Jacksonville-native Constance Riik, an award-winning interior designer and owner of CSR Interiors, will be offering home accessories and furnishings at her new retail location set to open in Ponte Vedra Beach in mid-July.
Riik offers residential design, full-service and hourly consultations for individual rooms or an entire home through CSR Interiors, Inc. The company's website states that services "are tailored to suit each client's specific needs.”
This summer, Riik plans to expand her horizons by opening her first retail location called Boxwood & Birch at CSR Interiors, which will offer a variety of home accessories, furnishings and more.
"I have found that great accessories are often hard to get your hands on around here," she says. "That is a void I intend to fill with Boxwood & Birch."
Riik says she got her start in the interior design field after completing a two-year program at Florida State College at Jacksonville. Following her graduation, Riik worked for Ward Lariscy for nearly a year before incorporating CSR Interiors, Inc. in 2010.
"Going to school qualified me for membership in the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), as well as enabled me to meet local designers and be part of the local design community," she says. "Through that, I have a network of close friends and mentors like Ward, in the industry. I have served on the ASID Florida North Board, including two terms as president, and that was a great experience."
At Boxwood & Birch, the CSR Interiors owner plans to offer the same things she incorporates into her design projects, such as home accessories, lighting, furniture, fabric and wallpaper. Riik notes that her retail location will be perfect for customers who may not need a full-service designer (which Riik will continue to offer) but still need accessories for the home.
"We're in the process now of the planning stages, and then getting through permitting in St. Johns County takes time," she says. "Once we do that, we'll start to build out."
CSR Interiors is unique, Riik says, because it offers services that are tailored to suit the needs of individual clients. She notes that a lot of her customers are busy business people, doctors or lawyers with full schedules who "want a nice home" but don't have time to worry about interior design.
"I create spaces and homes that really reflect their individual style and how [clients] live," she says. "Often that involves helping the clients discover their style. I don't have a specific 'look' that I stick with or repeat. Some designers stay in a specific lane like that. I love to use color and typically incorporate it into all of my projects."
Riik says she can work with full-service clients and on single rooms or a whole house.
"Full-service clients are those that really cannot, or do not want to, do it themselves or simply do not have the time," she explains. "These clients include those in existing homes and those that are building new homes or remodeling. There are so many decisions to make when you are building or remodeling and I help my clients through that process, which starts with the planning stage and working closely with the architect and builder to insure all of the client's needs are met.
“Then it goes into furnishing the home, doing window treatments and furnishings to complete the whole concept," Riik adds.
For more information on CSR Interiors, Inc. visit www.csrinteriorsinc.com.
