Ventus in the Press
“Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.”
Praise for Ventus
A Letter of Recommendation
Tom Johnson
3280 Rilman Road
Atlanta, Georgia 30327
My name is Tom Johnson, former Chief Executive Officer of CNN and former Publisher/Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles Times.
I have known and have worked with Reiko Lewis since she was a senior producer of the CNN Bureau in Tokyo. That was her profession prior to her becoming an interior designer.
The CNN Tokyo bureau was the Asia/Pacific regional office for all our extensive coverage of Asia. Reiko covered many major stories throughout the region with exceptional competence and skills.
On my frequent travels to Tokyo for CNN I quite often worked with Reiko and with her husband, John Lewis, who was the bureau chief for CNN Asia.
Reiko is bilingual. She often assisted the business and journalism sides of CNN as our liaison to our multiple Japanese clients. She arranged the meetings and coordinated the logistical side of our operations. She always worked with passion, care and a detailed-oriented approach to her assignments.
When CNN produced the “Asia Week”, a week-long live broadcast from Tokyo, she was one of the primary Japanese producers working with Larry King, Bernie Shaw, Lou Dobbs and the Special Events Unit Team from Atlanta CNN Headquarters. We had a very successful global broadcast that is only one example of Reiko’s many major assignments. She also was involved in many of our Special Events coverage such as U.S. presidential visits to Asia and visits by US Secretaries of State.
After Reiko’s husband John died, Reiko left CNN to become a very accomplished interior designer. We have remained in contact with each other. I so admire her strength, dedication, passion, and detailed care toward her jobs, as well as her thoughtfulness to all those with whom she came in contact. She combines the very best of both her Japanese culture and her adopted American life.
While I do not know Reiko as an interior designer, I can strongly recommend her as a very fine person with whom to work. I recommend her to you and hope that you will consider her for projects in the interior design field. You will be very proud of her work, in my opinion.
Tom Johnson
Former CEO, CNN
Former Publisher and CEO, Los Angeles Times
“Finding the right expertise is critical to the success of any project.”
What People Are Saying
“Some of the most rewarding and exciting times of our lives have been the opportunities to either build or remodel a home. Finding the right expertise is critical to the success of any project - from the architect to the builder to the myriad of contractors and finally to the interior designer, all of whom play an integral part in the final outcome.
My husband and I have had a number of experiences (some good and some not so good) working on different homes. In 2016, we decided to move from our home in Kahala into a three-bedroom condo at Park Lane. Our unit was scheduled to be completed in September of 2017. Based on our past experiences, we knew that the right interior designer would be crucial to our comfort and enjoyment of the new unit. We interviewed with a number of designers and decided on Ventus Design. Reiko Lewis brought to the project not only her innovative interior design skills but her intense focus on how we lived and what we felt was important in our day to day lives.
We were presented with many furniture and color schemes which were used to incorporate our heirloom furniture pieces and also to resolve any traffic, space and lighting questions that arose. These computer-generated images showed how different furniture pieces looked in each space and they were very instrumental in helping us to find the right solution for every room.
The final outcome was just as we expected; beautiful, comfortable and with the right amount of “wow” factor.
Our project took just under a year to complete. During that time, we got to know Reiko on a more personal level. Reiko lives with and cares for her mother. This gives her a heightened awareness of every family members’ living environment and surroundings. She incorporates this aspect into her work. She is a talented designer but she is also someone who is passionate about the people she works for. You will never find someone more trust worthy or more dedicated to her clients.
We highly recommend Ventus Design for your next project.”
— Kazuhiro Kawakami
Arlene Iwamoto
Some of the most rewarding and exciting times of our lives have been the opportunities to either build or remodel a home. Finding the right expertise is critical to the success of any project - from the architect to the builder to the myriad of contractors and finally to the interior designer, all of whom play an integral part in the final outcome.
My husband and I have had a number of experiences (some good and some not so good) working on different homes. In 2016, we decided to move from our home in Kahala into a three-bedroom condo at Park Lane. Our unit was scheduled to be completed in September of 2017. Based on our past experiences, we knew that the right interior designer would be crucial to our comfort and enjoyment of the new unit. We interviewed with a number of designers and decided on Ventus Design. Reiko Lewis brought to the project not only her innovative interior design skills but her intense focus on how we lived and what we felt was important in our day to day lives.
