New York City-based Felice Design Studio offers a delightfully creative cocktail-themed collection of permanent botanical designs.
Like so many others, Robert Carroll was forced to close the doors to Felice Design Studio in mid-March due to COVID-19.
The owner of the Long Island City- based floral, event and interior design studio realized after a few weeks that he would be facing a long and difficult road ahead unless he pivoted his business. “We decided to design a series of permanent floral arrangements to brighten homes during this dark time,” Carroll shares.
And what better way to do that than with a permanent floral collection inspired by classic cocktails, such as cosmopolitans, martinis, margaritas, mimosas and mojitos? So Carroll created the “Happy Hour Collection, and, “The response has been great,” he reports.
A true artist in all respects, Carroll earned a degree in architecture from Cornell University, where he also studied interior design, theatrical design, botany and botanical illustration. He began his career with a midsize architecture firm and quickly became the project designer for many public projects, most notably the interior renovation of the historic Carnegie Library on NYC’s Upper West Side and the interiors for a live/learn college at Fordham University. He then worked in the store design department at the legendary Bergdorf Goodman and, most recently, he served as project manager at Dolce & Gabbana Store Planning, where he designed new D&G boutiques and renovations of existing D&G boutiques.
Established in 2017, Felice Design Studio—which Carroll named after his Italian great-grandfather, Felice LaSaracina (“felice” means happy in Italian)—specializes in custom permanent botanicals and provides monthly or seasonal rentals to some of New York City’s top restaurants, boutiques, department stores, hotels and offices through its subscription service.
When he opened Felice Design Studio, Carroll wanted to offer something not only beautiful but also affordable and
sustainable. “I wanted to work with flowers, but I didn’t want to be just another florist in a city saturated with amazing designers,” he informs.
With the studio’s “Silk Flower Subscription Service,” Carroll creates arrangements to fit each location and budget, with the goal of saving clients 50 percent to 70 percent of the cost of weekly fresh floral arrangements. “We design, deliver and place each arrangement and then take them back at the end of the month or season,” Carroll explains.
While he has the capability to do fresh floral designs, Carroll remains focused on building his subscription- service business. “We are inspired by local and international floral designers and approach our arrangements as if we were using fresh material,” he says.
Raise a glass and view Carroll’s “Happy Hour Collection” at felicedesignstudio.com.
