From a cozy book nook in a Brooklyn brownstone to an inviting living room in a towering industrial beach house in Connecticut, the work of interior design firm Jesse Parris-Lamb can appear effortless. But for founders Whitney Parris-Lamb and Amanda Jesse, both MS Interior Design ’09, every design choice results from technical rigor and professional expertise.
“Although we want our design to be aspirational and beautiful, and thought-provoking in its beauty, we still have to recognize that it needs to work for a family or an individual,” Jesse said. “The interior design standards—of the height of a coffee table or a proper seat, or the distance between two things and the path of circulation—are so important.”
Balancing the art and science of interior design has helped the founders become established entrepreneurs whose projects are regularly featured in publications like Architectural Digest and Vogue. But they didn’t start their careers as designers. Nearly two decades ago, Parris-Lamb was a dissatisfied arts educator in New York City, and Jesse was a ballerina in Ohio whose company had declined to renew her contract. Seeking to pivot, they applied to Pratt’s graduate Interior Design program, attracted by its national ranking and reputation as a launch pad for second careers.
During the program, a professor paired Jesse and Parris-Lamb to design a library for users with visual impairments. The assignment kick-started their friendship and creative partnership. “As soon as we started working together, it gelled, because we’re both intense and focused, and have a take-no-prisoners approach to projects,” Parris-Lamb said.
Jesse and Parris-Lamb’s time at Pratt coincided with the Great Recession. As layoffs rocked the interior design industry, they nonetheless secured internships and junior designer positions at high-end residential firms. Networking while they were students helped them overcome economic headwinds to secure full-time design positions after graduation. Jesse worked at Eve Robinson Associates, and Parris-Lamb worked at Aero Studios and later Roman and Williams.
As they established their careers, friends and acquaintances reached out for help reenvisioning their spaces. Working on these projects at night and on weekends, they saved to start their own business.
Jesse and Parris-Lamb were warned that going into business together could strain their friendship. But they were determined to make Jesse Parris-Lamb a reality. “We didn’t have a major fallback plan,” Jesse said. “So it had to work, but I felt very confident it would.”
When they landed their first major residential project in 2014, they knew it was the right time to leave their day jobs and start their firm, initially investing $1,700 each. Today, Jesse Parris-Lamb operates from a storefront studio in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. The team has grown to eight employees, including fellow alumni Carol Andrews, MS Interior Design ’17, and Zhuoshan Cai, MFA Interior Design ’22, who were introduced to the founders by Pratt faculty members Tarek Ashkar and Jon Otis.
While Jesse Parris-Lamb has designed interiors for a wide array of spaces, from a loftlike SoHo penthouse to a sprawling traditional home in Connecticut, the firm is especially sought after for its work on Brooklyn townhouses. “Our clients walk by and wave through the window. There’s something particularly wonderful about the kind of community, connection, and small-town feel that we have with our practice in Brooklyn,” Parris-Lamb said.
Though many founding partners divide responsibilities, Parris-Lamb and Jesse continue to work in sync. “The beauty and success of our partnership is the creative collaboration,” Parris-Lamb said. Having worked together for 18 years, “Amanda and I can be in a meeting and, without saying any words to each other, know pretty much exactly what the other person is thinking.”
The founders return to Pratt every year to participate in the residential design critique focused on townhouses—this time not as students, but as seasoned professionals. “It turns out we have a lot to add to the conversation,” Jesse said, smiling. “This is what we do every day.”
Three Projects by Jesse Parris-Lamb
Park Slope Brownstone
Cork’s unique cellular structure traps and absorbs sound waves. For a graphic designer’s study that doubles as a late-night nursing room, Jesse Parris-Lamb lined the walls with cozy, sound-dampening cork tiles from the maker Nova.
Canfield Island Residence
Invented to make urban transport cleaner and more comfortable, subway tile quickly found its way into homes. In an industrial beach house on an exclusive Connecticut island, Jesse Parris-Lamb selected handmade ceramics from Waterworks, infusing a shower room with subtle color variation.
Brooklyn Heights Wood Frame
Jesse Parris-Lamb gave the millennia-old tradition of terra-cotta a modern spin, decorating the walls of a kitchen with handmade tile from Walker Zanger. Adorning the floor is a hand-painted geometric pattern that pays homage to the textile art of Anni Albers.
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