Gail McCleese sits in a curvy booth at Annabelle Brasserie, watching other diners experience the setting she helped create: a ceiling dripping with colorful faux florals and French country style using materials so plush you want to reach out and stroke them.
“Biophilia is important to me. I like to bring in nature or the sense of a garden since we’re stuck inside so much,” she said. “I’m inspired by nature and cultured travel. I love France, especially Marseilles, but I also like Italy, Ireland and Spain.”
Gail, who has spent nearly four decades creating beautiful interiors at high-end hotels and restaurants, will be the November honoree for the Houston Design District’s Leaders In Design program.
An Ohio native who moved to the Houston area in 1981 with her then-husband, Gail studied interior design at the Art Institute of Houston before building her own nationally-recognized hospitality design firm. She worked at Gensler for a handful of years, then in 2019 opened her boutique practice, Sensitori, named for her sensory-oriented design ethos.
In Houston, some of her most high-profile projects have included Tilman Fertitta’s Post Oak Hotel, which this fall received a Michelin “key” (the equivalent of a restaurant “star”) along with nine projects she’s worked on with Berg Hospitality, including Annabelle Brasserie, Buttermilk Baby and Turner’s Cut. She’s currently working with Randall and Natalie Davis on the London House high-rise at San Felipe and Shepherd.
While her more than 100 hotel and restaurant projects range in décor and are full of color, Gail describes her own home as a “modern white envelope” filled with modern furniture brands such as Giorgetti and Minotti and colorful art and accessories.
"Biophilia is important to me. I like to bring in nature or the sense of a garden since we’re stuck inside so much." – Gail McCleese