Designer Cheryl Luckett, a Charlotte local by way of South Mississippi, has created a name for herself that’s rooted in soulful design and punctuated by pattern and color. When she moved here thirteen years ago from Spartanburg, South Carolina, however, interior design was the last thing on her mind. Working for a Fortune 500 company had her on the road often, and in the little free time she had, she nested in her new home. Shabby chic was a trendy aesthetic at the time, and Luckett was all over it. Her home was so well put together that visitors suggested she should take on interior design professionally. Pretty soon, traveling got old and the race exhausting. Luckett knew it was time to shift gears and wondered if she really did have a talent for design. So she changed jobs and took some design classes. In herfree time, she started a design blog, which ultimately led to interior design work. Three years later, Luckett had her own business. The rest, as they say, is history.
Far from shabby chic, Luckett’s aesthetic has evolved professionally and personally, but one thing has been constant: her love of textiles and hertalent for mixing patterns.“That’s what lights me up,” she says.“So that’s where I start. I go with my gut on fabric, and that usually drives the rest of the space. Just like I want my clients’ homes to represent them, at home, I want my space to represent who I am—an African-American, Southern woman. So I can take this chintz and draw in traditionally Southern pieces. I can take the African tapestry and bring in natural elements, like baskets.”
When it comes to her home, Luckett learned pride of ownership at an early age.“I grew up around my grandparents in southern Mississippi, and they took pride in their belongings,” Luckett recalls.“I must’ve watched my grandmotherreupholster her sofa at least three times as a kid. We would spend hours in Penney’s picking out bedding; everything else, we would make—pillows, valances, curtains.” Luckett’s appreciation of the home, textiles, and design came from herfamily. And though she enjoys a casual feel, that pride in ownership alongside a joy of entertaining has a special place in her heart.“I still like a tad of formality,” she says.“Not too much to be stuffy, but just enough to feel distinct.”
Looking around her home, it’s easy to see these things that make up Cheryl Luckett—color, patterns, casual elegance, Southern tradition with a global twist, and, of course, tremendous pride in the designer she’s become.“I heard once that design is a muscle. The more you use it, the betterit gets. I am a testament to that,” she says.“The more you refine your passion ortalent, the more you’re willing to push the envelope. And it just keeps getting better.”
When the pandemic hit in the spring, Luckett sprang into action, forging a new path that could navigate her business through a crisis. She offered an online course for homeowners, a sort of design 101. “One of my first classes was Secrets of the Home, and I asked people what they wanted their home to feel like,” Luckett explains. “You can dress your home up any number of ways, but if you know that you want it to feel energizing or cozy or fun, that sets up a frame of reference when deciding on a design direction and color palette.”
For herself, Luckett wants to live in color. She wants to be reminded of herroots. But her house, like many, is a constant work in progress.“I just finished redesigning my kitchen,” she says. “Right when I like it, I change course again, which I think is OK. I love working on my home.”
The new kitchen dons bright colors of bold blue and happy yellow, with natural wood touches in oak cabinets and open shelving. Just adjacent, the breakfast nook adds a pop of orange with patterned curtains in Robert Allen fabric and includes the Magnolia banquette from Luckett’s own collection: Belle by Cheryl Luckett for Sylvester Alexander. She launched her five-piece collection of furniture in 2018, one full of her signature color and pattern, with traditional lines and modern twists. You can also find a second piece from her collection in the piano room, the Anderson banquette covered in Bombshell by Brentwood Textiles.“The five pieces in my collection represent five pillars of my life: faith, family, home, culture, and journey,” Luckett explains. She is also a brand ambassador for Revolution Fabrics, a company she stands behind thanks to their durability, quality, affordability, and sustainability. Plus, it’s a small family-owned company operated close by, in Kings Mountain.“I love using performance fabric. It’s fabric forlife, especially on larger pieces. It’s on my banquette, dining chairs, and upholstered door in my kitchen, among other things.”
As most new rooms tend to be, the kitchen is her current favorite room in the home because, as she puts it, it feels like a big hug every time she walks into it.“It’s so happy, and very me. It functions well, it’s cozy, and it’s colorful,” she says. It also catalyzed the rest of the home and got the juices flowing on the nextround of changes. But for now, she’s pleased with the mix she has in the rest of the rooms.“I recently started to add more meaningful art. Right nearthe back door, I added a piece by Rayhart. It’s a figurative piece—four women—they remind me of my mom, my two sisters, and me, and I love it. On some level, I have been surprised at how happy that piece makes me.”
Luckett’s love of traditional finds is amplified in the piano room, where a baby grand anchors the room beside her furniture collection’s Anderson banquette. A traditional African Kuba cloth is framed and hung as a striking focal piece, while underfoot, a hide rug adds a pop of modernity. The ever-present bar cart is a familiar vintage piece waiting with a fresh cocktail, a perfect capsule of Cheryl Luckett as a person and as a designer. “My guiding principle in designing for clients is to paint a portrait of the homeownerin their surroundings,” Luckett says. “So, for my own home, I hope I’ve done the same. I don’t need it to be a catalog. I don’t need it to look like Pinterest. I need it to look like me. Sometimes I think we worry so much about getting itright that we miss making it us.”