Jackson Free Press

"If you believe you can fly, you can fly." This was the mantra of the choreo-grapher who taught Erik Kegler to fly. During his former career as a dancer, Kegler debuted in Cincinnati as the first male Peter Pan. Just before the opening performance, while waiting with wires attached for his inaugural high flight through the rafters of the theater, Kegler was nervous, but he had a life-changing epiphany. "This is going to be great," he remembers saying to himself. "It is not about being perfect. It is about taking the risk. It is about flying."

Kegler, 43, has been flying ever since. He soared through his professional dance career, which culminated with several international Public Broadcasting Service dance movies, such as "Dance at the Imperial Palace," before he retired. Then, Kegler decided to become an interior designer.

After graduating from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in Palm Beach, Fla., Kegler joined the firm of noted interior designer Jack Phillips, who became not only Kegler's boss, but also his design mentor. "I was so blessed to work with Jack. I learned a lot about the principles of design, but also so much about life and the practice of design," Kegler says.

"Jack taught me not to hate anything that a client may have. I still incorporate that in my design work today."

Kegler, a native upstate New Yorker who now considers himself a Jacksonian, flew to Jackson 16 years ago and started a design business, Erik Jason Interiors, and he loves his life and his work here.

"Mississippians and Jacksonians appreciate the little things, the special and beautiful things, old things, doing things well," Kegler says. He immensely enjoys working with clients' often-inherited items to create just the right mix in their homes.

"I want the homes I design in Jackson and everywhere to be about positive energy, to be about having a good life surrounded by things that are you, not about just having stuff in your house," Kegler says. "I will tell my client, 'Let's add this fantastic sofa because you love it, because it reflects you, not because I say it is the sofa you must have.'"

Kegler's Northside Drive home has been a work in process for the last few years. He and his partner, Brennan Hovell, have gutted, reroofed, reworked and retooled the home. It is a luscious and inviting mix of styles, textiles, art and modern upbeat colors, and it possesses exactly that good energy that Kegler touts. It is authentic, collected and happy, like Kegler. He is still flying. He takes a few risks, but he is not afraid.

Visit erikjasoninteriors.com to see Kegler's work.