׉?ׁB!בCט  (u׉׉	 7cassandra://nUqpmDFmvbzmk8qzddGuU4v4fS7BkRWbUpVtS2DQ2Yc e`׉	 7cassandra://RVZJBexle-KAwol2zISCyuFsuu4cGoHQCgk-omJXzt0`r`s׉	 7cassandra://yYnrw6omY9xh-lzmzMXUvodIpFnByOCU6pN6nyUueK8#` ׉	 7cassandra://3PAqx8UicCh9zKquknIXJLj5QAYnO4SBc8CbdHEGOCs L͠]]5&t09ט   (u׈         ׈E]5&t0+׉ESusan Easterly Coleman
׉	 7cassandra://yYnrw6omY9xh-lzmzMXUvodIpFnByOCU6pN6nyUueK8#` ]5&t0,]5&t0+(בCט   (u׉׉	 7cassandra://uv5Lp-FrHoJofGWk-5y3RZUlglCJIjwqQ7KIpvz72X8 ;
`iq׉	 7cassandra://UZCKL7Pkrj5ewZ-S1fVfD5g9NsEpnfrysP4xG72AH4g͊`׉	 7cassandra://9BO7MEc26-lEcJvIIojL_pwjUHZLzYV9WmoNl17C_x0.U` ׉	 7cassandra://EMrRZeiLf8zwtKGxq_dokfyOzQ-G1jJ_d3nkmulbc8Y a(,͠
]5&t0<׉E׉	 7cassandra://9BO7MEc26-lEcJvIIojL_pwjUHZLzYV9WmoNl17C_x0.U` ]5&t0-׉EABOUT SUSAN
INTERIOR DESIGNER
Serving as a member of the American
Society of Interior Design (ASID) and
the
International
the
lead
Interior
designer
for
Coleman Furniture Company.
Susan, who has designed homes all
over the United States, as well as
the Cayman Islands, now heads up
the third generation family-owned
business. With locations in Lebanon
and Bristol, Va., venerable Easterly
Coleman offers the finest in furniture,
as well as a custom cabinetry and
design services with Bristol serving
as full scale design center.
Susan’s grandfather, James Easterly,
founded what was originally known
as Lebanon Furniture in 1935. Her
father, Jim Jr., grew up working in
the business and her mother, Lorene,
joined him at Lebanon Furniture
in 1970. Under Jim and Lorene’s
direction, Lebanon Furniture became
so successful that Heilig-Meyers, a
Association (IIDA), Susan Coleman
is
Easterly
Susan, who credits her mother as
her
inspiration
for introducing
sophisticated and elegant lines to the
business, as well as being the catalyst
for the company’s move into design
work, attended the
E.
Claiborne
Robins School of Business at the
University of Richmond. She received
degrees in marketing and finance.
Her graduate work in design was
completed at the University of North
Carolina-Greensboro, then
ranked
within the top five design schools in
the country.
Under
the
expert guidance
of
Susan and Tim, Easterly Coleman
has developed into an extremely
successful and reputable business
and expanded its umbrella to include
her grandfather’s original business,
Lebanon Furniture Company.
Design
notable and successful chain of that
time, offered to buy Lebanon Furniture
but Jim had no interest in selling the
business.
]5&t0.]5&t0-(בCט   (u׉׉	 7cassandra://9tV0pg4l-qIs3KGgeNH4YMAj2NOFJtFd6Dak10N1UUA W`iq׉	 7cassandra://LbqspJBgOHwObHUhisHYM_4MmPBxfRqj66vhurzarWcͮB`׉	 7cassandra://bgdE_8RRNmgbTnhqxoGGm5VXATWSuNUTGw1ZfM3RARs9` ׉	 7cassandra://9fTD64bOqTKKzGO5yTlGyI00FHrTY1Rcjv90ZvR2iTw N8͠
]5&t0?׉E׉	 7cassandra://bgdE_8RRNmgbTnhqxoGGm5VXATWSuNUTGw1ZfM3RARs9` ]5&t0/׈E]5&t00]5&t0/(בCט   (u׉׉	 7cassandra://uTfAKXyOJatPRxPEg2IpkVDWrmqNdrIHU1yktb_uE3g ``iq׉	 7cassandra://aF27_aTmcmu4cxgflPZvC_cvTzsVAjIXd_ti72QXpcc͌`׉	 7cassandra://oLngnYT3yaddv1wEwsUpA7KRJGnCsvNBOpsw1yWX2xU/n` ׉	 7cassandra://wz1Pb-x45b1jwEQTmcAM4wPkfrCu46t2ltHkLMuMzKE ͠
]5&t0B׉EM
any of today’s most successful interior designers
are known for a particular style that serves as their
calling card. It might be a color palette, a specific type of
artwork or furniture, a certain aesthetic, or something else
that can directly identify them with the project at hand.
That isn’t the process for Susan Coleman, whose design style
simply can’t be pigeon-holed. In her more than 30 years as a
successful designer, Coleman has created a variety of dynamic
residential interiors, complete with custom cabinetry and
furnishings, throughout the United States and the Cayman Islands
– all unique to the vision of her clients.
