When Cheryl DiGennaro was growing up, she’d watch her mom, an interior designer, working on various projects; that passion passed from mother to daughter.
“I have an innate desire to create living spaces that evoke emotion,” DiGennaro said. “It’s in my DNA.”
Thirty years later, that desire weaves through DiGennaro’s business, Newport Yacht and Home LLC, which custom designs and fabricates yacht interior and exterior furnishings. DiGennaro also offers residential interior design services and fashions cushions, bespoke bedding, upholstery, window treatments and accessories.
DiGennaro was born at Newport Hospital and grew up in Middletown, part of a huge, close-knit family that had emigrated from San Miguel in the Azores. “My great-grandparents had 16 kids and when they got to Portsmouth, they became farmers. I have wonderful memories of growing up. We’re related to everyone,” she said.
As a student at Middletown High School, she was a cheerleader, a student government rep and played the snare drum in the band.
DiGennaro was a good student and excelled in art. When graduation rolled around, she opted for Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She was already drawn to the idea of enhancing people’s living spaces, and she also wanted the experience of living in a city without having to move too far from home.
One of her favorite classes was painting. “We set up easels in different galleries at the [Museum of Fine Arts in Boston] and copied the masters. I especially liked the French impressionists. I did my senior thesis on that,” she said.
DiGennaro also became intrigued with fashion design and designed her own line of women’s couture while she was still in school. She called the line Cherelle and sold pieces to boutiques along Newbury Street in Boston.
“I had a line of dresses; evening and wedding gowns, funky high-end pieces that people could wear out to clubs,” she said.
DiGennaro discovered it was fun and fulfilling to be creative while making the clothes herself. In 1990, she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in design and textiles and not long after decided to take a big leap of faith.
“I sold everything, got on a plane and moved to San Francisco,” DiGennaro said. “I surprised my family because I didn’t have a job, but I don’t have a lot of fear in challenges.”
During the next few years, she worked as a technical designer for Gymboree, a clothing company and a child development program, and taught at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in San Francisco. She also continued her fashion business, selling to local boutiques, as well as some interior design. She loved the technical aspects of creating clothes because of the precision involved.
In 1998, she moved back to Rhode Island and eventually expanded her design skills to yacht interiors.
“It’s so intricate and focused. You’re not just picking pretty fabrics; you use that experience in the design from concept to completion,” she said.
Over the next several years, she created luxury residential and yacht interiors for local, high-end companies. “I’d go into the back room and help the stitchers sew and I went on-site to the boats to measure and create patterns. I saw the technical side of making the fabric work,” she said.
And by 2013, DiGennaro was ready to launch her own business. Since then, her clients are across the board but include prominent names with high net worth. They range from international entrepreneur Peter de Savary to local politician and developer Joseph R. Paolino Jr.
In 2015, she completed a four-month job for Peter Townshend, the guitar-smashing member of the legendary rock band The Who. He wanted to refit his classic 116-foot schooner, Gloria, to reflect an elegant British style, with warm woods and luxury finishes. After the job was complete, Townshend donated the use of Gloria as part of a fundraiser for the Newport Boys & Girls Club, with an auctioned lunch on board.
“He was a dream to work with,” DiGennaro said.
Her work has garnered international notice. “Sometimes, when I’m at an awards ceremony with world-famous yacht designers, I have a pinch-me moment,” she said.
While she’ll continue to do marine interiors, she’s pivoting to more residential interior design, which offers a broader scope of materials. “I don’t want to pigeonhole myself; we’ll do design consulting on an hourly basis,” she said. “If you need help figuring out what tile to use as a backsplash or you’re doing an entire home renovation, we can help.”
She’s remodeling a 7,000-square-foot home in Cranston, inside and out.
“I’m using materials I don’t get to use in yachts,” she said. DiGennaro is also working on her own house, a colonial sitting on a huge property in Exeter with woods on three sides – what she calls her sanctuary.
“Whether it’s peaceful or bold and exciting, how do you want to feel when you’re in this space?” she said. “I spend time with my clients so I can understand what they want to make it personal.”
