Picture opening a door and being struck by the new tone across the threshold. It takes an artist’s honed senses to understand the whys and wherefores that make that tone resonate.
Evansville native Tay Ruthenburg feels he simply was born with a capacity to understand what makes a space what it is — beautiful, pleasing, grand, comforting, and/or inspiring. It was a circuitous path, however, that established him to become the interior designer he is and owner of Evaline Karges Interiors. After 35 years, he is winding down the business.
Ruthenburg, a graduate of Benjamin Bosse High School, attended Butler University in Indianapolis for English. As a senior, he occasionally would substitute teach at a nearby parochial school, an experience that led to a post-grad offer for employment. “That was a great experience. I sort of cloistered myself with the nuns and the priest for a few years there,” he shares.
That time for reflection propelled Ruthenburg’s next step: attending the New York School of Interior Design. Finishing the program, he next set his sights on Chicago, Illinois. While home visiting one weekend, longtime family friend Beth Karges Storm suggested he offer his help to her grandmother, Evaline Karges, who was inordinately busy and needed assistance.
Evaline was the well-respected owner of Evaline Karges Interiors and a member of the Karges Furniture family. Her artistry was unmistakable through the high-quality elements and discerning eye she used in decorating some of the Midwest’s finest homes.
A bond forged quickly between Ruthenburg and Evaline, who, with her daughter Caroline, offered the young designer high-level, real-life experience to apply his talent and design education. As Evaline, then Caroline, retired, Ruthenburg purchased the business in 1989.
Early on, the designer established homes in Chicago and Evansville. In the Windy City, he has worked decades at a prominent commerce bank’s headquarters that offers a large showcase for his design. Ruthenburg is known for creating aesthetic balance with color, textures, size, and light. His clients rely on his eye for English and Continental antiques and high-quality goods, as well as the ways he balances traditional with contemporary, combines clean lines with ornate, and takes the time to understand everyone’s needs and goals.
Design work is collaborative and develops strong understandings, often binding friendships. “I’ve been able to work with as many as four generations of one family. One client, I’ve had six projects across the country,” Ruthenburg says.
Project locations extend as far as Mexico and the West Coast for residences, private clubs, a Midwest university president’s home, new builds, renovations, and remodels.
One of the greatest assets the designer brings is highly skilled contractors that he finds unique to the Evansville area. It was while he was working on a new residence in Florida when he fully realized what Southwestern Indiana uniquely offers.
“… (It’s) this German community where these people are such committed craftsmen,” he puts it.
A man of appreciation, Ruthenburg knows he is supported by the best.
“I am so blessed to have had such a strong and talented group of people throughout the years with whom to work,” he says. That select group includes architects, drafts-people, contractors, painters, upholsterers, cabinet-makers, carpet and tile installers, electricians, plumbers, drapery workrooms, drapery and window treatment installers, and art framers.
“I call his style classic with a contemporary flair,” says Nancy Gaunt, whose 1950s, ranch-style home styled by Ruthenburg was featured in May/June 2005 Evansville Living. “Importantly, he always wants his work to reflect the client, their interests, their families, their passions, their travels.”
As he retires from Evaline Karges Interiors and leans into consulting work, Ruthenburg now lives exclusively in Evansville between his frequent travels.
