Interior designer Amanda Nisbet now calls Richmond home. (Photo courtesy Amanda Nisbet)
Amanda Nisbet worked as a New York-based interior designer for 25 years, but this is the first time she has had the opportunity to decorate her own house. Nisbet recently relocated her eponymous design firm to Richmond in search of a slower pace and better quality of life. After living for years in New York apartments, “I decided I would love to have a house,” she explains.
For Nisbet, author of “Dazzling Design” and an acclaimed designer known for her bold, colorful interiors, relocating to Richmond from the epicenter of the design world was a big move. “We’re in an age now where it’s not that hard to do a lot of your work on Skype and by FedExing back and forth,” she explains. “I have to fly to visit a lot of my clients anyway.”
Nisbet will formally introduce herself to Richmond on Saturday, Nov. 18, from 9:30 to 11 a.m., when she serves as the signature speaker during the Rise + Shine event at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s Craft + Design show.
She moved into a Charleston-style Colonial in the near West End in August, where she also plans to run her design business. A Montreal native, Nisbet was familiar with Richmond through friends who live here. “I have so many friends here, and at the end of the day, that’s what is really important in your life,” she says.
Nisbet also was attracted to Richmond’s rich arts culture and its burgeoning restaurant scene. “It’s the perfect pace for me right now,” she says. “There’s enough that it’s exciting, but not so much that it’s overwhelming.”
While Nisbet has clients across the United States, she’s looking forward to working with clients in Richmond. “Sometimes, people think that because I am coming from New York, I am unreachable,” she says. “I want to create approachable design for a variety of clients.”
Nisbet is also looking forward to raking her yard and mowing it with a manual lawnmower. “Right now, I’m still in a dream world,” she says, laughing. “I’ve only been here for a few weeks, and I have already been so happy.”
Tickets to Rise + Shine are $30 for the general public, $25 for Visual Arts Center members, and include early admission to Craft + Design and a continental breakfast. Visit visarts.org for details.
