Charlotte Moss Charlotte Moss has made her mark on the design industry by being known for her timeless aesthetic, layered interiors, southern warmth and keen eye for more Than 35 years. She has received many outstanding awards and honors for her work as a designer, writer, and philanthropist. Charlotte will be the guest speaker at this year’s Columbus Botanical Garden Gala Luncheon on October 14th at The Green Island Country Club

By Marla Caligaris

Charlotte Moss is an award-winning interior designer, speaker, author and philanthropist. She has used her experience from the 35 years of decorating homes to design collections of furniture and upholstery, fabrics, carpets, photography, clothing and even bracelets. Her work has led her to winning numerous honors and awards, including the New York School of Interior Design’s Centennial Medal, Housing Works Groundbreaker’s Award, The Royal Oak Foundation’s Timeless Design award and is named one of Elle Décor’s Grand Master List of Top Designers. Charlotte lectures a lot, having published 12 books to date. Of all the work she does, philanthropy plays a very important part of her life. Charlotte sat down with SVM to talk about who inspired her passion for interior design, and how her Southern upbringing influenced her interior design work.

You are the featured guest speaker at this year's Botanical Garden Gala Luncheon. What will the topic of your lecture be? Since we’ve all been close to home for the last year and a half, I thought it might be nice to travel to gardens I have seen, gardens that have influenced my work, and gardens I look forward to re-visiting. Gardens around the world.

What inspired your passion for interior design? Tell us about the moment when you decided this is what you wanted to pursue? I really had no clue what interior decorating was all about, but when I was twelve years- old, I was always moving my mother’s furniture around, I guess that was the start. But my eureka moment happened after I had visited English decorating shops in London, Colefax & Fowler, George Spencer and Jean Munro. At the time I was on Wall Street, subliminally I was plotting my escape! Then, my firm went through a merger, and that was my answer. Leap and the net will appear!

How do you work with clients to define their needs? What questions do you ask to determine the final look and feel of a space? Creating a space that’s beautiful and functional requires a lot of Q&A. Questions that are key to understanding how people live (i.e., Do you have breakfast on your kitchen island, or at a dining table? Does your husband fold or hang his shirts? How many ball gowns do you own?) I’ve been doing this a long time, so the line of questions is more of a conversation, but it IS personal. The most important thing is to LISTEN. Listen to what is said AND what is not said, in other words, learn to read between the lines. I feel very fortunate in my business to work for clients that have given us a chance to work on multiple projects. For instance, now I am working on the fourth project for a particular client. We’ve already had our “first date,” so now we can get down to the specifics of the project.

Did your Southern upbringing have an influence on your interior design work? Naturally. Southerners are all about hospitality. I feel that our role as a designer is to do what we can to facilitate that, whether it is a congenial floor plan that lends itself to conversation, a beautiful dining room that is used frequently, or an intimate family space, because hospitality begins at home.

What do you think are the most important pieces/things to invest in when decorating your home? It’s not so much an item or two, or a piece of furniture, a rug, a chandelier, or a fabulous mirror, but investing in the best quality that you are able to. When it comes to bricks and mortar, no one wants to have to re-do anything of this nature, so selecting the best that you can is critical. The great thing about furniture today is there are so many ways to shop, so many places to shop and so many choices, for new and antique. The bottom line, buy the best that you can afford, and most importantly, be honest with yourself about what YOU really like, and do your homework.

You just published another book this past April: Charlotte Moss: Flowers, published by Rizzoli. How were you first introduced to the world of floral design? My maternal grandmother. She had flowers in her garden and in her house. But no one thought of it as floral design back then. In fact, I still don’t think about flowers in that way, design. I see a flower as a thing of beauty, something I want to be surrounded by, and flowers are such an easy way to create beauty at home.

What is your most favorite bloom, filler and foliage? There are so many beautiful flowers it’s impossible to pick one, but I will say, I am partial to my roses. Honestly, it’s whatever is in abundance in the garden or the market. Mint, scented geranium, hosta leaves, stephanandra, lady’s mantle, or leaves from my fruit trees are great supporting actors.

What are the basic elements that you include in each arrangement? Enthusiasm!

You’ve done a lot of traveling in your lifetime. Can you tell us about your scrapbooks from those trips, and how they help your clients' visions of what they want their home to be? My scrapbooks are reminders of places I’ve been, things that have caught my eye, architecture, gardens, design elements of all sorts. I believe we carry these around in our head, but the photos help us illustrate things to a client; a pediment over a door, cabinet styles, floor patterns, mood, the list goes on. Sometimes the images can be interpreted literally, other times they just start the conversation.

CHAORLOTTE MOSS