Interior Motives

Sally Sirkin Lewis got her start in interior design completely by accident. “In the late 1950s I was in Miami, getting started in fashion design. I was on the beach sketching ideas for a sportswear collection when a woman approached me and said, ‘I love your sense of style.’Then, out of the blue, she asked me to help design her house!” the designer remembers. “I thought it was very flattering, but I told her that I didn’t know the first thing about interiors. She insisted and that’s how it started.”

Several years later, in 1972, the Hall of Fame designer founded J. Robert Scott, Inc., a luxury home furnishings manufacturer here in Los Angeles. Ms. Lewis sought to provide clients with contemporary, well-made furnishings with her uncompromising standards for quality and beauty. Known for her signature “California Design,” she thrived on creating clean and elegant furniture pieces and textiles. Some of J. Robert Scott’s specialties include rare and exotic veneers and a distinctive range of hand-woven silks, silk mohairs, wools and velvets.

“I constantly find inspiration in the environment around me,” says Lewis. “Nature, the shades and textures of the palms on my street, the special quality of our Southern California sunlight in the late afternoon, even the spices in my kitchen. I am open to these impressions, and my designs — either in textiles or furniture — take shape in my imagination.”

The esteemed designer continues to transform spaces nationwide with her vision. When asked if there was a particular creation she particularly enjoys from her acclaimed career, the artist says, “My favorite piece is the one I will create tomorrow.”

For more information on Ms. Lewis and J. Robert Scott, visit jrobertscott.com.