NAPLESILLUSTRATED.COM | SEPTEMBER 2019 81
My favorite color is sage green, and I paired
it with beige and brown as I began envisioning
the interior of my imaginary Praetor 600. I was
anxious—I don’t spend $22.5 million every day—
but if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that
sage green is my favorite color.
It ended up nowhere on the plane.
Embraer interior designer Cathy Biegler, who
gently steered me away from my earth-toned
palette (“It looks too Girl Scout,” she jokes), says
she’s seen this before. Clients often arrive with a
firm idea in mind, and their own interior design-
er, then fly off in a different direction.
Today I’ve embarked on what Embraer calls
“the Melbourne experience,” which includes
lunch with the design team in an elegant dining
room worthy of Fifth Avenue South and a brief
tour of the museum-like executive building.
Then I’m whisked upstairs to begin the painstak-
ing process of picking out everything from the
seat-insert pattern to the seatbelt buckle.Biegler and I hunker down over
a table loaded with swatches and
samples of real leather, faux leath-
er, fabric—you name it. I ask if a cli-
ent has ever requested something
worthy of Inside West Coast Cus-
toms (that car show where they
once installed a bowling ball return
in a trunk) and she reminds me of federal
rules regarding flammability and weight.
“You also want to think about resale and
who your passengers will be—family or
business or both. If you have a favorite
sports team, for example, rather than us-
ing that logo throughout the plane, you
might incorporate it on a blanket that lies
on the divan or in the lid of the jewel box.”
The jewel box is a small compartment
similar to the console between the front
seats of a car. The inside of the lid can eas-
ily be swapped out, just like the inserts on other
interior storage areas.
Having ditched sage green, I gravitate toward
steel gray and cool blue, colors reminiscent of
my late mother. She would’ve selected brushed
sterling seatbelt buckles. “Nothing shiny,” I tell
Biegler, who remembers every detail, including
that my mother’s name was Ida Mae and that she
loved pearls.
Once a customer selects every aspect of
their jet’s interior (and exterior as well), the de-sign team prepares renderings for their approv-
al. When everything’s nailed down, the client
receives a glistening, glass-topped wooden box
that showcases samples from the textiles that
will comprise their plane. It’s a perfect conversa-
tion piece while you wait for the real thing.
When my renderings arrive, I’m delighted to
discover that Embraer has dubbed my design
scheme “Ida Mae,” which Biegler has embroi-
dered in the blue lid of my Praetor 600 ’s jewel
box. And beneath the name? Five small circles
representing pearls. —L.G.DESIGNED FROM
THE GROUND UP
In the business of bespoke jets, beauty is in the details
With the help of Embraer interior designer Cathy Biegler
(right), Naples Illustrated Editor in Chief Loretta Grantham
creates a custom interior with colors inspired by her mother.Five circles
representing pearls
under “Ida Mae.”