16 | lifestyle & arts sunday breakfast ■ by david sweet When Shelley Patenaude served as an assistant fashion editor at The McCall Pattern Co. in New York City in her 20s, she helped handle a number of photographic shoots each month — including those of Brooke Shields and Linda Evans — for inclusion in large sewing books. “I loved it. I thought I’d want to be in that busi ness,” s ays Patenaude during lunch at The Deer Path Inn. Today, she’s still involved with fashion — but it’s closer to home in a couple of ways. Not only has the Lake Forest native settled back in her hometown, her passion for fashion is now dedicated to homes through her design firm Shelley Patenaude Interiors. “By walking into a home, you get to know a lot about a person,” says Patenaude, a Lake Forest Country Day School alumna who graduated f rom G eorget ow n University in 1985 with a double major in English and fine arts. “It’s a relationship business — you Shelley Patenaude have to have a conversation.
Interior designer is in homes — and at home
You’re a problem solver — you get to know a person very well.” Since she opened the firm more than 20 years ago after stints at both the Merchandise Mart and as an assistant designer for Thomas Sarti Girot Interiors, the business has gone through a few changes. At one time, she switched the name to Make Room for Kids. “ T her e ’s one i n Hollywood — they do nurseries there for $20,000 a pop,” she says. “People here didn’t spend as much on a kid’s room.” The idea was dropped. Patenaude’s clients range from those who buy top-of-the line furniture to those who choose retail, and they’re all over the country, from Boston to San Francisco. She leans toward designing a home in timeless fashion rather than following current trends, with an overarching goal of creating both comfort and harmony. Of course, she has to be flexible. A cl ient i n San Francisco fell in love with a glamorous 1920s
illustration by barry blitt
Hollywood couch. “We worked the whole room around it,” recalls Patenaude. “After I came back here, she also fell in love with two massive paintings. They didn’t work (with the design), and we had already ordered all the furniture — the perfect fabric. We had to throw it all out. “What could I say? I went back to the drawing board.” Patenaude spends a lot of time conducting research and finding furniture sources online. In 2014, via her Web site www.shelleypatenaudeinteriors.com, she plans to open Room In a Box — a way to expand her client base without conducting travel. Customers will fill out a two-page questionnaire online about the style of their home, whether they watch HDTV, whether they like cool colors and more. Patenaude explains to them how to measure the room and take the proper photos to send to her. In 4-6 weeks, a box arrives at their door with the room layout, a shopping list and other items.
“By walking into a home, you get to know a lot about a person.” | Shelley Patenaude “It’s for those who don’t have the funds for an interior designer. You can do it according to your budget,” explains Patenaude (the fee for a living room, for example, is $1,100). Though Patenaude recently opened an office in Lake Forest, she has no interest in procuring retail space. “You open up a big can of worms when you do that,” she says. “Your work is your publicity.” Patenaude’s toil goes beyond fashion. For the past two years, she co-chaired the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital Pro-Am Golf Championship, along with the Dinner on the Bluff the night before. Both events raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for pediatric care. And while the mother of three is devoted to her business (along with her charity endeavors), she’d rather not be consumed by them. Says Patenaude, “I don’t want to get to the point where I can’t spend time with my family. I am deeply engaged, but I don’t want it to be any different than it is.” ■