Laura Ruth Edge
Owner, L. Ruth Interior Design
For many professionals, their office tells a lot about who they are. Whether it’s certificates and awards, family photos, or treasured memorabilia, the items displayed around someone’s desk can provide a window into their personality. Owensboro is full of interesting business people with interesting stories. “From the Desk Of…” gives those people’s clients, customers, family and friends an inside look at where they work and what makes them tick.
For our first installment of this exciting new feature, we visited Laura Ruth Edge, owner of L. Ruth Interior Design. Located at 1115 Tamarack Rd #100, the building’s unassuming façade belies the vibrant look and history of what’s inside. Laura Ruth took the time to tell us the stories of some of her favorite items around her office.
WVJS Microphone
Behind her desk sits an old microphone that once belonged to the radio station founded by her granddad, Vincent Joseph Steele (VJS). “My aunt gave me this after my uncle passed away, and it was one of the things that every time I went to his office, I always admired,” Laura tells us. What’s more, her office is now just a few suites down and in the same building as the radio station!
Conference Room Door
While her office is being housed in the same building as the radio station named after her late grandfather Steele, Laura Ruth’s actual suite is the former office of her uncle, Robert H. Steele. When she was looking for a new space, her uncle suggested that she take a look at his old office. Two months after he passed, Laura Ruth toured the space, and found that it suited every one of her office needs. “Being in this space has been really special for me knowing that he worked here.” As a further tribute to her family, the door to her conference room was taken from the house where her Grandfather Steele was born in 1897.
Mirror Ball
In addition to her college diploma from the University of Alabama, as well as several certificates in interior design, Laura Ruth says her most prized trophy is the mirror ball from Dancing With Our Stars. The charity event that benefits the Boulware Center has become an annual event in Owensboro, and Laura Ruth is proud to have won the inaugural competition – and admits that she and Don Moore still rib each other about him taking the trophy the next year.
Photos from Trip to Rome
When she was 23, Laura Ruth took a trip to Rome. As a devout Catholic, a tour of the Vatican was at the top of her agenda. She memorialized the trip with photos she took that now hang proudly behind her desk. Also included in the photos is a window she passed that read “Architecture and Décor” in Italian, a fitting photograph to adorn the office of an interior designer.
Laura Ruth’s office is full of family history and personal touches. As she told us, “We don’t just design for others, we create a space that works for ourselves.”
If you know of someone whose office we could feature in an upcoming issue, tell us about it at [email protected]
