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New Leaf Interiors principal Karen Kaplan has over 30 years experience in the home fashions and interior design industry.

Karen’s background began while studying fine arts and painting where she developed her keen sense of color, proportion and composition. After completing her studies at Northern Illinois University, Karen joined the staff of Richard Himmel, an internationally renowned interior designer who pioneered the “eclectic” integration of client’s antiques and artifacts with a variety of other materials and products to create outstanding interiors.

Her exposure to museum quality art, furnishings and accessories as well as innovative design personalities and celebrity clientele fostered her eclectic approach to working with the things her clients hold dear while introducing them to fabrics, furniture, art and accessories from other cultures for a more dramatic and unique space.

Karen’s interest in commercial space planning and exhibit design led her to work with a major Chicago retailer and an international giftware wholesaler, where she designed product displays, fixtures and regional showrooms and offices. International travel and participating in regional trade shows in the furniture and giftware industry have afforded Karen the ability to learn a great deal about product design, display and manufacture as well recognizing trends in the marketplace.

Karen’s personal values of being humane and concerned for all living things and her concern for the state of our environment and how it is effected by human activities led her to become a more “conscious” designer.