“Honestly, I don’t really have a
preferred style,”
“I would never force my thoughts on a client so I just try to
tune into what they’re telling me. I conform to what they
want and what they like. It’s not my house, it’s theirs so it’s
important to understand how the family functions and what
their personalities are like," Coleman said of her exquisitely
detailed designs.
׉	 7cassandra://oLngnYT3yaddv1wEwsUpA7KRJGnCsvNBOpsw1yWX2xU/n` ]5&t01׈E]5&t02]5&t01(בCט   (u׉׉	 7cassandra://SHzh15Gh0jjzr_deO5vol4PvDpknn2fG4aceRvXionA g`iq׉	 7cassandra://EoIQzJMJkqlL_VqqcLb3SIizJ1WKd-eINZVUEtL5HS4`׉	 7cassandra://-eoFZ-T6dQGGIhUuJt7UGQk--4hxRhSbo__uyWqIcYQ>` ׉	 7cassandra://86R-uq_lIhmNctdEtqfRy9tjxRzpYRUz2UkhDEQVWDQ >T͠
]5&t0D׉ERichmond, Virginia
Historic Distric Home
W
hile Susan Coleman doesn’t like to play
favorites when it comes to her interior
design projects, she won’t deny that this
historic home on Grove Avenue in Richmond,
Va. holds a special place in her heart.
The home, built in the 1800s, had been
repurposed into several apartments. Her client
wanted the home restored to its original glory,
which was music to Coleman’s ears.
Coleman’s inspiration for the restoration of the
home came from a piece of artwork bought by
her client in Cuba. Placed over the living room
fireplace, the original oil painting gave birth to
Coleman’s vision.
“That was it – that one piece of art is where
we started,” she said. “She wanted us to design
around the colors in that artwork. At first, I
was like ‘how am I going to make this work’
but we did it and when we finished it was
beautiful, classy and full of color.”
Coleman’s client gave her poetic license to do
as she wished, a designer’s dream come true.
“Some might have been intimidated by this
project, but I wasn’t at all,” she said. “It is
so awesome to be trusted to do something
like this from the ground up. And she really
listened to me and didn’t dissect everything.
׉	 7cassandra://-eoFZ-T6dQGGIhUuJt7UGQk--4hxRhSbo__uyWqIcYQ>` ]5&t03׉E Coleman’s
inspiration
for the restoration of
the home came from
a piece of artwork
bought by her client
in Cuba. Placed
over the living room
fireplace, the original
oil painting gave birth
to Coleman’s vision.
]5&t04]5&t03(בCט   (u׉׉	 7cassandra://5wTrNIdL-4EAnBZD5zxM4ZoHyAtbjSEXo6wH4GRyifg e[`iq׉	 7cassandra://E9nD6VJrU5D-c6u6FeHn1dvW7FLVX57M-2ZL1C2AOnkͺ`׉	 7cassandra://nm9k62rUhpBJJXRNXHEjat2C1bU_SmgimvMpWrvA_nk@` ׉	 7cassandra://GLNEVoNv8tLpw_QNGMRyS0xTXT7LOXnYfVcl_SEvrL0 	F͠
]5&t0F׉E “When you have a vision and people start picking it apart, you
lose it and your creativity can be stifled. But this house, it
was just really a joy to do.”
׉	 7cassandra://nm9k62rUhpBJJXRNXHEjat2C1bU_SmgimvMpWrvA_nk@` ]5&t05׉E“The ceilings were not high
enough, but I positioned the
ottoman so we could use it,
and she absolutely loved it.”
Coleman also had a lot of fun
creating her client’s family
story along the staircase.
“My client is very family
oriented so she wanted
something special with
photos,” she said. “We created
these plexiglass frames that
go the length of the stairs and
basically tell the story of her
family.”
“I was really happy with the
way everything turned out
and my client was so easy to
work with. This was a fun, fun
project and was pretty much
a dream for a designer. The
more difficult the challenge,
the more fun and rewarding
the end result is – and that
was definitely the case here.”
]5&t06]5&t05(בCט   (u׉׉	 7cassandra://TThR0weCKaTmbrgNLfPISjcJbT0WWjmreQVbfAJB06U H`׉	 7cassandra://ZarkG00sGrCEoM5bzAqSnSOqXJmGK0all8Z5WojJjLMM`s׉	 7cassandra://cHlKmbFmOOcoy7MIkJ1h7UGTW-KjKZ2yiIDzAB552LE&` ׉	 7cassandra://AF9jLLQtpJi2A7gDoq8fth3S8gvx7g821QgzMuFgVrw ͠]]5&t0H׉E׉	 7cassandra://cHlKmbFmOOcoy7MIkJ1h7UGTW-KjKZ2yiIDzAB552LE&` ]5&t07׈E]5&t08]5&t07(,Susan Coleman, Lead Designer]5Az!u