Question: What did you expect to be doing as an adult?

Answer: I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania as a communications and English major, and thought I'd be a writer. But my other love was medicine, so I took the courses I needed to get into medical school the year after college and was accepted at Stanford.

Q: What happened then?

A: I spent the summer before medical school writing a screenplay, ended up in Hollywood, and decided to defer medical school as I got more and more work. I loved writing and had some success. The hardest decision I ever made was to ultimately reject the invitation to Stanford Medical School, but it was the right decision for me.

Q: How did you get into design?

A: As I got screenwriting out of my system, I began becoming more interested in design as my wife and I furnished our own home. I found myself wanting to know more about the very things I'd rejected, fine antiques and rugs. I was particularly interested in finding rugs in the same tradition as the ones that had been parents' home, but they just weren't around.

Q: What happened next?

A: My wife, Katrina, is originally from West Deptford, and after several years in Los Angeles, we decided to move back to this area. That's when I got really serious about design work. I really dug in and studied the history, then found the region in Azerbaijan where craftsmen had made the finest rugs centuries ago. Then I worked with the weavers to revive the old patterns and colorations. It became my magnificent obsession.

Q: Is there a market for these rugs?

A: Absolutely. I travel to Azerbaijan very frequently because I have clients from all over the country who really appreciate these want fine rugs and other furnishings. But I always start with the rugs and built the rest of the design around them. I tend to use several patterns in one room because I find that the most interesting.

Q: What was it like to work on the Designer Showhouse of New Jersey in Saddle River?

A: It was a fantastic experience. The showhouse was a $7 million estate, and I was asked to decorate the largest room in the house. I filled it with Federal furnishings and window treatments with documented fabrics done to museum specifications. It all had to be done in a period of six weeks, so it was pretty frantic, but very exciting.

Q: Do you ever regret giving up both medicine and screenwriting for your interior design work?

A: Never. What I do feels extremely creative and gratifying. I get to spend time with my wife and my three kids, and at long last, I really appreciate what my parents introduced me to so many years ago. They were right after all - beautiful things are their own reward.