Anne Hagerty was born and raised in Boston, but the Savannah College of Art and Design lured her to the South to finish her master’s degree. Before she was done, she had fallen in love with the city and met her husband.
His job took them to Maryland, but they knew they wanted to have and raise their family in Savannah. So they returned in 2009 when her husband’s job changed. When she had her first child a few years after the move, Hagerty took a year off to be with her baby.
Then architect friends who knew of her unique design skills began to offer a project here, a job there.
“I stepped back and said, ‘wow, maybe I should get an office space,” said Hagerty, who recently moved her “office space” from the second floor above Whitney Gallery to a full-time store — Anne Hagerty Interiors at 421 E. Broughton St.
As Hagerty’s business had grown, she realized her clients’ need for budget friendly interior design and created the Tailored Abode model, a flat fee service for customers who are design savvy and can do a lot of the work on their own.
“I realized that a lot of my clients really had a need for furniture and accessories, things that are not, maybe, readily available in Savannah,” Hagerty said. “Lines that we don’t have that they had to go to Atlanta or New York to find. People don’t have the time or the budget to do that.”
She began to think about how to remedy that, asking herself how to bring in the furniture and accessories her clients wanted and make it available to them but still have a design service.
With her idea forming, Hagerty knew she was going to need a bigger space, a store.
“We just opened our doors on Broughton Street September 18, 2014,” she said. “We’re trying this out.”
In the store, her idea is fully formed.
Upon entering, visitors notice the neatly designed “living” space, complete with off-white sofa, light green throw pillows, rug and coffee table decorated with design magazines and flowers in a vase centered on the table.
A large structure stands behind the sofa, six of its square holes visible. Each square holds wicker baskets full of fabrics and design elements. Behind this case, on a slick, polished white floor, sits a large white wooden table surrounded by four white and metal modern-style chairs.
Two lamps, all glass and white shades, illuminate the floor plans, fabrics and Hagerty’s scrawled notes. A shelf on the back wall carries hundreds of fabric swatches ready for the picking.
Who is Anne Hagerty?
While Hagerty double-majored in art history and classics at Boston University, her mother, who worked at Brown University, encouraged her to earn a degree in liberal arts.
Hagerty worked in museums, art galleries, and high-end furniture and art stores before coming to Savannah. While working in the art galleries, Hagerty picked the brains of the designers and architects and went with them on installs.
“I watched them and decided that’s what I want to do when I grow up,” Hagerty said with a laugh.
When she applied to graduate schools, she chose Savannah College of Art and Design for a change in atmosphere.
“I wanted a change. I had known Boston and New York and that whole scene and decided why not do something different down south,” she said.
With her master’s degree complete, Hagerty followed her new husband to Maryland, hoping one day to return to Savannah. In 2005, she joined the team of interior designers at Alt Breeding Schwarz Architects.
“Almost all of our clients were 50-plus,” she said. “It was a lot of second homes for people. We did a lot of law firms’ interiors all over the world, too. My job was different every day.”
Among other things, she worked with architects and clients on new homes.
“Every home had custom trim work and molding that we would have to figure out the proportions and scale and all the cabinetry and millwork,” she said. “Then we would have to pick out all the finishes and the color palate. Next stones, wood, color and light fixtures and from there fabric and furniture. It was a big process. I got good experience with ordering furniture and the paperwork that goes along with that process.”
In 2009, her husband’s job moved them back to Savannah where she accepted a job at Savannah College of Art and Design as a staff interior designer.
However, with the birth of her first child, Hagerty decided to take a year off and then re-evaluate.
“I just started taking assignments. For instance, I have a friend who is an architect who would ask if I wanted to do this or could I do that,” she said.
Realizing the need for an office space to work and meet clients, Hagerty set up shop above Whitney Gallery in the Design District on Whitaker Street.
“It was just a place to meet clients and go to work. Then all of a sudden it was full time,” Hagerty said with a shrug and a laugh.
How does Anne Hagerty work?
In the new space she has created, Hagerty sits with her clients and begins the design process, whether they want to just get new drapes, redo an entire room or renovate the house.
“Some clients want to redo a kitchen or a bathroom, and that’s pretty much straight forward,” Hagerty said. “Most clients come in with images that they pull out, and I have to talk to them and figure out what it is about the picture they like.”
Hagerty asks questions and talks about what they want and like.
“I start by asking them what they use the space for, the actual function,” she said. “Not how they think they will use the space … I talk them through that. and then I can really start to get an understanding of what the job is going to entail.”
Depending on the client’s needs and wants, Hagerty charges by the hour, or, for those who have a budget, she uses her model of the tailored abode, tailoring the price to what the client wants.
Sometimes people get overwhelmed with the process of decorating a home, she said.
“I do literally everything. I will never hang a mirror, but I do oversee the entire process down to the fine details of putting your toothbrush in the holder if you want,” Hagerty said. “It’s all based on what the client’s needs are.”
Anne Hagerty Interiors
421 E. Broughton Street
Savannah, Georgia 31401
phone: 912.349.5300
mobile: 912.401.4350
anne@annehagerty.com