REBECCA COLE has a big laugh. You won’t mistake it, as it carries no subtleties, but is genuine and out-loud. The plucky co-host of “Surprise by Design” is disarmingly down-to-earth.
For the last 15 years, Wexford native Rebecca Cole has been building her reputation as garden, floral and interior-design guru through her New York City business, Cole Creates.

Rebecca made this built-in
“candelabra” by wiring conduits
and mounting them onto her
country farm table. The vintage
lightbulbs give the room an
old-fashioned glow.

To add to a growing resume, Cole was asked to co-host Discovery Channel’s “Surprise by Design” three years ago. On the show, she and co-host Robert Verdi remake a room to surprise someone. “The idea of redesigning a room in a day was not at all foreign to me,” Cole laughs. “That’s the way I’ve always worked.”

As the co-host, Cole invents the design elements being introduced. But she doesn’t just hand out orders—Cole rolls up her sleeves to paint, saw a bookcase in half or tease Verdi. In fact, “Surprise by Design” marries Cole’s original ambition to become an actress with her design savvy, giving her an outlet to be spontaneous, unrehearsed and creative.

Rebecca painted this geometric
pattern on the wall of her outdoor
garden room. A Vietnamese
bamboo orange bowl sits on a slab
of marble that she placed onto
a metal garden stand.

Cole says that “Surprise by Design” is a natural evolution of how she tackles her own living spaces. “I’ve always been good at moving,” she explains. “Three hours later, the new space is photographable. I’m obsessed with having a beautiful home and being surrounded by things I love.” Cole grew up in the North Hills, which was more rural 25 years ago, so she is most comfortable surrounded by the outdoors. “When I went to live in the city, I always wanted a little bit of the country there with me. So I'd create this crazy garden for myself wherever I went.”

A graduate of Pine-Richland High School, after spending the early grades at St. Alphonsus School in Wexford, Cole studied acting and set design at Northwestern University. After moving to New York City two decades ago, she now lives in a Tribeca loft and works out of a Soho brownstone complete with the urban garden she designed.

Between episodes of “Surprise by Design,” appearing as a contributor on the “Today Show,” writing three books and maintaining a roster of celebrity appearances, Cole is busy building a design empire. And she still has big plans ahead.

Except for the sofa, most of the furniture in Rebecca’s office-den is outdoor. The walls are chocolate brown and the ‘40s plastic lawn chairs add a splash of orange—Rebecca’s favorite color. A stone garden statue; a concrete birdbath filled with birch bark, pine cones and candles; a metal table covered with white pebbles and scenic garden photographs that cover her window shades all work together to bring the outdoors in.

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