By Jennifer Martin
hen Susan Fredman looks at an interior needing a redesign, she doesn’t just see a room full of mismatched clutter or outdated furniture. She sees new colors, textures and dimensions, ideas that can turn an everyday living space into a vibrant, inspiring habitat.
Barbara Theile, the team leader of Chicago’s design studio, understands how important it is to design projects that embody a definite sense of place and the personality of the inhabitants. Whether working in a rustic European style for a lakefront retreat or designing an urban penthouse with a cosmopolitan sensibility, each of SF & A’s 18 designers focus on creating spaces that reflect both lifestyle and aesthetic choices.
Whether the space is small or large, Fredman doesn’t see limits. She sees possibilities. “Our interiors reflect both the goals of the client and the creativity of the designer,” states Barbara Ince, team leader of SF & A’s Michigan design studio. “The finished product is a reflection of many conversations and an extensive exchange of ideas.”
Susan Fredman and her talented team have served thousands of discerning clients nationwide. With an extraordinary sense of color and an innate love of nature, she is known for her innovative design solutions and collaborative projects. Her work has been showcased in both the local and national media including House Beautiful, Traditional Home, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Home, ABC and HGTV.
The recipient of many awards and honors including being named to the Who’s Who in Interior Design, the American Society of Interior Designers President’s Award, and Today’s Chicago Woman Top 100 Women Making a Difference, Susan is also the author of At Home with Nature: Great Interiors from the Great Outdoors.
But Susan Fredman and Associates is a firm that’s not only well-known for its ability to gracefully incorporate nature-based aesthetics into the home. Its chief strength lies in an uncanny ability to pinpoint a client’s taste and present a palette of options that fall within the client’s sensibility.
“For me, working with clients is the same feeling that actors describe when they are working with a great ensemble production,” said Lonnie Unger, one of many talented and dedicated designers at Susan Fredman and Associates. “Each player contributes to the energy and the ideas, bringing out the best in the other person. We help our clients articulate their dreams.”
Clients can testify that this firm has a great talent for making dreams come true. “We have had Susan Fredman and Associates design two different living spaces for us—one with a contemporary Asian theme and one a cottage style second home. The choice of colors was extraordinary, capturing the feeling we wanted in each house,” said client Beverly Rossman. “Furniture, layout, and accessories complemented and enhanced the sense of space. We just marveled with mouths agape at the way they transformed our vacation home from an eclectic mishmash of rooms and furniture, into a perfect cottage retreat.”
Susan Fredman is also the founder of a non-profit organization, Designs for Dignity. The organization works with an ever-expanding network of designers, manufacturers, and suppliers to provide inspiring interiors, and recycled furnishings and materials, for non-profit facilities that include childcare facilities, assisted living centers, shelters for survivors of domestic abuse, supportive housing for formerly homeless individuals and much more. Susan Fredman was featured on the cover of Interiors and Sources magazine highlighting her contribution to the non-profit community.
“The need is extraordinary, and there are enormous talents, and enormous resources available,” Fredman said. “There are problems we can uniquely solve—and so we should.”
But Susan Fredman’s busy life doesn’t stop there. On Red Arrow Highway in the heart of Michigan’s Harbor Country, she opened the At Home with Nature kitchen and bath design studio and store. This boutique retail store stocks beautiful items such as custom furniture, luxurious bed linens, decorative mirrors, European bath and body products, kitchen and table top décor, decorative hardware, custom rugs, one-of-a-kind artwork by local artists, hand-crafted lamps and so much more. It also has a fully custom capable design center, a complete kitchen and bath center and professional designers on staff. Additionally, Susan and her team have now made the products available at At Home With Nature into an amazing e-commerce site called www.SusanFredmanAtHome.com.The site specializes in retreat furnishings and accessories selected by interior designers to encourage self-expression.
All of these projects are part of Fredman’s unswerving efforts to create beautiful habitats for the Chicago area and beyond.
“Our trademark is creating environments that inspire clients to thrive and totally enjoy the comfort and beauty of their surroundings,” Fredman said. “As homeowners become more sophisticated and discriminating in their tastes, possibilities increase and rules decrease. Rooms planned and built with an eye toward quality design and function, add immeasurable value to the home and lifestyle.”
Susan Fredman and Associates LTD
350 West Erie
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 587-8150
(312) 587-9560 (fax)
www.susanfredman.cominfo@susanfredman.comMichigan location:
15998 Red Arrow Highway
Union Pier, MI 49129
(312) 587-8150
(312) 587-9560 (fax)
www.susanfredman.cominfo@susanfredman.comwww.SusanFredmanAtHome.com