photo by steed media service

Before opening her interior design firm, Keita Turner used her apartment as a marketing tool to promote her skills.

It all began when she arrived in Harlem in the ‘90s. The Houston native grew tired of coming home to a barren New York City living space, and spent the next three years turning her home into a private sanctuary. Turner then held a party for friends and before the guests went home, she was approached by a friend who offered to pay Turner to give her apartment the same treatment.

“To me, your house is a direct reflection of who you are,” says the graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. “I also believe in uplifting the spirit. When the world is beating you down, work is beating you down — your home is like a place of security.”

Today, Turner runs KT Design Solutions, LLC, one of the most successful interior design firms in the country, working with both residential and commercial clients from Dallas to Philadelphia. In 2004, Turner was invited to have her work included in the African-American Design Archive at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Museum.

When she’s not traveling between time zones or being profiled by CBS, NBC and Fox, Turner is helping the communities she says helped build her brand.

“I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for black people supporting me,” she says. “Whether you own a home or a business, we have to support one another. If we don’t, who will?” - gavin philip godfrey

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