Designer Tara Engelberg of Tara Felice Interiors creates luscious designs covering the gamut of styles, but nothing looks staged or ripped from a showroom. Every space looks authentic, infused with a subtle European aesthetic and a lot of fun.
Tara took a different path to find her decorator career. A native New Yorker, she began her career in finance. After moving her family to her husband’s hometown of Memphis, Tara found a beautiful home she knew she could make her own. It needed to be comfortable for her young children and multiple pets, but she also wanted it to feel sophisticated. She enlisted the help of a Chicago-based design team to transform the space. The process inspired her design work and helped train her eye for scale and symmetry. Her journey also included a brief battle with breast cancer, during which she learned interiors’ true power. “Your environment impacts your mood and your health,” she says.
Tara honed her craft, working for friends, traveling and learning the business. “It’s scary at first to spend other people’s money,” she says. But her confidence grew with glowing feedback and happy clients. Tara’s authentic style appealed to others.
This month we feature an East Memphis home Tara designed for a young family. The traditional home was dated but was brimming with potential. The pitched mansard roof and dormer windows gave Tara “Parisian apartment vibes.” She gathered materials and a mix of classic and contemporary pieces to create her envisioned depth. She then added her signature pops of color and “vintage moments” like the Mid-century chairs and antique pieces.
Although she draws on elements from different decades, the completed look is cohesive. With strategically sequenced colors throughout the design, like orange and shades of blue, Tara finds balance and interest in variety. She used surprise details like Calacatta gold marble in the powder room and floral wallpaper on the ceiling in the library but kept the upholstery clean and comfortable.
Like in her own home, Tara made light a priority. She maximizes natural light and uses statement pieces to enhance a space, as with the dramatic Lindsey Adelman chandelier in the dining room. Tara went the extra mile helping her clients curate a stunning art collection using her many local and national resources. Amanda Goetze of Goetze Art & Design sourced Belle Ceramics sculptures by artist Isabelle Coppinger and paintings from Cat Rigdon.
“I encourage clients to break the mold and dig deeper than Pinterest or Instagram.” She wants the process to be fun and the finished interiors to reflect her clients and their families. “The best feedback from clients is when they feel so much better in a space we designed.”
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This East Memphis home designed by Tara Felice Interiors was recently featured in Elle Décor Spain.
A self-taught designer, Tara has an intuitive flair for unique interior design.