“A well-designed restaurant does more than look good. It works hard, and it makes guests want to stay, order another round, and come back. The best restaurants, bars, and hotels become destinations for locals and travelers alike, and the spaces behind them are where those experiences begin.”
Natalie Lieberman, NCIDQ
Founder, Collect + Curate Studio
Natalie Lieberman is an NCIDQ-certified interior designer specializing in restaurant design and adaptive reuse. For more than twenty years, she has helped chefs, owners, and developers turn overlooked buildings into restaurants, bars, and hospitality spaces with a clear identity and a story worth telling.
Since founding Collect + Curate Studio in 2014, Natalie has offered interior design and creative consulting to owner’s and chef-driven concepts, from the first idea through construction. Her path includes hotel design and restaurant design at The Johnson Studio in Atlanta, where she saw adaptive reuse drive the revitalization of city after city. Her work on Ecco in Midtown Atlanta earned the 2007 Adaptive Reuse Award from the Atlanta Urban Design Commission. .
Natalie’s approach starts with the building and client’s story. She looks to the history, materials, and story that make a place distinct, then designs around them so the space feels authentic rather than staged. Her projects include Cocozza, Sugar Ghost, Hog and Hominy, and Felicia Suzanne’s. She is based in Memphis and works with clients across the Southeast and beyond. Collect + Curate Studio has been recognized among other international interior designers by the LIV Hospitality Design Awards for both Bishop and Felicia Suzanne’s.
Inspiration comes from flea markets, classic films, and travel, which is why her spaces feel collected rather than copied. Away from the job site, she’s usually cooking at home with her husband and two daughters.
A native Memphian, Anna Cassidy is an Associate Interior Designer II at Collect + Curate Studio. Utley received her Bachelor of Science degree in 2017 from Auburn University’s CIDA-accredited, top-ranking Interior Design program. Inspired by the urban rejuvenation that was occurring in Memphis, Utley returned home after graduation with a drive to use her talents to better Memphis. Spending the first four years of her design career in the commercial design industry, Utley gained experience in architectural drafting, project management, construction administration, engineering coordination, and an overall understanding of the phases of design. This experience combined with multiple internships in the high-end residential design industry has equipped Utley with a wide range of design skills, both creative and technical. During her time at Collect + Curate, Utley has held various responsibilities such as holistic design development, drafting of full construction drawing sets, intricate millwork drawings, project timelines, and budget management, coordination with consultants, specification writing, and construction administration. Anna has worked on projects such as Clarksville Riverview guestrooms and most recently completed Felica Suzanne’s restaurant.
Anna stays busy with renovations on her 1918 Cooper Young bungalow and taking care of her small farm - 2 dogs, Millie and Ruby, and cat, Olive. Her ideal day is a rainy one with no to-do lists and time at home with her husband.
Luca Spaghetti is our resident guard dog and therapy librarian. Like us, he is small but mighty.