Helen Bergin: Blending Contemporary and Classic
Helen Bergin always knew some day she would be an interior designer. Initially inspired by her mother who, as a set designer, was always sketching and playing with colors, she would instruct young Helen to make collages for her by cutting up issues of old Architectural Digest. Naturally, when it came time for Helen to enter the work force as a college graduate, her mother encouraged her to seek employment in the design space. But as timing has a way of redirecting our best intentions, Helen graduated during the economic down turn of 2009 and took a job working for an ad agency instead. “I was living with 3 roommates in a converted one-bedroom apartment over a night club in the East Village,” reminisced Bergin. “One morning I woke up and confessed I hated my life so I began reaching out to interior designers right away. It was time.”
With stops at Robert Passal Interior Designs, Rinfret, Ltd., and a few others, Helen fondly looks back on her work experience with gratitude. “Each one of these jobs gave me a different perspective and experience. Somehow, I convinced Robert to hire me and I was able to run all over New York City learning resources and loved being thrown into the wild. That experience was invaluable and the other jobs also gave me a chance to work on huge houses and commercial projects too which I loved. Each place I worked taught me something important.”
Now that she has her own firm, new clients are finding her for her blend of contemporary and classic design. “We have clients who want a more transitional space and some who want a monochromatic theme but still require our ability to deliver clean and tailored spaces. Others want us to add more textures but definitely the demand we are seeing most is for open floor plans, casual living and maximizing the water views best we can. The emphasis seems to be off TV watching and more about the water,” nods Bergin, “but our younger families definitely want open floor plans so no one is really far away from each other and parents can keep an eye on their kids. Our real challenge as designers is getting everything done by the time the new season begins,” smiles Helen. “Most of our clients spend the summer in other places so we are under the gun as far as timing goes, but as we grow as a firm, we’re excited about the new style changes we are seeing. Throw in a commercial project here and there where our creativity can really run wild, and we would really be having some fun!”
Helen’s work has been featured in the Boston Globe, Country Home, Modern Luxury, Palm Beach Illustrated, Purewow.com and Rue Magazine with upcoming placements this fall in Luxe and Traditional Home.
