Designer Friday: An aspire Exclusive Interview With Rebekah Zaveloff

Rebekah Zaveloff is the co-founder and creative director of Imparfait Design Studio, an interior architecture and design firm that celebrates the beauty found in places and things that endure over time. Along with her husband and business partner Nick Nichols, Rebekah officially launched Imparfait Design Studio this past fall, marking the 2nd design studio for the duo (the pair’s sister brand Kitchenlab, just celebrated 20 years in business). Kitchenlab originally started as a kitchen-specific design firm but over the years, they organically started taking on more full-scale residential work, hence the choice to create Imparfait. Rebekah also has an impeccable eye for collecting and curating the right blend of pieces that make a house feel like a home (her background is actually in set design and hospitality), taking every detail into consideration. Learn more about Rebekah and Imparfait in today’s Designer Friday.

Andrew Joseph: What inspired you to become a designer?
Rebekah Zaveloff: I had studied fine art in college and ended up in set design for television and film working as the art department coordinator and buyer. I got sick of being unemployed in between gigs and going back to waiting tables in between (also, it was sort of depressing watching these elaborate sets go up and then get town down). I started dating my now husband and business partner, Nick, who was gut rehabbing a 4 flat in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood — I walked into this gutted space with the plaster and lathe and exposed 100-year-old joists and studs and I was like “this is what I want to do.” I’ve always loved old houses and vintage furniture, but I hadn’t really spent time in a gutted building in my adult life. A switch flipped.

AJ: Can you describe your design philosophy in three words?
RZ: Hospitality is key.

AJ: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received as a designer?
RZ: It wasn’t really advice, more of saying that our lead interior designer brought over from a prior job. “Too many moves.” It’s equivalent to the Coco Chanel saying “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.”

AJ: What is your favorite type of lighting to use in your designs?
RZ: Anything with a black shade, preferably with a gold leaf interior. Unfortunately, my clients prefer not to live in the dark. I’d live by candlelight if I could.

AJ: How do you approach designing for a specific mood or atmosphere?
RZ: I’m always thinking about how it feels to be in a favorite restaurant or hotel. Not just about how it looked, but how it felt. It’s often not about the design, and more about the details, the lighting, the mood, a vignette when sitting on the corner of a sofa in a certain spot in the room. I want to be in rooms that make people feel something, so I want to create rooms that do the same.

AJ: What is your favorite design-related quote?
RZ: “Elegance is not about being noticed, it’s about being remembered.” – Giorgio Armani

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