Charlotte Moss

For the British model, see Lottie Moss.

Charlotte Lottie Moss
Born	Richmond, Virginia, US
Education	Virginia Commonwealth University
Occupation(s)	interior designer, author
Website	CharlotteMoss.com

Charlotte Moss is an American interior designer and author. Since launching her career in 1985, she has received numerous honors, including the New York School of Interior Design’s Centennial Medal, the Elle Décor Vision Award and the Timeless Design Award from the Royal Oak Foundation. Charlotte is also named one of Elle Décor’s Grand Masters on their List of Top Designers. She lectures widely on the arts of living, has authored 11 books and writes for several magazines.

EARLY LIFE

Charlotte Moss was born in Richmond, Virginia. She is the oldest of five children. Her father was an Army colonel, her mother was a stay-at-home mom, and her grandmother was employed at the local department store selling china. In 1969 she graduated from high school and enrolled as an English major at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), where she worked in the admissions office.

In 1978 she decided to move to New York City and landed a job at a brokerage firm on Wall Street. After spending seven years on Wall Street, a merger prompted Charlotte to reassess the future. With a degree in English and no formal design training, Charlotte opened Charlotte Moss & Co., an interior design company and antique store.

CAREER

Charlotte Moss has decorated private homes and residences across the United States and Europe. Previous clients include Susan and Michael Bloomberg. In 2007, she opened the Charlotte Moss Townhouse, a showroom in Manhattan's Upper East Side. New York Cottages & Gardens published a timeline of her career in February 2020.

Charlotte has used her experience culled from thirty-seven years of decorating homes to create several licensed collections. She has designed collections of furniture and upholstery with Century Furniture, fabrics and trims for Fabricut, furniture and wallcoverings for Brunschwig & Fils, carpets and sisals for Stark Carpet, china for Pickard, Garden Planters with Siebert and Rice, her photography prints with Soicher Marin, clothing with IBU Movement, cuff bracelets with P.E. Guerin, mules with Artemis Design Co and accessories with Eastern Accents.

Charlotte lectures extensively on the topic of interior design appearing at showhouses, museums, womens’ groups, garden clubs, trade fairs, antique shows and corporate events.

AWARDS & HONORARY DEGREE

Charlotte Moss has received numerous honors. She has been named an Elle Décor A-List Designer and “Grand Master,” a Traditional Home top-20 Design Icon, and made the Traditional Home list of the World's Top 20 Interior Designers. In addition, she received Elle Décor's Vision Award in 2009, the Timeless Design Award from the Royal Oak Foundation in 2010, and the 2012 Circle of Excellence Award in Interior Design from the International Furnishings & Design Association (IFDA). She received an honorary doctorate degree from The New York School of Interior Design. In the spring of 2022, she will deliver the commencement address for Virginia Commonwealth University, her alma mater.

Moss has also received many awards for her philanthropic efforts. In the Spring of 2017, she received the New York School of Interior Design’s Centennial Medal of Honor. Previously she received the Guild Hall Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership & Philanthropic Endeavors, Housing Works Groundbreaker Award, Edith Wharton Women of Achievement Award, the American Hospital of Paris President’s Award and the Boys Harbor, Salute to Achievement Founder’s Medal for Philanthropy. In 2013, the Bone Marrow Foundation presented her with the Brandon Tartikoff award. On December 2, 2014, she was one of three honorees at the American Hospital of Paris Foundation’s Annual Gala in New York.

PHILANTHROPY/COMMUNITY SERVICE / CHARITABLE INTERESTS

Charlotte Moss's philanthropic endeavors include Emerita Trustee of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello where she served on the board for nine years. Currently, Charlotte sits on the board of American Corporate Partners where she mentors veterans returning to the workplace. She also serves on the boards of The Bone Marrow Foundation, The Order of Saint John, The Madoo Conservancy and the International Council of Hillwood Estate.

Previously she an honorary trustee of the American Hospital of Paris, a board member of the Elsie de Wolfe Foundation, an Advisory Board Member of the New York School of Interior Design, a trustee of the Edith Wharton Restoration, on the Executive Cabinet of the Leaders of Design Council, a trustee of The Irvington Institute for Medical Research, on the Couture Council of the Museum at F.I.T, a board member at the Bard Center for Graduate Studies, Board Member, a Teach for America Guest Teacher. She was the Vice President of the Parrish Art Museum and a co-chair of their Landscape Pleasures Garden Symposium from 1998 – 2009. Charlotte has chaired and co-chaired many galas including the UNICEF Snowflake Gala, the New York City Ballet Spring Gala, The Smile Collection Gala for Operation Smile, Gala Chair, Fashion Week/Lincoln Center and for the Kips Bay Showhouse Gala.

