WHEN THE OWNER OF ONE OF ATLANTA’S PREEMINENT DESIGN FIRMS ANNOUNCED plans to shut its doors, its staff stepped up with a plan to replicate the business. The Ansley Park landmark had built, over a decade, a reputation for design expertise, high-end home furnishings, and along with it, a loyal clientele. The new ownership would rebrand the company Ansley Interiors Furniture and Design and relocate to the premier Miami Circle Design District. When one door closes, another one opens.
Shane Evans and John Barbone formed a partnership, determined to carry on its legacy and take the business to the next level. Their associate, Deena Levine, a veteran interior designer and certified color professional, joined them immediately, lending her expertise and energy to the expansion plan. Valued vendors also lent their support to the new operation.
“We changed the name to Ansley Interiors to keep the connection to that historic, affluent neighborhood,” explains Evans. “It’s known for beautiful, well-built homes. The name is sort of an homage to where we got our start.” The Mississippi Delta native started his journey with a degree in interior design from the University of Arkansas.
The Shops of Miami Circle is an upscale retail marketplace and a top resource for interior design. With 50-plus showrooms featuring home furnishings and the city’s highest concentration of art galleries, Miami Circle was the ideal location for Ansley Interiors to grow, and in 2020, the refreshed showroom celebrated its grand opening.
“We’re in the same building as William Word Fine Antiques,” notes Barbone, who earned a degree in international business and got his start in sofa bed sales for a New York City-based firm in Atlanta before being recruited by an office furniture business, where he quickly rose from sales to management. “Miami Circle is such a diverse consortium of home furnishing businesses. We have a great mix of referrals and fantastic walk-in traffic.”
A few months later, the pandemic forced them to close. But it turned out to be a gift for the team to refine the new store. “We’d rushed to open to maintain the store’s continuity,” recalls Barbone. “That month that we were shut down gave us time to redo our website and tweak the layout of the showroom.”
Ansley Interiors specializes in handmade, hardwood-framed sofas and chairs, dining furniture and bedroom items that are built to last. The company curates furnishings from companies like Hickory Chair, a North Carolina-based furniture company in business for 115 years.
“Hickory Chair is a really wonderful line,” notes Evans. “They’re more custom-oriented, and they’re our nicest North Carolina manufacturer. We also source from Century, another huge line. They have something for every taste—from traditional to modern. Hancock & Moore is very popular as well. There aren’t too many of us left in the city who carry the really high-end North Carolina brands.”
Ansley Interiors is Atlanta’s sole retailer of dining, bedroom and office furniture crafted by Mavin, a third-generation family operation located in Ohio’s Amish country. “They grow their own timber, harvest it sustainably and mill it themselves,” explains Evans. “The Amish are known for their woodworking. It’s very high quality.”
A majority of the store’s signature cabinetry, lighting, mirrors and artwork is from John-Richard, a luxury brand known for unique, artisan-crafted product. “I’m so intimately familiar with the John-Richard product,” explains Evans, whose first job after graduation was with the company, handling design development and traveling to its factories around the world to learn the intricacies of material sourcing and manufacturing. “When it came time to open our own store, Mr. Malouf graciously helped us stock his product and gave us good terms. He knew our potential. We’re one of the biggest John-Richard dealers in the city. They’re like family to me—I’m very proud to carry them.”
During his tenure with John-Richard, Evans attended the Milan Design Expo—the global benchmark event for the furnishing and design sector—and the Paris Design Week as well. “During extensive travel with Mr. Malouf, I learned about each country’s specialty,” says Evans. “Silk lamps from China, metalcraft from India. Vietnam produced all the company’s case goods—they source beautiful, exotic veneers from South America and Italy to use on their furniture. He knew what each country’s strong suit was, and he’d set up a local office for sourcing the product.”
Evans’ experience working in retail and design and also on the manufacturing side is an unusual asset he lends to Ansley Interiors. “I’ve been going to High Point since 1995, so I’m very familiar with all those manufacturers,” he says. “Not every designer has had the kind of exposure I’ve been fortunate to have. It gives me a bit of a unique perspective, learning all sides of the business here and in Europe as well.”
Ansley Interiors’ portfolio of residential projects ranges from one-room or two-room refreshes to whole-house projects. For each, the process is set up to be simple and approachable: A standard fee of $350 per room includes a consultation, on-site measuring and photographing interior and exterior spaces.
“If the refresh is planned to unfold over time, one of our strengths is helping the client focus on the spaces or furnishings they want to prioritize first while also providing a ‘big-picture’ plan so they can add furnishings or update additional spaces as their budget allows,” explains Evans. “We also offer a wide range of furniture and design options at various price points to help clients stay within their budget while still providing quality products with exceptional service. If the client is building a new house, we go to their existing home to review the items they want to keep—they will usually sell all their old furnishings, but what they want to use in the new design really gives us a good sense of their style.”
Back at the studio, a floor plan is developed with suggestions for furniture, fabrics, lighting and window treatments that is fed into a computer-generated rendering so the client can visualize the plan. “The plan can be animated to mimic an actual walk-through of the house,” explains Evans. “It provides a good sense of how the rooms all relate and flow in very accurate detail, so the client can be assured they’re going to love it when it’s done.”
An expansive showroom provides clients the opportunity to sample all the products that Ansley Interiors offers, further ensuring their satisfaction. “A homeowner can see the displays on the floor—they can sit and touch for comfort level, choose the exact dimensions or tailor the design to reflect their personal style,” says Evans. “We also do a lot of made-to-measure furniture to accommodate a tight space. Our reputation rides on the customer service we provide. We’ll go the distance to ensure the customer is happy.”
When John-Richard owner Alex Malouf built his 12,000-square-foot retirement home in Fairhope, Alabama, he chose Ansley Interiors for the design project. “It was really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” says Evans. And an opportunity that has further solidified the company’s reputation—and opened more doors. *
Wendy Swat Snyder is a Charleston-based freelance writer (sweetgrassandgrits.com).
