Business Women Awards 2025
INDUSTRY LEADER CREATIVE SERVICES:
Patti Watson, Taste Design Inc. owner and principal
STEP INSIDE a Taste Design Inc.-built home and you enter a realm where luxury seamlessly blends with the rhythms of real life. The award-winning aesthetic is the signature of Patti Watson, owner and principal of the Middletown-based firm.
“Every day, we get to come and build beautiful homes for clients that nurture them and give them a safe space,” Watson said. “It’s a privilege.”
While her career was not exactly a linear progression, it was a natural one. Interior design wasn’t Watson’s initial focus, although she had a lengthy interest in that field.
After graduating from Johnson & Wales University, Watson worked in corporate marketing for years until she started a family. But Watson struggled with the desire to work while raising a family.
“I knew I wanted to be a working mom, but I wasn’t fulfilled enough for work to take me away from my family,” Watson said.
Watson went back to school to study interior design at the Rhode Island School of Design. There, she saw a model of how she could combine her design and marketing interests.
“I think you have to take every single opportunity as a chance to grow, back it up with service and try to build a network of support,” Watson said.
In launching Taste Design in 2004, Watson has shaped the landscape of luxury residential design across New England, leaving her mark on countless homes in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and beyond. Her portfolio also boasts projects in locales such as New York, Philadelphia, Arizona and Palm Beach, Fla., alongside award-winning commercial spaces such as the company’s own innovative offices, the House of Taste.
This extensive experience has garnered numerous accolades, including the Best Interior Design – RI award from Modern Luxury Interiors in February/March 2025. But it’s the people that Watson collaborates with and the clients she serves that keep her excited about the work.
“Every day is so different; that’s the nature of design,” Watson said. “We are collaborating with lots of different disciplines, and we touch so many different trades and crafts that our day is filled with interesting and talented people, including our clients. It’s a very special place to be in, in which we do creative work that improves people’s lives.”
Watson’s influence extends beyond the spaces she curates. She is committed to championing opportunities for women within her company and the wider community.
“She empowers every woman on our team to thrive in their role, always asking how she can best support their professional growth,” said Julia Reinalda, design director and project manager at Taste Design. “Patti has taught me so much about managing client relationships at the highest level. I’ve learned how to navigate complex situations with grace and strength, thanks to her example. That kind of leadership inspires real confidence in our clients throughout long, challenging projects.”
A defining feature of Watson’s leadership has been her commitment to creating a collaborative culture and an environment that honors the balance between work and family. Watson implemented a paid maternity leave policy – a benefit not mandated by state law and rare among small businesses.
To help address the critical systemic challenges women business owners face, Watson once hosted a roundtable discussion with a diverse group of women business owners and U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. She also created Taste’s Artist in Residence Program to provide a platform for underrepresented local artists, integrating their work into client presentations and design discussions.
Watson is also a longtime donor to House of Hope Community Development Corp., which provides housing and outreach for people experiencing homelessness. She has also volunteered and donated for many years to Lucy’s Hearth, a shelter for homeless women and children.
The way Watson blends creative vision with community is leaving an indelible mark on the Rhode Island landscape and the broader design world.
