British Designer Susan Deliss Brings Color and Character to a Massachusetts Home

Homeowner Cai-Cai Fritzinger credits the process of the design with spurring the creation of her clothing and home décor business, The Copper Shed. Starting in a copper-roofed shed on Cai-Cai’s property, the business has since expanded to other Massachusetts locations in Wenham and Manchester-by-the-Sea.

Adding to the difficulties was the largely open-concept floor plan, which required Susan to keep each space distinct while creating a smooth flow throughout. She recalls, “I wanted to define each space by its own color palette and feel.” Sourcing pieces from both the US and England ensured the design “felt vernacular to New England” while reflecting the unique perspective of Cai-Cai and her husband.

Incorporating playful elements into the home meant making creative choices in unexpected places, such as the laundry room, where British designer Kit Kemp’s wallpaper evokes the image of bubbles and where Susan installed a light fixture made from a detergent bottle.

One of the home’s two living spaces, the “garden room” presented the opportunity for a more relaxed aesthetic that just hints at something tropical. Bespoke green tile from Portugal highlights the fireplace as a centerpiece, reinforced by plates from Malaika and sconces from Vaughan finished with custom shades. “Everything took a lot of detailing,” Susan says.

As the homeowners’ Norwich terriers receive baths in the mudroom, Susan had tiles painted with the dogs’ portraits and paw prints rather than sourcing traditional Delft tiles.

While Susan’s interior design business now includes projects from the UK to the Arabian Gulf, her name is synonymous with high-quality textiles. From hand-embroidered suzanis to throw pillows made from antique fabrics to her own textile and wallpaper collections, Susan spreads an appreciation for décor enriched with history and global influence. For more information, visit susandeliss.com.

On the other side of the fireplace, the reds and blues of the more traditional living space stand as a subtle tribute to the American setting while creating a natural flow into the colorway of the kitchen, reinforced with Dutch shiplap that wraps around into the breakfast nook. Blue-and-white Italian tile was the starting point for the light-filled space, but Susan chose to cap off the feature with Turkish plates rather than carry the tile to the ceiling. Over the breakfast table, framed linocut prints by the Folly Cove Designers—a group of Massachusetts creatives who worked from the 1930s to the 1960s—incorporate a meaningful bit of local history, which Susan especially wanted to include.

While Susan’s expertise in prints and patterns makes itself known throughout the home, nowhere showcases it more than the bedrooms, where she was careful to make selections that were at once bright and restful. “I didn’t want things to fight or for anything to overpower you,” she says.

The wallpaper selection in the primary bedroom (from British brand Lewis & Wood) complements the stairwell visible through the door, and a Nina Campbell design in the guest room both ties in and balances the embroidered red coverlet on the bed. Every choice came together to meet the homeowners’ desire for a personality-filled home. “I think it’s a very happy, airy, nice house,” says Susan. And as she has since had the pleasure of working with Cai-Cai and her husband on another residence, it’s clear they agree.