This talented and successful “designing woman” takes it all in stride, however, as she shuttles between her Hudson headquarters and New York City on a weekly basis, providing interior design expertise and general contracting services to clients in Northeast Ohio and on the East Coast.

For Rachael Ray, whose program premiered locally in September on NBC’s
WKYC-TV 3, Bayer decorated seven areas: the studio entrance, art department, “green room,” make-up and dressing rooms, the audience area, and Rachael Ray’s office. The show is being billed as “an exciting and unpredictable hour of fun which celebrates the can-do spirit in every person and gives viewers the essentials for whole-hearted living.”

The vivacious and ebullient Ray has enjoyed nationwide popularity for her shows on the Food Network,
“30-Minute Meals” and
“$40 a Day,” among others. She also has published several cookbooks and the magazine, “Everyday with Rachael Ray.”

Bayer said that Ray provided valuable input for the set designs. “We knew that Rachael loves bright colors, especially orange and yellow. Using her logo as a guide, we implemented the same thoughts to the set design. Rachael was very involved in selecting everything,” Bayer said, adding, “She loved everything that I did: the colors, the paint, the window treatments and the furniture.”

Bayer, who attended a taping of the show along with her mother, Bettie, enjoyed meeting the gregarious Ray. “She’s funny as can be, and involves the audience in everything.” Indeed, the studio audience is seated on a massive turntable, which rotates to follow Ray as she moves about the set, her home away from home. Ray’s passion for food permeates the program, which includes cooking segments, recipe-swaps with celebrity guests, frequent audience snacks, and Ray playfully urging her viewers to “Go raid the “fridge!” during commercial breaks.

For Inside Edition, Bayer designed five distinct interview sets, which included furniture, accessories, set backdrops and painting, with themes ranging from contemporary-traditional blends to a New York hotel-design style, with artwork complementing the character of each set concept. Inside Edition, on CBS’s WOIO-TV 19, just began its 19th season, and has received honors as television’s top-rated syndicated newsmagazine.

Bayer consulted with the show’s producers on the set designs, taking into consideration lighting and interview subjects. Bayer shared, “They do five interviews per day, each on a different set. The sets are really backdrops, which are alternated for each interview.”

She said the choice of set often depends on the person being interviewed. Her maxim: “Don’t make the set more elaborate than the interview. The focus should be on the interviewer and the interviewee, not the set itself.” With regard to lighting, Bayer painted the rooms one color, which allowed the lighting and camera crews “to work their magic” in creating the desired ambience.

Pamela Bayer Interiors (PBI) originated on the East Coast in 1994, and specializes in residential, corporate and industrial interior design and general contracting projects, from traditional to contemporary, and serves clients in New York, New Jersey, and Northeast Ohio. She has designed interiors for mega-homes and vacation retreats, high-rise apartments and condos in New York City, in addition to historical restoration, as well as restaurants.

Bayer moved her company’s headquarters to Hudson in 2005, when her husband Ralph took a job at Hudson-based Graphic Communications. Bayer still maintains an office in Stockholm, N.J., and divides her time between the two, alternating weeks in Hudson and New York, where most of her family lives, including her parents, siblings, and son Dylan, 24.

Bayer enjoys Hudson, where she and Ralph reside in a century-old barn, which they completely restored and renovated (featured in our January 2006 issue). “It’s an old barn on the outside, but a modern New York City loft on the inside,” she said.

Bayer’s office and design studio are in the completely renovated stables close by. Pamela Bayer Interiors also donates design services to civic and community causes, most recently the Designer ShowHouse 2006, as well as to nonprofit groups and charitable organizations. She is a leading design resource and often is consulted by local media in matters of interior design.

The exposure the television projects may lead to more broadcast set design and recognition. One prominent media celebrity, Robin Quivers of the Howard Stern radio program, was so taken with Bayer’s style when she purchased the multi-million-dollar home of a Bayer client on Long Beach Island, she bought it all, lock, stock and barrel: furnishings, accessories, artwork and dinnerware.

While Bayer may be “interior designer to the stars,” Hudson, Ohio, remains her home base. “I love it here. I love the area. It’s the best of both worlds.” To learn more about PBI, visit her Web site at pamelabayer.com.