When Emilie’s mother discovered her child’s propensity to retrieve the morning newspaper while simultaneously wearing both her pajamas and her fanciest Sunday shoes, she knew Emilie’s path would be on a road slightly less traveled. “Oh no,” all the neighbors said, “she’s going to be one of those ARTSY types.” Here’s what they didn’t know: the left side of her brain was going to be as formidable an opponent as the right.
Emilie eventually made her way to North Carolina, graduating with honors and a degree in Psychology from Wake Forest University in 1997. Soon after, she started a joint Master’s degree in Mathematics and Industrial Engineering at Georgia Tech, but the world of design found her nonetheless. Before long, she was being hired by friends and family to help pick paint colors, which led to buying furniture, which turned into renovation work, which landed her in new construction. After a while, she decided she wanted the props to back up her chops, so she returned to school to pursue a formal degree in Interior Design from the Art Institute of Atlanta. During the final era of her collegiate career, she won the title of Best Portfolio and the Award for Greatest Academic Achievements.
As a designer for Hirsch Bedner Associates, Emilie shared her ideas for luxury properties all over the world, including hotels, resorts, spas, and restaurants. Her time on the team for New York’s Essex House Hotel presented her the opportunity to delve into the world of large-scale renovations and into the quirks of survey architecture. As the lead designer for the St. Regis Atlanta, she saw the project from soup to nuts, working on conceptual design, space planning, selection and specification of finishes and furnishings, construction documentation, and construction administration. She also worked on the conceptual design for noteworthy properties such as the Rosewood Dubai, Caesar’s Palace in Ciudad Real, Spain, the Saadiyat Beach Resort in Abu Dhabi, and the Kempinski Emerald Palace on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah Crescent. She has an inexhaustible imagination and a deep appreciation for SkyMiles.
On the weekends, Emilie enjoys doing math and logic puzzles, spotting sweet finds in design magazines, and finding the perfect pair of shoes to go with every outfit. She is also the resident webmistress and writer of all things bloggish.