler Antiques in New York. The shop is on Lovell’s must-not-miss list.