All That Sizzles
Élan Magazine , September 2003, p. 43

By Donna Cedar-Southworth

"I guess I have a 'knock-your-socks-off' kind of attitude," says interior designer June Shea. "Instead of having 'mediocre,' why not have absolutely fabulous?  Or you can have something that's 'great,' but why not have something that's going to knock your socks off?"

During her career as a visual merchandising manager for several national companies, June created beautifully decorated vignettes that greeted customers as they entered stores: "I think that makes me who I am, so when I look at a project, I'm used to dealing in store environments where we are sort of selling the 'sizzle.'"

June gets to know her clients by seeing how they live: "All the things you need to know to design a space so it's not just pretty, but functional.  My opinion is if somebody designs spaces and it looks great, but it has no useful function for the people who live there, they've done a terrible disservice. I don't ever want to be guilty of that. My goal is not for people to know that Shea Studio decorated the room when I leave.  My goal is to have a space that is very, very much them-just really well done!"

June is also at home in the new construction environment-designing homes form the ground up "where I've drawn the floors plans and had the house built around how people want to live.  You can do many things to make a house wonderful and personal before any walls are built."