Rebekah Caudwell Is a Rising Star in New York and Beyond

Who: Early on, Rebekah Caudwell’s parents nurtured her interest in furniture, craftsmanship, and color. “I’ve always wanted to surround myself with pretty things,” recalls the British-born decorator, who splits her time between London and New York. “If anything went missing in the house growing up, my mom knew that she could find it in my room.”

What: Spaces featuring lively hues—fire-engine red, canary yellow, and turquoise—and exuberant fabrics. “I love rooms with color on top of pattern on top of curated clutter,” says Caudwell. “It’s possible to incorporate bright shades in a very elegant way.” 

When: In 1999, while Caudwell was studying English at the University of Birmingham, her father hired her to decorate his 30,000-square-foot country house, which she worked on throughout college and after graduating in 2002. “That project ignited something inside me,” says Caudwell, “but I knew I needed to learn a lot more—in all areas of life—before I could move on to the next phase.” She taught art history in Italy for a few years and eventually settled in London, where she dipped her toes in property development. In 2009, Caudwell launched her namesake firm. 

Where: Now focusing on decorating and flipping houses, Caudwell exults in having “total creative freedom.” When in residence in New York, she and her husband live in a recently renovated home on West 10th Street, just a stone’s throw from her next project: a Greenwich Village townhouse revamp.

Why: “I very much enjoy the process of finding a property that I love and believe in, and then bringing it back to life.”

A version of this article appeared in the Dec/Jan 2017 issue of NYC&G (New York Cottages & Gardens) with the headline: Rising Star: Rebekah Caudwell.