Where many people only saw four walls, Ted Kloss always saw a blank canvas.
Kloss, an interior designer in Atlanta for 40 years, never passed up an opportunity to improve a space, his children said.
“He renovated several houses that the average person may have looked at and not been interested in,” said his daughter, Georgia Rappole, who is also an Atlanta interior designer. “He kind of had that Boy Scout mentality of leaving a place better than he found it. And he did that all of the time.”
Kloss worked his magic in residential and commercial spaces, said his son, Beckwith Kloss of Brooklyn, N.Y.
“He recognized that people’s happiness and productivity were greatly influenced by their surroundings,” Beckwith Kloss said. “He knew if you were comfortable when you were working, that you would do a better job.”
Edward Baillie Kloss of Atlanta, widely known as Ted, died April 11 of complications from lung cancer. He was 66.
A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m. Saturday at Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church, Brookhaven. SouthCare, Alpharetta, was in charge of cremation arrangements.
As a child Kloss lived all over the country, including California, Idaho and Alabama, because his father was a doctor in the military. After graduating from Auburn University with a degree in interior design in 1971, Kloss moved to Atlanta to start his career.
“He saw Atlanta as a place where he could practice his trade,” Beckwith Kloss said.
Ted Kloss worked for a couple of design firms before starting his own enterprise, ATP Planning & Design, in the early 1990s.
“Dad was one of the lucky people who knew what he wanted to do from the time he was young,” Rappole said. “He always had an eye for architecture and interior design.”
Heather Bogle, Kloss’ companion for the past few years, said it seemed like he could “see in three dimensions.”
“He could look at something and know the way it needed to be designed,” she said. “He would say when he was given a project to design, the ideas just flowed.”
But Kloss not only designed stunning spaces, he created beautiful music, as well.
Kloss was in a rock ’n’ roll band, The Psychics, for at least three decades, his children said. He played saxophone, percussion, bass guitar and sang vocals, according to the band’s website.
“He was equally passionate about music,” Rappole said. “And through his design and music he was really a community builder; he brought people together.”
Beckwith Kloss said his father loved people and never passed up an opportunity to engage others in conversation.
“He’d strike up a conversation with the gas station attendant that would last a half-hour,” the son said. “He was really fascinated by people from all walks of life. He was very curious.”
Beckwith Kloss said his father’s curiosity about people contributed to his success as an interior designer.
“When you think about the home, it is ideally an expression of who you are,” he said. “So when you turn over the job of designing space in your home to someone, that person has to get to know you pretty well if they’re going to design a space for you. That is what he did well.”
In addition to his children, Kloss is survived by three siblings, Jane Eubanks, John Kloss and Richard Kloss, all of Boise, Idaho.
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