Suzanne Kasler: Interior designer "on fire" in national scene

"She is on fire," declares Stephen Drucker, editor-in-chief of House Beautiful, who recently invited Kasler to join him at a panel discussion at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center. "She was a regional star, but in the last couple of years she's become a national star."

Kasler’s name has come to symbolize sophisticated but relaxed environments rooted in classic European style. As Drucker puts it, she represents "the good life."

“I love Suzanne’s work because it’s exactly what people want now,” Drucker said. “She appeals to everyone. She can't be pigeon-holed as traditional or contemporary, and that's very much in the spirit of design today."

For a woman whose name has gone global, Kasler herself is demure. In front of crowds, she speaks softly and often smiles with a downward glance, perhaps still growing accustomed to the spotlight in which she now travels.

She rubs shoulders with design giants Jamie Drake, David Easton and most notably Thomas O’Brien, whom she credits for paving the path toward her Hickory Chair furniture line. (She named her signature piece, an upholstered quatrefoil-motif side chair after her daughter, Alexandra. Kasler also designs rugs for Safavieh and has a lighting collection with Visual Comfort.)

“What’s really great is people at that level are so supportive. They all know what it takes to get to that place,” Kasler said. “We all appreciate each others’ talents and the individuality of what we are bringing to the design world.”

Finding the right fit

Originally from Indianapolis, Kasler didn’t always know she had a gift for creating memorable spaces. With a father in the Air Force, she moved every two years as a child and didn’t live in the type of grand mansions she now decorates for her affluent clientele.

It wasn’t until a friend turned her on to architecture in her teens that she decided to pursue the field at the University of Cincinnati.

She started out in commercial design, a career often echoed in her residential work with a sparing use of contemporary elements. She later owned a home decor shop in Indiana and then began exploring residential design.

Kasler moved to Atlanta about 15 years ago with her husband, John Morris, and their daughter, Alexandra, when he was transferred for his position with Steelcase, an international office furniture manufacturer.

“We moved here for my career, which was a big sacrifice for her,” Morris said. “It’s worked out for my career, but I always say, it’s really, really worked out for hers.”

The family recently moved to a new home in Buckhead and are putting the finishing touches on their decor. Morris said he’s become a design devotee because of his wife, but he knows to leave the decorating to her.

“I have strong opinions, but I don’t have much veto power,” he laughed.

Work is love

When Kasler is not meeting with clients, working with architects, designing spaces and collaborating with vendors, she may be studying sculpture in an airport, the detailing in drapery, or perhaps beads strung from a necklace. She travels regularly to Paris for flea-market shopping and recently added Africa to her passport of inspiring places.

“The thing about design is you’re always working," Kasler explained. "What happens with our business is that you find inspiration in so many ways, like when you go to a restaurant or a new city. So,finally, I said to someone: ‘I love work.’”

What keeps her going? It’s pretty simple.

“I have huge enthusiasm for everything,” she said. “I just found when I went to design school that I had a real passion for pretty much everything in that world.”

And if her portfolio is any proof, Kasler isn’t kidding.