Talk Shop: Sarah Lederman // Sarah Lederman Interiors
Photo by Kirsten Francis
ABOUT SARAH
Interior designer Sarah Lederman cut her teeth in the design business by spending many years as a senior designer at Tom Scheerer Incorporated, where she honed a refined design sensibility that blends classic styling with modern and unexpected touches. The result is her new firm, Sarah Lederman Interiors, where the talented designer crafts spaces that feel both timeless and approachable. We love Sarah’s work for its emphasis on proper scale, form, and function while creating spaces that are beautiful and livable – not to mention this mama of two knows a thing or two about designing for a family.
The NYC-based designer believes that a shared aesthetic vision is essential to delivering a beautiful and comfortable interior – a sentiment with which we wholeheartedly agree. As a graduate of the New York School of Interior Design and an alum of renowned designer Bunny Williams’s firm before joining Tom Scheerer, Sarah’s experience managing and troubleshooting full-scale residential and commercial projects primed her for launching her namesake firm – not to mention years of cultivating relationships with a varied list of unique sources, artisans, and craftsmen.
We couldn’t have been more excited to sit down with the talented designer to #talkshop, and we hope you enjoy it too!
Photo by Kirsten Francis
Describe your style in three words or less:
Warm, layered, personal.
What have been the three biggest influences on your aesthetic in your life:
Growing up in Manhattan, studying art history, and my kids who ignited in me a newfound love for designing children’s rooms!
How did you start your company, and/or what is your favorite thing about what you do:
I started thinking about leaving my design firm job to go out on my own when I was pregnant with my second daughter. In addition to wanting more flexibility, I had always gone into this field with the intention of starting my own business. It was surprising to me that I ended up working for someone else for so long, but I liked my job so much that it ended up being harder than I thought to actually leave. I love almost everything about this career. I am at my happiest browsing the internet late at night looking for that perfect piece.
Do you have a mentor in your career, and if so, how have they helped to shape your trajectory:
I worked for Tom Scheerer for 6 years and I definitely view him as a mentor. I had also interned with Bunny Williams and absorbed a lot from her now partner Elizabeth Swartz, but it wasn’t until the end of my tenure with Tom that I had enough confidence in my skillset to go off on my own. I learned everything from billing to presentation skills and truly honed my eye during my years at the firm. I was given the opportunity to work with clients around the world and would travel on installs for weeks at a time. It was a truly invaluable education that I would not have traded for anything.
What does your home say about you:
Above all, I like to live comfortably. But also that I love to tinker and experiment! When friends come over, something has always inevitably moved or been restyled, sometimes art is rehung in new places. Spending the afternoon puttering in my apartment brings me great joy!
Photo by Kirsten Francis
Where do you find inspiration:
Travel above all else. My husband and I just went to Morocco and returned home with loads of new vendors and crates of pottery, rugs, and straw work. Next on our list is Egypt!
Who are your style icons:
Josef Frank, Bunny Mellon, Hubert de Givenchy, Finn Juhl.
What are your key ingredients for entertaining:
Good food, good company, and I do love a well-styled tabletop…
Do you collect anything:
Found beach objects
Favorite Instagram accounts to follow for inspiration:
@yolojournal for travel, @fredericmagazine for design, and @airmailweekly to keep up with the times!
What design “rule” do you always follow, and which is made to be broken:
Scale and proportion are paramount. And the rule I often break is mixing finishes. For instance, I’m happy to introduce brass or oil-rubbed bronze hardware in kitchens that have stainless appliances.
What are you working on right now:
A townhouse in Beacon Hill (Boston), a historic Art Deco lobby on Central Park West, and a gut reno in a Rosario Candela building on Park Avenue, amongst other jobs in and around NYC!
Wardrobe staples:
Jeans, chunky knits, and an assortment of comfortable/chic flats.
Best interior advice you ever received:
Starting with a logical floor plan is the key to any successful project.
Types of home purchases you invest in, and save on:
Save on a sofa - it won’t necessarily fit in your next home. Invest in good vintage pieces like dressers, coffee tables and side tables.. And of course art - which if you love it, will definitely stay with you forever.
Photo by Kirsten Francis
Your greatest extravagance:
Hotels/travel experiences and eating out.
Favorite places to shop for home:
Some of my favorite home shops include Svenskt Tenn for all things Josef Frank, Rose Uniacke, Jamb, and Howe for that wonderful British aesthetic, EE Home in Amagansett for the best tabletop, and Nickey Kehoe for just about anything.
Most prized possession and why:
An Edmund Spence wave-front dresser. I had recently purchased one for a client of Tom’s but it was well out of my price range (by the many thousands) and they don’t come up for sale often. I ended up finding one on ebay for several hundred dollars. I had it restored and it now lives in my bedroom where it brings my husband and I so much joy. I know it’s a piece that we’ll always have a place for.
Take Ten: My Favorite…
Food: Roast chicken salad followed by chocolate mousse from Buvette. Sitting at the bar. I have celebrated many big life moments with that meal.
Drink: Aperol Spritz.
Film: When Harry Met Sally
Hotel: The Upper House in Hong Kong
City: New York
Bedding: A mix of John Robshaw’s stitched quilts and shams with Parachute sheets and a Pat McGann lumbar pillow.
Tea or Coffee (and how do you take it): Coffee, always over ice and with a splash of oat milk
Playlist: Paul Simon, Maggie Rogers, Leon Bridges, David Byrne.
Weekend Activity: Taking my kids to the Natural History Museum, our next-door neighbor! They love the dinosaurs and I love the Hall of Gems.
Design Book: Billy Baldwin Decorates
