Samantha Knapp Of Tiger Lily’s Has A Knack For Elegant, High-End Design

Story by Julie Unger • Photos by Bob Capazzo

Samantha Knapp of Tiger Lily’s Greenwich has a knack for elegant, high-end design projects. She worked for a decade as a television reporter in New York before joining Tiger Lily’s, an innovative design firm that also happens to be the family business.

Tiger Lily’s was founded by Betsy and Robert Knapp, and when Samantha decided that it was time to move on from television news, she joined her parents’ firm. “It actually was never on my radar in my early years to jump into the family business,” she recalled.

Samantha started out by getting into a routine, answering the phones and learning what was going on behind-the-scenes with the design team as they worked on high-end special detailed designs for their clients. She learned a great deal along the way.

“With a little bit of osmosis, and a little bit of my own creative style, I little by little got chances to do different types of projects. It has really paid off,” she said. “Fast forward four years later, and I went from answering phones and trying to help my parents log on to the computer to really being the creative director and creative concept behind the business, which I’m growing and flourishing in.”

She has focused on taking the business into different areas.

“We used to really center only on Greenwich, Conn., and then we started going with our clients to where they were going,” Samantha said.

Along the way, Tiger Lily’s expanded to decorating in Florida, including Wellington, and other niche second-home markets.

As the creative director and co-owner, Samantha focuses on collaboration and sharing with employees and clients. She is able to influence and lead a project without being the only person in charge of the design and final outcome, making it a group effort, where the client is thrilled with the outcome and feels as though they were part of the project.

“It depends on everybody and what their needs are,” she said. “I like to try and think of how people might live in a space.”

Samantha approaches each project by thinking through the functionality to determine the design. For example, for a family with small children, she would think about where the kids are going to drop off their backpacks after school as a design function.

“In general, my design work happens to be very eclectic. It is important to me that a home speaks to the family,” she said. “I try and take feedback from all my clients and give them the best possible representation of themselves in a home.”

Samantha is able to transition from modern, traditional and other style approaches to meet the needs of clients. Keeping and reusing, rethinking or reworking sentimental or historical pieces is an approach she likes to use, considering it a way of evolving within the house.

“When something’s current, I’m always afraid to put too much of a trend in a place,” she said. “Trends, by the nature of the term, are things people tire of.”

In Wellington, Samantha designed an estate for an equestrian family to use as a second home, combining beauty and elegance with functionality. Making the home look unique was important for the project.

The client lived in the house for a season to learn how it functions, and then Samantha and her team got to work on remaking the home into the perfect Florida oasis for the homeowners, replacing the floors, renovating the bathrooms, altering floor plans, adding decorative accents and backsplashes, renovating the kitchen and creating a more open design.

Samantha made sure that the children’s play area was kid-friendly, there was space for extra people to sleep, an open kitchen for better entertaining, and a master bedroom tied together with the main living quarters.

Samantha and Tiger Lily’s, along with their work, have been featured on design shows airing on HGTV and other networks. She stresses the importance of a good relationship and great communication when hiring a designer.

“When you find somebody who comes at it from a perspective of appreciation and really wants to get to know you as a family, or as a person and what your likes and dislikes are, I think that’s how to get the best out of a collaboration,” she said. “You have to trust, if you’re hiring a designer, that they know what they’re doing and you’ve made the right choice. By the time you get into the process of actually working with somebody, you want to feel like you have made the right choice.”

It is important for clients to know and feel like the designer understands and cares about the project.

“You’ve come to them for a reason, and it’s always kind of nice to trust and believe in that and let them help you in a way that you might find is very rewarding,” Samantha explained.

Tiger Lily’s studio includes a 3,700-square-foot design space with custom furniture options, vintage finds and specialty chairs.

To learn more about Tiger Lily’s Greenwich, call (203) 629-6510 or visit www.tigerlilysgreenwich.com.