A talented eye for design led Rachel Kapner to reach new heights at Creative Wall Coverings & Interiors (CWI). As the President and Principal Designer of New Jersey’s preeminent design group, she provides award-winning interior design services to residential clients who appreciate her hands-on approach, personal touch and multiple decades of creative experience. Whether the project entails refreshing one room or an entire house, Kapner provides the same close attention to detail and high-caliber design advice to a growing list of new and repeat clients. She discusses what makes CWI an enduring presence in the design field, and how each project is exciting and new.
Gwen Donovan: What can customers expect from CWI when they are ready to design their home?
Rachel Kapner: Our personalized service with custom-curated designs specifically tailored and selected for each client allows us to set their home – or room – apart.
GD: How would you describe your professional approach to a new design project?
RK: I pride myself on the ability to work with my clients’ own taste and style, so they feel comfortable in their own space with a final product that exudes their own personality yet is magnified, polished, and put together. Listening and noting initial conversations at the beginning of the design process is key to pulling together a look they will love.
GD: What keeps you inspired and creative when beginning a new project?
RK: Knowing I can enjoy all my designs vicariously through my clients’ homes is always new and is something I never have to repeat. There are so many options to choose from, and that’s what keeps the ideas fresh and exciting.
GD: Is there a project you feel most closely reflects your own design aesthetic?
RK: I am truly proud of all my projects, and that is the key to the enjoyment of my job. It’s the fulfillment I get from the completion of projects with completely different styles that keeps it interesting, but if I had to pick one – which is really hard –I would have to say it was a project that inserted modernism into an old Victorian home which was in disrepair. The interior was brought back to life with a new brightness, and was in a central in-town spot that made everyone stop and watch its renovation based on its high-profile location. It was an amazing transformation and totally fit the family to a T.
Photography by Mike Van Tassell.
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