Designer Holly N. Rickert is having a very good year. After winning four National Kitchen & Bath Association awards last spring, she is closing the year by opening her own design firm, Holly Rickert/Designing Your Environment, LLC.
Rickert’s newly-launched firm specializes in bathroom and kitchen design, within the context of the overall design of the home. This holistic approach emphasizing space planning over decoration stems from Rickert’s degree in Environmental Design from Syracuse University, and was later honed by more than 25 years of professional design experience.
“Good design starts with good space planning, incorporating decorative elements to appeal to the client’s aesthetic taste,” Rickert explained. “It doesn't matter how beautiful a space is, if it doesn't function, the client won't be happy."
EXPERIENCE
Rickert has experience in many aspects of residential construction as well as cabinetry design and installation, the latter from owning a custom cabinetry shop after college graduation and later from ten years at Ulrich, Inc. of Ridgewood. In the interim she did commercial work designing office spaces and auditoriums and producing custom commercial millwork, and then residential design at Barbara Ostrom & Associates.
Education and communication are cornerstone to Rickert’s client relationships, as she seeks to guide the decision-making process to help clients select their best options. Her goal at the end of each project is for the space to "work" and for her clients to see their personal style, not hers, reflected in the design.
RECOGNITION
Rickert’s designs often have been featured on the covers and pages of some of the leading interior design and lifestyle magazines.
This is the sixth year in a row that she has won the coveted NKBA awards, and the most awards she has won in a single year. One of her entries in the 2011 competition, a bathroom designed to emulate the Japanese outdoor bathing tradition, captured three different top awards. Two of those awards, “Best Bathroom” overall and “First Place" in the Large Bathroom category, were judged by certified designers; the third, “People’s Pick: Bathroom,” sponsored by HGTVPro.com, was voted as the favorite overall bathroom design by more than 14,750 consumers. Rickert’s fourth award this year was "First Place" in the Powder Room category.
The 2011 NKBA Competition winners were announced last April in Las Vegas at KBIS, the Association’s industry show. According to the NKBA press release, the designs selected “represent the finest in function, personalization, innovative thinking and beauty.”
Holly Rickert/Designing Your Environment is located at 637 Wyckoff Ave., Suite 232. Rickert can be contacted at 201-485-8035 or hnr@hollyrickertdesign.com.
