15 Mar 2026 Artful living
By Phyllis Ormsby
For designer Teresa Plate, art encompasses all the senses, a perspective that shines in everything she does, from landscaping to interiors, and in the artwork and pottery she displays. Most especially, art has the power to move her soul.
Plate and her husband, Stephen, chair of the Department of Music at the University of Central Arkansas, moved to the region from the Atlanta, Ga., metro area in 2019, when he was named interim chair. When the position was made permanent in 2020, she left her job as a designer at an upscale tile company and joined her husband.
In a style she describes as urban modern, Plate has been a designer for more than 20 years. She didn’t think about becoming a designer until her children were older. “I was married and my children were in school. My home had been on a tour of homes multiple times, but I had a friend who was a designer and I would just hire her for my decorating. Well, at this point, my children didn’t need me as much and all of a sudden, I started wondering what I was going to be when I grew up,” she said, laughing. “A friend suggested I go to school for interior design, which I didn’t even know was a thing. So at 37, I went back to college at Brenau in Gainesville, Ga. I think I was a junior when I divorced and I needed to work, and luckily the jobs started to come.
“My main thing was builders,” Plate said. “I think I’ve counted 200 homes I’ve done for builders. Basically, they wanted to do the building but didn’t want to do the selections for the materials, so they would hand me the blueprints and I’d tell them everything from the exterior on in. All the tile, paint, flooring, all the hard surfaces, plus the hardware for the cabinetry and the plumbing fixtures.”
She moved into another area of design one day while working out at a gym. “The owner asked me to design a new gym he was opening, and another fitness system saw it and asked me to work for them,” Plate said. “In commercial projects, like the gyms, that’s where you can really have fun. You can get wild with your colors and really shine in that area. A lot of times, that’s what you are after, that wow factor.”
She’s been fascinated by unique and beautiful things since she was a child, but her personal style has evolved over the years. “When I first started, I definitely loved unique pieces and I loved color,” Plate said. “I think that’s one of the reasons I have gone to more neutral backgrounds in my own home. I am constantly changing for each season. In design, you can either be a minimalist or a maximalist. I feel like my decor is probably a little more minimalist, but I like dramatic accent pieces. You can have something beautiful without having clutter.”
The Plates, now married 13 years, met online, although that first date almost didn’t happen. A native of North Carolina who grew up in Georgia, she was immediately not impressed when Stephen said he was from New York. “I had been praying for the right person to come along for 10 years, but I told him I didn’t date men from New York,” she said. “Stephen said, ‘Give me a chance. I’ve lived in the South for 35 years!’” They met and married in three months, and Plate soon found herself living outside of Buffalo, N.Y. “God has a sense of humor. I say that all the time.”
Later they moved to the Atlanta area, where Stephen was director of the school of music at Kennesaw State University. Next, they came to Central Arkansas, where they bought a newly constructed house in Greenbrier with five acres. After a few years, they decided to downsize a bit, and surprisingly, their house sold in only three days. “We really had to find a house quickly! We had a wonderful REALTOR®, Karen Ferguson. Karen is more than an agent; she becomes deeply devoted in assuring that you are represented and protected in every detail of the selling and purchasing process. She not only makes herself available, but she makes it enjoyable!”
Initially, nothing they looked at seemed quite right, but when they walked into this house, they knew it was the one. At 6 feet 8 inches, Plate’s husband loves tall ceilings and an expansive feel, and they found it in this house. Inside, they found 8-foot doors, 12-foot ceilings, and a kitchen with a 10-foot-long island and white quartz countertops. Warm wood accents throughout provide a perfect counterpoint to the cream-colored walls and ceilings. “I immediately fell in love,” Plate said. “It wasn’t fully completed, but I had a vision for it and actually got to do all the landscape design here. It just had a grand feeling. Like home, but with a more modern feel.”
The home offers a perfect background for displaying all types of art. “I love mixing heirlooms and a lot of custom pieces from our travels. We have pottery from Italy, and I just got back from Switzerland and have a couple of pieces from there that are handmade,” Plate said. She also displays some heirloom pieces of Vaseline and milk glass, plus colorful Vietri glassware. “I do love all things Italian,” she said, laughing.
“Our love for original art is a constant theme throughout the house,” she said. A mesmerizing jester piece by Lee Bomhoff of Atlanta adorns the fireplace. Several pieces by Atlanta artist and friend Lori Deese are displayed throughout the home, along with a stunning piece called “Rose” by local artist Maura Weir.
Located in a newer subdivision in Greenbrier, the house sits on about an acre and backs up to farmland. It offers beautiful views from the covered back porch, which features a beadboard ceiling, a fireplace, and an additional open patio. Concrete steps lead to a serene area with a double swing under massive trees, where Plate says she loves to swing, pray and enjoy the serenity and peace.
