Q&A with Beth Webb
We chat to the founder of Beth Webb Interiors
Tell us a bit more about youโฆ
I was born and raised in a tiny town in Tennessee - Lookout Mountain. I studied in the States and spent my junior year abroad at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England. After graduation I yearned to return to Europe, so I applied for a student work permit and worked a year in London before applying for the Sothebyโs Works of Art course there. When that ended, I went on to New York City and eventually moved back to the South and was a private art dealer when a friend insisted, I design an 1892 second empire house for their foundation. That fortuitous โyesโ changed my life!
Who are your greatest influences?
The women in my life, my mother and both grandmothers. They taught me everything and encouraged my love of art, travel, entertaining and the finer things in life. My inherent respect for the five senses come from these women, I design for an all-encompassing sensory experience - sound, touch, feel, scent and taste for all come to life in a room; and to be sure it is from these influential women that I learned about the importance of beauty and the essential comforts of home.
What have been some of your best jobs/experiences at work and why?
I am lucky to have many, many clients for life and it brings me great joy to be a part of their worlds. We have had unforgettable experiences designing homes all over but some of the best and most memorable are quite frankly usually those that are the most challenging. We had a client purchase a 1940โs private rail car as they did not like to fly. The research that went into the design, the technical aspects and the logistical hurdles were fascinating. Unfortunately, it never was completed because when retrofitting the car, it caught on fire and was destroyed.
Another was our first project in Costa Rica. The entire town itself was just being master planned so we were there from its inception and have watched it grow over the years from a dirt road and a beach to the thriving little town it is today called Las Catalinas. We did one of the first houses on the properties for its founder. Working with the locals and visiting the workrooms and workshops, building furniture onsite doing a deep dive into their culture was an enriching albeit daunting process - coupled with the language barrier. That experience informed many of my own designs ultimately. The experience informed many of my designs for my first collection with Arteriors from the use of rattan in the Lyford chair and then cast stone in the Catalina lighting.
Traditional vs contemporary style?
Both. My birthday is July 23rd, dead on the cusp of Cancer and Leo, which apparently has been labeled the most schizophrenic cusp in the zodiac and also explains my love of traditional, transitional and contemporary interiors. I think it also has to do with having studied art history all those years, I have a great appreciation for many periods and styles due to my aesthetic education. All in all my interiors are calm, layered, and comfortable.
What would you consider your greatest achievement?
My family, my children and now greatly expanded second family with my husband, his children and a growing brood of grandchildren.
What would your superpower be?
Like many people in design, I suppose I could be a super multi-tasker, we get paid to be both OCD and are often ADD so at that last hour of an on-site installation with carpenters afoot, flowers being delivered, a last piece of furniture arriving at long last I do feel like I wear the cape of a magician. We cannot afford to be change adverse in our profession; โpivotโ is what we do best.
P.S.
Last book you read?
Whatโs that? I thought certainly Iโd have all the time in the world for that given the times, but not so as weโve never been busier. I craved comfort reading during the last eleven months so revisited one of my favorites of late, The Secret Garden, salve for the soul.
Dream buy?
I miss traveling so much! At this point in time, a luxuriously decadent trip somewhere. My husband and I have the first trip already planned and it will be Italy for a month, starting at Villa Feltrinelli on Lake Garda, going afterwards to Villa DโEste on Lake Como, then ending in Florence. Weโd like to be gone for a month; fingers crossed we can make that happen!
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