“Make Your Place An Intimate Place”
by Gustavus Betts
Bernard Underwood’s sense of style, fashion, and design was evident at an early age. As owner and design maven for An Intimate Place, the Jacksonville, Arkansas native grew up with a heighten awareness on how to make things look more appealing. Underwood honed his craft at the helm of his mother, a seamstress at a manufacturing company that produced upholstered items for churches, and still serves as a point of reference for encouragement and inspiration. “I can’t tell you how many times I designed and redesigned my room growing up,” Underwood confirms. His love for creating beautiful spaces continues to evolve. Design has always been a part of Underwood’s professional life as he grew in his career from sales, to management, to visual works for such outlets such as: TJ Maxx, Bombay Furniture, and Kenneth Cole.
“I was always the top salesperson at any company where I worked. I have always loved creating something from nothing, or taking someone else’s idea and turning it into something beautiful. That’s when I realized that I should be sharing my gift with a wider audience. Why not reap the benefits of my own success,” Underwood asks hypothetically? So, he gathered his business savvy and financial resources, and went into business for himself. Underwood knew it would be a formidable task, but he was up for the challenge.
An Intimate Place is a high-end, upscale, full service fashion, event planning, and interior design company that can help anyone create interesting and unique design experiences for any occasion. Whether it’s an enchanted dinner for two, a weddings, gallery opening, large dinner parties, charitable function, you name it, An Intimate Place can provide your event with top quality service. Whether its accessories wrapped in silk, soft lit candles to create the right mood, top notch catering that offers the finest delicacies of your preference, or attractive hosts and/or hostesses to mix and mingle with your guests, or provide head turning servers to add glamour, elegance, and sophistication Underwood aims to please.
“I have to admit, I was a little nervous in the beginning, but I was determined. Before I knew it, my clientele just continued to grow. Today, my designs can be seen in mansions in Los, Angeles, to retirement homes in Corpus Christi. My vision and long client list has expanded to include interior designs for luxury boutiques Salvatore Ferragamo and Hugo Boss,” boasts Underwood. His latest endeavor, with Q Custom Clothier, an upscale bespoke menswear boutique that provides top quality, hand crafted attire created by brothers Ravi and Raja Ratan, finds Underwood busier than ever. Also, look for Underwood television debut on CW33, where he will share some of his favorite holiday design and decoration tips with the viewing audience. In the meantime, visit www.anintimateplace.com, and let Underwood make your space into an intimate place.