Meet Emily Roose | Interior, Furniture, & Lighting Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Emily Roose and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I found throughout my younger years that art was always my outlet. If I was able to be creative in some way, I was much happier and felt more fulfilled. I enjoyed learning to take black and white landscape photographs with my dad, learning to paint, sketch with charcoal, and learning to try other mediums throughout school. I was also drawn to architecture and the beauty and diversity of structures and our built environment. When I first graduated high school, I decided to pursue marketing and advertising in college since it is what my brother pursued. While going to school I worked a few different jobs that were more technical rather than creative and I found that I was more engaged and achieved more in a creative field. I was in the marketing, adverting, and promotions field for about seven years. I was laid off and my love for architecture was reignited. I decided to go back to school to pursue interior design and found my calling. I have been in the interior design industry now for 14 years and I love the different ways I can use my creativity and it feels like I can continue to morph and grow as an artist, which helps me to feel fulfilled. I also design furniture and lighting and am looking to design other home decor products down the road.

What should our readers know about your business?
One of the biggest things that sets me apart from other interior designers is that I was a promotions and digital content director for Clear Channel Radio/iHeart Media, and I have a degree in marketing in addition to my interior design degrees prior to becoming an interior designer. I have been able to use that marketing background when working with investors on spec projects or creating office spaces for other business owners. I can look at the project from not only the creative interior side that wants to provide a functional, healthy and productive working environment, but also the business side with knowing that they need a return on their investment as well as having a space that promotes the brand and image that they built so they can connect with their target market. Most interior designers focus on a specific niche like residential design. I love working on residential projects, but I love working on commercial, hospitality, multi-family developments, and home staging as well. I enjoy and thrive on the different types and project sizes. I feel I am a better designer because of the different requirements each project needs as well as the different challenges each project presents. I am also a furniture and lighting designer. Creating more special details for each project helps me to provide unique and custom-tailored designs for each client. I also want to create my own furniture line so by working with individual clients it has become a separate passion that continues to drive my creativity and has grown my excitement as a designer as well as starting to work with the beautiful mid-century modern lighting line, Nova of California as a lighting designer. It is a new venture, and I am excited about the future possibilities and the growing experience through it. My career and business journey has not been an easy one. I got to where I am today through forcing myself to keep pushing through, networking with other professionals, and learning and utilizing all the things I have been taught over the years by my mentors, other business owners, and by my two business coaches who are also interior designers, Keri Petersen and Traci Connell. All the challenges I have encountered over the years both professionally and personally have been life changing, both good and bad, but I have grown through each challenge and keep looking for new ways to recreate or innovate myself and my company. The main thing to know about me is that I work hard and love to create special spaces for my clients. I am passionate about sustainability, health, and wellness to create spaces that reduce our impact on the environment and reduce the impact on the health of the occupants. On top of taking continued education every year, I am close to becoming NCIDQ certified and then I will work to become accredited through LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design), and Well AP to be able to offer more services to my clients that are focused on preserving the beauty of our natural world and focusing on the health of the occupants.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love the natural beauty of the area; it is so green and has so much rich history. My best friend also went to college for interior design so first on the list would be the Parthenon and Centennial Park. On my first visit to Nashville and visiting with one of my long-time friends that is where he took me. It had been on my bucket list for several years to visit. It is spectacular both at night and during the day. We both geek out over architecture so starting there and then just driving around so she could see all the different architecture would on the must do list. I worked in the music industry so taking her down music row would be fun to see all the different labels offices. Go by the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Coming from Southern California and then the Lake Tahoe area we have been exposed to a lot of great food and Nashville is full of amazing places to eat with so much live music playing all of the time. We would head downtown and check out all of the restaurants and again check out the amazing architecture. I would want her to see Brentwood and Franklin as well. I loved the charm and the character of downtown Franklin with the old historical buildings. It reminds me of Truckee in California where I used to live, and I loved it. If she came with her husband and kids, then we would definitely take our kids to the zoo and out hiking to explore all of the natural beauty around the area. I am still new to the Nashville scene, but I have a lot I want to still explore. It is one of the most beautiful cities I have been to. It is easy to fall in love and never stop exploring.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Several people have been instrumental in shaping where I am today. We never know our path until the pieces start to fall into place. I am a firm believer that God puts those in your path to help guide you to where He wants you to go and to help you realize the full potential that He created you for. My parents have been my biggest supporters throughout my life and especially through me pursuing my college degrees, my careers, and starting my own business. Then my very first interior design instructor professor Leslie Baker told me I had a natural talent for interior design and encouraged me to continue on in the program. Thanks to her encouragement I did continue on and graduated with my bachelor’s degree in interior design. Lastly, my internship boss the very talented LEED AP and historic preservation designer Sarah Barnard and my boss the very creative celebrity designer Steven Cordrey after my internship both in Los Angeles were pivotal in training me as my first jobs in the interior design industry. They both are still my friends and mentors to this day. They taught me so much that I still lean on their advice years later and it has helped me expand my ideas of design and the different directions that I can take in this creative industry like designing not only homes, but offices, hotels, nightclubs, doctors offices, to even furniture, lighting, and other product design. So many other friends and family have been big supporters over the years and their encouragement and belief in me has helped me to push through every challenge. Having my four-year-old son full-time pushes me to try even harder and pursue my dreams so he has a mommy he can be proud of, see where hard work can take you, and through my career I am able to provide for him. His excitement at seeing what I do makes my career more special and also encourages me to stick with it and see where the future will take us.

Website: https://www.emilyrooseinteriors.com/

Instagram: @erooseinteriors

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/emilyrooseinteriors

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erooseinteriors/

Youtube: emilyrooseinteriors

Other: Houzz: https://www.houzz.com/pro/emilyrooseinteriors

Image Credits
Photographers: Rob Retting, Vance Fox, Katey Hamill, and Paul Hamill.