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NEWS
Faces of the Tri-State: Entrepreneur's love of design makes business successful
Sally Weiler is the owner of Room 2 Create, an interior design business in the new Capital Centre Huntington.
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HUNTINGTON -- A couple years ago, Anita DeHart was going through the difficult process of selling a house and downsizing to an apartment.
When she moved to her current apartment at the Woodlands Retirement Community, she decided to start fresh when it came to decorating. Her furniture from her house was too big, and she decided to purchase new, smaller items.
With the help of interior designer Sally Weiler, she created a space that she simply adores.
"I was selling a house and getting rid of 50 years worth of possessions and it was so hard, and she made this such a pleasure," DeHart said.
Weiler, a Charleston native who lives in Huntington with husband, Jim, and four children, not only does design work for clients throughout the Tri-State, but has a shop that she recently moved to a more prominent location in downtown Huntington.
The shop -- Sally Weiler Designs Room 2 Create -- is now located in Capital Centre Huntington, at the corner of 4th Avenue and 8th Street. It's in the building formerly occupied by Dickinson Furniture and now renovated by developers with Capital Venture Corp., including Weiler's husband, Jim Weiler, and Philip Nelson.
The shop is bright and filled with the latest trends in furniture, accessories and what could be gift items. The back wall is lined with rugs and swatches of fabric.
"I like so many different things, and I wanted people to walk into this store and for it to have a bright, airy, loft feel -- a fun place to work and for people to come," Sally Weiler said. "I want them to think, 'Oh, I love going in there. It's such a welcoming place.' And I hope they feel that way about me and the girls that work here, too."
She took out a business loan, brought on her contractors and built the space out exactly how she wanted it, Jim Weiler said.
"As a building owner, I didn't jibe with what she was doing at first, and when she was done, I thought, 'This is phenomenal,'" Jim Weiler said. "It was much better than what I would have done myself."
Some of her best qualities in business are her creative vision, energy and her entrepreneurial spirit, her husband said. Throw in the fact that she's extremely organized, and you have a working woman who can successfully keep the family balance, he said.
"The best thing for her job and as a mother is her creativity," he said. "It goes hand in hand. You've got to be creative in how you handle family life and business life."
And on top of all that, she loves what she's doing and customers appreciate that, he said.
"I obviously think she's a good person, and people like her," he said. "She genuinely loves what she's doing, and when she does something for you, it's not just a job. She loves it, and in today's world, that's not always the case."
Huntington dermatologist Susan Touma said Weiler is one interior designer whom she's worked with whom she's gotten along with extremely well. And she loves the Room 2 Create store, which she said can stack up against any shop she's ever visited, in New York or anywhere else.
"She has exquisite taste," Touma said. "She has beautiful gifts at her shop. It's wonderful to have a place like that downtown -- a place where you can stop and find the perfect gift for a child or adult or birthday party or wedding. It's beautiful -- I love everything she has in there."
Weiler has helped Touma with various touches in her home as well -- living room couches, lighting in children's bedrooms, window treatments in the master bedroom.
"I couldn't be happier," Touma said. "I'm one of these people who knows what I want, whether it's right or not, and she helps facilitate getting to the end point.
"Huntington is so fortunate to have someone with the expertise and insight of Sally Weiler," she said.
DeHart said many people step into her Woodlands apartment and say it looks like a New York City apartment, and she gives the credit to Weiler.
"I found a joy in decorating my apartment at Woodlands and Sally Weiler was the reason," DeHart said. "I'm so thankful that I found her, for she made me feel reassured and has taken me in many beautiful directions.
"With her expertise in design, she has not only designed my apartment with beauty and sophistication, but she has also touched my heart with the beauty of her ways. She is a delight with whom to work, and she is my friend. As a result we became friends."
Weiler, who has been in the interior design business now for 18 years, in turn praises DeHart for her "impeccable taste" and is pleased when she can help someone create an environment that suits them.
"When you walk into your home, I want you to love it and be happy, and for it to look like you and not like me," she said. "It's important to me that everybody's home doesn't look the same."
She's very busy with her interior design work alone, but is looking forward to the new directions of her shop, which has relocated from Heritage Station.
Though it's been open in the new location since June, Room 2 Create will have a grand opening in September, and its website, www.room2create.com will be fully online in September, she said. She's also planning some fun events for the fall and the holidays, such as a shuttle tour between her store, and two downtown stores owned by Kim Sarka Lake, Mug & Pia across from Pullman Square and the soon-to-open culinary store Whisk, to be located on the corner of 4th Avenue and 8th Street.
"We have a lot of things coming in for Christmas, and we want people to feel like they can come in and just buy something for their home," she said.
Along with the variety of home accessories and gift items, some of the furniture lines carried by Room 2 Create are Barclay Butera, Shabby Chic, Lee Industries, Hickory Chair and Somerset Bay. Some of the fabric lines are Schumacher, Kravet, Barclay Butera, Osborne & Little, and Anna French.
Weiler also has started the Lily Pillow Company, with custom pillows designed by her and made locally. They are available in the store and online as well.
Products from the website can be shipped anywhere in the country.
Sally Weiler
AGE: 41
FAMILY: Husband, Jim Weiler, and four children -- Jake, 9; Cece, 7; and twins Sophie and Tess, 5.
JOB TITLE: Owner and founder of Sally Weiler Designs, including Room 2 Create at 8th Street and 4th Avenue and online at www.room2create.com. Also has founded The Lily Pillow Company.
HOMETOWN: Grew up in Charleston and now lives in Huntington.
EDUCATION: Graduated from George Washington High School in Charleston and West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon. Also attended the Carleton Varney School of Art and Design in Charleston.