BOOKS

Charlotte has written 11 books to date. Her most recent title was Charlotte Moss Flowers (Rizzoli, 2021). She also edited, Home: A Celebration: Notable Voices Reflect on the Meaning of Home (Rizzoli, 2021). Home is based on a book written by Edith Wharton — Homes of the Homeless — a fundraising vehicle benefiting No Kid Hungry, which works to help feed the one in six children who are living in food insecure homes in the United States.

• A Passion for Detail (1991)
• Creating A Room (1995)
• The Poetry of Home (1998)
• Design Inspirations (2004)
• Winter House (2005)
• A Flair for Living (2008)
• Charlotte Moss Decorates (2011)
• A Visual Life: Scrapbooks, Collages and Inspirations (2013)
• Charlotte Moss: Garden Inspirations (2015)
• Charlotte Moss Entertains (2018)
• Charlotte Moss Flowers (2021)
• Charlotte Moss Entertains (2018)

She has written eight forewords to the books of some of her peers, including: A Garden For All Seasons Marjorie Merriweather Post's Hillwood (Rizzoli, Spring 2020), Living Floral, Margot Shaw (Rizzoli, Spring 2019), The Decorated Home, Meg Braff (Rizzoli, Spring 2017), How they Decorated, Gaye Tapp (Rizzoli, Spring 2017), Fresh, Sybil Sylvester (Glitterati, Spring 2017), Linens, Jane Scott Hodges (Rizzoli, 2014), An Invitation to the Garden, Michael Devine (Rizzoli, 2014), An Architectural Alphabet, Bernd Dams & Andrew Zega (2008).

ARTICLES

In addition to writing her own books, she has written articles for the Wall Street Journal “Off Duty,” T Magazine, FLOWER and is currently writing a column for Veranda magazine. She co-edited edited Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello (Rizzoli, 2021), with Leslie Bowman, president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.

• A Couturier’s Welcome (Veranda, December 2021)
• Designer Charlotte Moss Breaks Down Veere Grenney’s Fascinating Design Ethos (Veranda, September 2021)
• Is Atmosphere Everything? (Veranda, April/May 2021)
• Sugary Sleight of Hand (Flower, March/April 2019)
• The Magic of Madoo (Flower, May/June 2017)
• Charlotte Moss on A Patch of Beauty (House Beautiful, May 2017)
• Charlotte Moss on Being Present (House Beautiful, March 2017)
• Charlotte Moss on Maximizing White Space (House Beautiful, October 2016)
• Charlotte Moss on Starting Your Own Traditions (House Beautiful, May 2016)
• Charlotte Moss on Beautiful Beginnings (House Beautiful, March 2016)
• Nancy Lancaster: Haute and Humble (Flower Magazine, January-February 2016)
• Charlotte Moss on Decorating with Music (House Beautiful, December 2015)
• Charlotte Moss on A Flair for Living (House Beautiful, October 2015)
• A Romance With Weeds (Flower Magazine, May-June 2015)
• The Elegant World of Bunny Mellon (Flower Magazine, March-April 2015)
• Winter Wonderland (Flower Magazine, December 2014)
• Bunny Mellon’s Collection, On The Block (T-Magazine November 2014)
• Itinerary, Botanically-Themed Designations in Paris (and Beyond) (T-Magazine, July 2014)
• The Eloquence of Silence (T Magazine, July 2014)
• Modern is Fashion-Forward (House Beautiful, June 2014)
• The Woman Who Served Jell-O to The A-List (WSJ, July 2013)
• Italian Sojourn (New York Cottages & Gardens, Oct. 2012)
• That’s Entertainment! (WSJ, Sept. 2012)
• Design Your Own Fabric (WSJ, Sept. 2012)
• A Tuscan Garden Tutorial (WSJ, Aug. 2012)
• A Place to Potter Around (WSJ, July 2012)
• The Woman Who Served Jell-O to The A-List (Off Duty, April 2012)
• Hedge Finds (Hamptons Cottages & Gardens, Sept. 2011)
• That Garden Je Ne Sais Quoi (WSJ, Aug. 2011)
• The Old-World Artistry Behind the Modern House of Chanel (WSJ Magazine, April 2011)
• Paradise Regained (WSJ, Dec. 2010)

CONSULTING

Charlotte is frequently asked by organizations to draw upon her expertise with consulting on various projects in manufacturing, retail, interior design and publishing. Consulting projects have included the gift shop design and space planning consultation at Monticello, redecoration of Westover Plantation in Charles City, VA, the redecoration of the Montalto conference facility at Monticello and restoration of The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Personal

Charlotte has been married to Barry Friedberg since 1986 and has two step children, including James Friedberg, a glass sculpting artist. Her primary residency is in New York City.