We were presented with many furniture and color schemes which were used to incorporate our heirloom furniture pieces and also to resolve any traffic, space and lighting questions that arose. These computer-generated images showed how different furniture pieces looked in each space and they were very instrumental in helping us to find the right solution for every room.
The final outcome was just as we expected; beautiful, comfortable and with the right amount of “wow” factor.
Our project took just under a year to complete. During that time, we got to know Reiko on a more personal level. Reiko lives with and cares for her mother. This gives her a heightened awareness of every family members’ living environment and surroundings. She incorporates this aspect into her work. She is a talented designer but she is also someone who is passionate about the people she works for. You will never find someone more trust worthy or more dedicated to her clients.
We highly recommend Ventus Design for your next project.
Good luck and Aloha,
Arlene Iwamoto
Arthur Ozeki
Reiko will have her choice of projects, but it was evident to us that she will commit herself fully to even smaller projects, such as our condominium in Hawaii. We love the way she helped create a stylish, but also very comfortable and cozy environment for our family, never forgetting that we had small children at the time. Even after several years, the design elements retain a welcoming balance of contemporary and traditional which is exactly what we had hoped for. While totally unexpected, her designs also won the People’s Choice Award from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) that year.
Kumiko Sato
私達が念願のハワイの別荘を持つにあたり、2016年に竣工したワイエアのインテリアをお願いしました。隅々までReikoさんらしい細やかな気遣いに溢れたお部屋に仕上がりました。ハワイらしさを感じさせつつ、ハイセンスな仕上がりに大変満足しております。心からリラックスして滞在できているのもハワイの日光と素敵なインテリアのおかげだと思います。
We asked Reiko to design our unit in Waiea condo completed in 2016, our long-sought second home in Hawaii. Reiko designed and decorated every room with detailed care. We think that her kind and detailed mind personality reflected in the design.
My husband and I are very satisfied with the best quality and design, and interior design makes us feel some sense of Hawaii. We enjoy our great relaxation time in Hawaii and thank Hawaii’s sunlight and a comfortable home designed by Reiko.
Kazuhiro Kawakami
この度のバケーションレンタル向けのリフォーム工事やその後の補修メンテナンス工事に関しまして、私共が現地より遠隔にてなかなか現地に行けないのにもかかわらず、メール(写真付き)にて頻繁にこちらの要望をすぐに反映してもらい、とても気持ちの良い出来上がりに満足しております。家具や備品等の選択にあたっても色使いやセンス良く、過度な物ではなく価格もリーズナブルな物を見つけていただき満足しております。現地にも頻繁に足を運んでもらい、工事業者も真面目で丁寧に仕事をしていただいております。ありがとうございます。
We asked Reiko to help us on interior renovations and decorations of our second home (it is as well the vacation rental property) in Waikiki. She helped us through the interior construction and selecting furniture. Despite our physical distance, she listened to what we need with care, reflected our needs/wishes into the beautiful design work. The outcome was very sophisticated in design and in color scheme, and she also completed the project within the ideal budget range we hoped.
We also recently experienced some problems in the unit and she was always available to report to us with detailed information and photos, went to the site with contractors as many times as needed, and worked with contractors until the problems were completely solved.
We are very pleased not only with her design skills but also with her sincere services.
We can recommend her highly.
Jeff Daniel
I've had the pleasure of working with Reiko on a couple of projects now, one was on her own home. Reiko has a gifted eye for detail and she "covers all the bases" in making sure her design intent is carried through to the actual finished product. She makes it easy to carry out the implementation of her design with plans and details showing exactly what she wants in the design. She does this by working relentlessly, and going above and beyond what is required to carry out the construction phase on her projects. Reiko is always available to answer design questions, when we call on her.
Reiko is also a very thoughtful and dedicated professional that keeps the best interest of her clients as her #1 priority. I would highly recommend Reiko to anyone seeking a passionate, hard working design professional that designs with beauty, as well as value in mind on all her projects.
