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Susan Aiello, ASID, LEED AP, CID

Company: Interior Design Solutions
New York, NY 10021-3712
Phone: (212) 628-3938
Email: saiello@idsny.com
Website: www.idsny.com

Designer Profile

Susan Aiello combines design excellence and expertise with social purpose and ecological responsibility. She specializes in creating healthy, comfortable and inviting interiors that stand the test of time and that are tangible expressions of her not-for-profit clients’ missions and core values, her commercial clients’ brands and her residential clients’ personalities and interests.

Ms. Aiello has an unusual facility for seamlessly incorporating both modern amenities and sustainable design features into older buildings, while preserving or enhancing their original charm, and she has a proven track record for completing projects in record time and with minimum disruption. Depending upon the scope of the project and the client’s preferences, she is able to provide a complete range of design services, including space planning and sustainable consulting, or to function seamlessly as part of a multi-disciplinary project team. All drawings are done in AutoCAD, which greatly facilitates collaboration with architects, engineers and other design professionals, as well as communication with contractors.

Ms. Aiello is certified to practice interior design by both the State of New York and the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ). She has served as president of the New York Metropolitan Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), where she managed to reduce operating expenses by two-thirds while increasing members’ benefits during her term in office. She has demonstrated her expertise in and commitment to sustainable design by becoming one of the relatively few interior designers in New York City to be accredited by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP), lecturing and writing a blog on sustainable design and construction (www.idsgreen.com) and being active in USGBC (especially the New York Chapter). She is a member of the Steering Committee for the Green Initiative of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce.

Ms. Aiello is a nationally recognized spokesperson for interior design. She has been featured in and collaborated on books, has written for national publications, has appeared on television and has lectured at museums, professional associations and schools. She has lectured at NeoCon (the leading trade show for commercial interior designers) on “Making Any Interior Greener Using LEED Principles,” “Saving on Sustainability” and “Branding Through Interior Design” and has been a featured speaker on the Queen Elizabeth 2 lecturing on “The English Style – Architecture, Antiques, and Decoration.” Books in which she is featured include Spectacular Small Kitchens (for which she contributed a chapter), Take Charge of Your Home Renovation, Brunschwig & Fils Up Close, The Home Office Bible: Real-Life Design Dilemmas & Solutions, SHOWHOUSES: signature designer styles and Delicious by Design: Architects and Designers in the Kitchen.

Services Offered

Interior Design Solutions offers a full range of interior design and decoration services. Sometimes our clients only need help selecting furniture and/or designing window treatments. But often our services include space planning and renovation. Services that we can provide include, but are not limited to:

• Consultation to determine your requirements.
• Preparation of design documents, including floor plans, reflected ceiling plans, and elevations, as necessary.
• Preparation of detailed drawings and specifications for cabinetwork, lighting, and architectural detailing.
• Assistance in the selection of a general contractor, as required. Such services include preparation of a comprehensive bid package, solicitation of bids from contractors, and assistance in selecting a contractor.
• Coordination of construction (in conjunction with project management by the general contractor).
• Assistance in selection and coordination of other design professionals (such as architects, engineers, lighting consultants, and landscape designers), as necessary.
• Recommendations of and coordination with specialty trades people, as appropriate.
• Recommendations for fabrics, furnishings, finishes, wall coverings, floor coverings, art and accessories.
• On-site oversight of delivery and installation, as required.

Awards & Publications

Brunschwig & Fils Up Close
Spectacular Small Kitchens
Journal of Sustainable Building
Sustainability: The Journal of Record
Take Charge of Your Home Renovation
The Home Office Bible
Architects and Designers in the Kitchen

Combined Kitchen and Original Maid's Room in a Landmark Building. Project Featured in Spectacular Small Kitchens
A picture is often worth a thousand words, which is why I'm including before and after photographs for this project in a pre-war building. We combined the kitchen and adjoining maid's room and then cut off the area closest to the service entrance to create a separate laundry room. Artful lighting design makes up for a lack of natural light.
A country kitchen for a rock-and-roll guy. The custom designed hammered copper hood in the center of this kitchen and the dramatic lighting make the client, the CEO of a record company and a serious amateur chef, feel like a star.
Country Kitchen for a Rock-and-Roll Guy - Closeup of Island.
Reception Area includes lounge seating for guests, work stations for students, and ample room for research and collateral material.
To minimize inconvenience to staff, students and visitors construction was kept to a minimum.
Created a Comfortable Lounge on one end or a cafeteria.
As a LEED Accredited Professional I have demonstrated expertise in sustainable design and construction including improving the health and well-being of building occupants by providing superior indoor environmental quality, saving energy, water and other natural resources, and safeguarding the environment. The U.S. Green Building Council has rigorous standards for accrediting LEED professionals as well as for certifying LEED buildings.
This room on the Pediatric Floor of a major new york medical center is just steps away from the neonatal and pediatric intensive care units. I converted a standard patient's room into a comfortable area for the parents of critically ill children a comfortable place to shower, change, rest and store their belongings. The lounges recline fully for sleeping. Everything meets strict health care design standards. For instance, the upholstery can be scrubbed with bleach and the window treatments are mold resistant.
The parents' room is more functional than the original space as well as much more attractive. I added a shower room in what was originally a large walk-in closet and replaced that storage with individual lockers that enable each family to secure their belongings. Everything in these warm and inviting rooms was originally a dingy grey.
I was honored to have this lounge for a women's college featured in Brunschwig & Fils Up Close together with the White House, the Ritz Carlton, and the Ritz Hotel in Madrid. I was asked to create a warm and welcoming environment that would make the students feel at home. The room needed to be attractive enough to appeal to the sophisticated tastes of a potential donor while meeting the strict institutional guidelines for code compliance, value engineering, durability and ease of maintenance of the large university of which the women’s college is a part.
Unsightly security grills on the windows opposite the flower garden are covered with translucent shades that mask the view without blocking the light.
Parsons tables can be used individually or grouped together for study groups or for serving at parties.
Clean and classic modern furniture helps give character to a lounge in a rather nondescript '60s building. Running the floorboards on the diagonal help to visually widen a relatively narrow space.
Although this lounge is in the same dormitory as the one that was featured in Brunschwig & Fils Up Close, the design challenges were somewhat different. The room is in the front of the dormitory and used by guests rather than only students, and the initial decision process was streamlined because I worked directly with the donor for the room instead of with a committee. Of course, the room still needed to meet the university’s strict institutional guidelines for code compliance, value engineering, durability and ease of maintenance. For design of a public space you are better off working with a designer who has demonstrated his or her understanding of issues such as fire regulations and handicapped accessibility by passing the NCIDQ test. The lounge is designed for entertainment rather than for study. Multiple seating groups afford a degree of privacy.
The donor loved the garden theme used for the study lounge, and this room affords a view of the same garden. But we used stronger colors here for two reasons. Red is her favorite color. And red is also a social color --- it encourages activity and interaction, rather than study or contemplation.
The tables can be used as is for games or snacks or put together to serve as a buffet for a party. Since the fireplace is never lit, we used it as a niche for a large (not flat-screen) television. The fire screen helps to conceal the television when it is not being used.
Sometimes less is more. This beach house is designed to encourage relaxation and minimize maintenance.