Hot Talent: Change Artist Although Elizabeth Reich studied accounting in college, her first love was always design. After graduating and landing a job in sales, she recalls, “I spent all of my free time scouring design magazines. It was ridiculous. I was good at math, but realized that I wasn’t following my passion.” Reich enrolled in an interior design classes at night and found her calling.

After she earned a bachelor’s degree, Reich honed her skills at Patrick Sutton Associates, an architecture and interior design firm in Baltimore. “That was my best education. I learned a lot there because we had to develop certain technical skills such as creating millwork drawings,” she says. “It was about more than just making everything look pretty.”

In 2010, Reich joined the Baltimore firm Jenkins Baer Associates, where she caters to a broad group of new and repeat clients throughout the entire DC Metro area. Recent projects include the redesign of a family home in Lutherville, Maryland, and an Arlington residence where she created a his-and-hers home office for the owners.

Reich’s work embodies a fresh perspective, with an emphasis on comfortable, unfussy furnishings and a novel use of materials and finishes. “I want my clients to be happy with the end result,” she explains, “and feel that their home is a reflection of them that they didn’t even know existed until I presented it to them.”

While her accounting skills may come in handy, this busy designer has never looked back. “I’m so glad that I made a change when I did,” she reflects. “It changed my life. I don’t consider what I do work. And when I’m not working, I’m still looking at design magazines."

INTERIOR DESIGN: Elizabeth Reich, Jenkins Baer Associates, Baltimore, Maryland.

Other Hot Talent:

JUILE DASTVAN, ALLIED ASID
Dastvan Designs, LLC
Darnestown, Maryland

WILLIAM M. McGOVERN, ASID
McGovern Design Studio, LLC
Washington, DC

DARLENE MOLNAR, ASID, LEED AP
Darlene Molnar LLC
Washington, DC

J. ALLEN
Perceptions Interiors, LLC
Washington, DC