Hospitality at Home with Imparfaít Design Studio

Co-founded by KitchenLab’s Rebekah Zaveloff, this Chicago-based interior architecture and design firm is steeped in hospitality. Rebekah and her husband, Nick Nichols, met while working in the restaurant industry. Together, they launched their first interior design business, KitchenLab, in Chicago. After expanding into whole-home design, they founded Imparfaít Design Studio, which creates “environments where people want to stay and linger, just like a great restaurant.” Read on to peek into their projects and shop Rebekah’s Chairish favorites.

SHOP REBEKAH ZAVELOFF’S CHAIRISH FAVES >>>

What made you passionate about interior design? How’d you get your start?

I was interested in art from a very young age, taking Saturday classes at the local art college when I was in elementary school. I remember rearranging and redecorating my room before I could sit down to study as early as 6^th grade—I was always keenly aware of how a space made me feel. I studied fine art at UCLA and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and was always decorating my rental apartments, but in ways that that were more permanent and required me to convince my landlord to let me do things like re-tile the kitchen floor or make the walls look like plaster.

During art school in Chicago, I landed an internship in the art department for a film being shot locally. Long story short, they fired the art department coordinator and offered me the job, and I worked as a buyer for the set decorator for about 5 years. I loved it, but it really made me crave creating spaces that were real and didn’t get disassembled. During this time, I think I was about 22 years old, I met my now husband and partner, Nick and he and a friend had a bought an old brownstone in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood (when the deal to buy a bar fell through). They were in the process of gutting the building and I walked in and looked at the exposed plaster and lathe and the hundred-year-old joists and studs and a switch flipped. I decided to go back to school for interior design.

What do you find most compelling about Chairish?

The hunt and the find—it’s something that has always been exciting to me. Chairish is an extension of this, and when I’m sourcing for a project I always start with vintage. It’s 100% about finding something unique that very few will have already, and it’s also about the history. The vibe each period has an authenticity that so much fun to play around with, mixing with other styles and eras to create something completely new and exciting. I also love the process of finding pieces I love and then learning about a new designer or maker I hadn’t heard of before. It’s almost like getting a history lesson while you shop. I also love sourcing custom items like the new Murano pieces.

How does sustainability factor into your design choices and love of vintage?

Buying vintage is the ultimate form of recycling and sustainability in our industry. Contributing to that as a professional involves educating our clients on why we love to spec vintage. I don’t know if there have been studies done on what the carbon footprint is on buying a new dining table from overseas versus vintage, but I can’t imagine that it’s not lower, especially if you’re buying locally. Plus, you get the added benefit of instant patina and character that comes with buying vintage.

Favorite way to create a statement-making moment in a room?

A chandelier or sconces are always my first choice in statement pieces. I particularly love the funkiness of a Murano Tronchi or Palmette-style chandelier. Next, I’d say vintage rugs and art are my go-to’s.

Do you have any go-to color palettes and color combos? 

It’s funny, my senior designer said that she’s never worked for anyone who used so much pink. I love the dusty, clay terracotta pink that you find in Kilim rugs and vintage velvets, as well as the muted blush you find in Murano lighting. I would say I love to mix blush, terracotta, brown, tobacco, caramel, natural linen and deep indigo with brass accents and green from plants.

What advice do you have for first-time clients to make their space truly personal?

Set yourself a budget of $500 or $1000 or whatever as your baseline—then, if you see something you love, you’ll buy it without worrying about what other people think or where you’re going to put it. If you love it, you’ll find a home for it. Whether it’s a chair, a piece of art, or a lamp, you’ll remember where you bought it and it will bring you joy to look at it years from now.

Lead Image: Interior by Imparfaít Design Studio, Photography by Jeanne Canto.