When Marjorie Shushan designed an office as a favor 30 or so years ago, she wasn’t actually planning to pursue interior design as a career. But as it happened, one small job led to another, until she met the late Kalef Alaton, whom she credits as “the designer who changed my life. He taught me to be curious and always open to new ideas.” She worked for Alaton for 10 years before establishing her own firm in New York in the late 1980s. “Many people don’t understand that it’s a profession,” she says of how the work of interior designers is sometimes perceived. “And it’s a profession that requires tremendous expertise and raw talent.”

Shushan, who incorporates her own fabric and furniture designs into her projects, develops inviting modern interiors that she describes as “calm, comfortable, clean and uncluttered—with a mix of antiques and contemporary.” Mindful of environmental issues, the designer and her staff of five try to practice “green” design whenever possible. “I’m hopeful that my wonderful hometown of New Orleans will be considering environmental aspects in its rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina,” she says. Given the choice of any historic interior to live in, “Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s glass pavilion in a serene park setting” would be her first pick. “But a 17th– or 18th–century apartment in Paris with high ceilings—I could be happy there too.”

Marjorie Shushan

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