Phoebe Howard, a self-taught designer and home furnishings retailer, is one of the South’s leading experts on new traditional style. For more than a decade she has fashioned chic solutions to common decorating dilemmas through her close work with clients. In the 1990s Phoebe and her husband Jim Howard established Mrs. Howard in Jacksonville, Florida, a complete home decorating source offering in-stock and custom upholstery, case goods, antiques, lighting, linens and more. Its sister store, Max & Company, named after their son, features a more relaxed approach to decorating. The Howards have expanded their business to Atlanta and Charlotte, where Phoebe is a high-profile decorator who has produced spreads for numerous magazines as her own work receives coverage in the national press. Mrs. Howard’s distinctive look is classic, deeply rooted in tradition yet fresh. The enormous success of her business is proof of her wide appeal to consumers. Her first book, The Joy of Decorating, launches Spring 2012.