“I don’t want to just design a perfect thing,” notes firm founder Melissa Lee. “It’s about the people who live there.” Born and raised in Taipei—surrounded by construction sites for model homes and the scent of sawdust—she found her way to design through an unconventional path, launching her Brooklyn-based firm in 2012 after studying psychology and working in fashion. The AD PRO Directory member (pictured in her home office) credits her experience as a first-generation immigrant with giving her the confidence to make a career change that, as she puts it in hindsight, “felt inescapable, almost meant to be.” Today, she is bringing a sense of belonging to projects like a moody, historic apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and a vividly hued artist residency in the Berkshires. “We’re designing an atmosphere, an emotion,” she says of her signature romantic lens. “It should be the true reflection of who you are and how your life evolves.” bespokeonly.com
Get inspired by the work of nine interior designers on the rise and browse their tried-and-true favorites—the products they source for their clients over and over again.
