Essentially, she's never stopped. The only difference is that today she gets paid for it. She's also among the best at it in the entire country, judging by the results of a recent competition.
As a designer at La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries in Annapolis, Suchman, 26, makes house calls and then puts together plans for customers. Her work goes well beyond just picking the right recliner. If she's given the opportunity, Suchman can design entire rooms for clients, right down to the fabrics, rugs and accessories.
"There's always a challenge; a new room, a new challenge," she said, smiling.
Her work for an Ellicott City couple, Mark and Peg Buehlman, won her the first-ever "Designer of the Year Award" from La-Z-Boy. Her makeover project competed against the work of designers from more than 70 company-owned La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries across North America.
For the win, Suchman, who has worked for the furniture chain for almost two years, earned a $5,000 vacation. She hasn't decided where she'll go with her husband, Graham Suchman, a former Navy corpsman, but does want the trip to involve some diving, which is one of their hobbies.
"She listened to the customers ... and she went the extra mile. That's the mark of a good designer," said Gail Michel, a La-Z-Boy executive who was one of the judges in the contest.
Michel added that Suchman's "personality and personal touch" really resonated with the judges. "I would have loved to have her be my designer," Michel said. "She could sell me the Brooklyn Bridge, and I'd buy it."
Good chair
The Buehlmans sought Suchman's help after moving from a log cabin in New York state to a townhouse in Ellicott City. Their old country-style furniture just wouldn't work in their new digs, Mark Buehlman said.
Suchman ended up transforming a large space that transitions between use as a sunroom, a family room and a dining room. The main focus, though, was on the family room. She based the color scheme on a painting that has been in the Buehlman family for at least 70 years.
In all, Suchman selected 16 pieces for the space, including two chairs, a love seat, a sofa, two sets of pillows, a rug, tables, lamps, vases and even plants. The designer also helped the Buehlmans choose custom fabrics for their new furniture, which they got in the fall, and kept pretty much within their budget.
"She had a good eye, and she asked good questions and listened to what our goals were," Mark Buehlman said. "We were real happy with the process and pleased with the results."
Another client, Cindy Crockett, had similar praise. Suchman recently designed three rooms for the Crownsville resident, making over the family room, living room and solarium right down to the "carpets, lamps and knickknacks," Crockett said.
"It's stuff I'd never have thought of," she explained. "It looks wonderful."
Deep-seated desire
Suchman, who graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a degree in fine arts, is partly self-taught when it comes to interior design.
Obviously, she's been a quick study at La-Z-Boy, starting at the Columbia store and then moving to Annapolis.
Samuel Caudle, an assistant manager in Annapolis, said he's always amazed at how quickly Suchman is able to put together designs for customers and impressed with how she works with a variety of colors and textures. "She's very exceptional," he said.
Suchman's services are free to La-Z-Boy customers, and she usually makes four to five home visits a week. She also typically puts together one presentation a day inside the store once she's gathered the necessary measurements from a home and the customers' preferences, including how much money they'd like to spend.
For the presentations, she'll pull furniture and other items within the store to create a vignette so they can get some idea of what their "new" room will look like. The entire process is a little bit like solving a puzzle for both herself and the clients.
"I get just as excited as they do," she said. "I guess I'm passionate about what I do because it makes the customer happy."
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