designer, earning a business degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and becoming a leading portfolio manager in real estate private equity.
Some of the interiors she showcases on social media include balloons, huge floral arrangements, intricate paintings on living room walls, and touches of whimsy, such as bananas painted over an entire hallway near a child’s bedroom.
She brings the rigor and logic she learned from that into her current line of work. Also, having managed finances for real estate developers gave her a sense of how to speak their language and provide effective assistance with staging commercial properties for sale. McLeod says that she’d have made the career transition into her true passion earlier if she’d known how well her background would prepare her for entrepreneurship. She also suggests that other aspiring designers learn the basics of business accounting before opening their studios.
To McLeod, there isn’t one singular look that screams “good taste.” The ultimate luxury, as she says, is the ability to personalize your space. HOW FINANCE PREPARED HER FOR FULL-BRAINED DESIGN Courtney McLeod’s business handles a wide range of projects, from an interior decor refresh for a client’s apartment to a full-scale commercial project, working in consultation with architects to design a building from the ground up.
“Pattern and color are such
powerful tools to create emotional moments in your home—don’t be afraid to use them.”
Born and raised Creole in New Orleans, McLeod says her background has informed her taste, along with her extensive travels throughout Europe and Asia. Although she currently lives in Harlem, she says she’ll always be a Southerner at heart.
The name comes from her concept of combining right-brain aesthetic sense with left-brain analytical concerns for detail, analysis, and return on a client’s investment. McLeod worked in finance for 15 years before becoming a
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