We recently connected with Jennifer Rhode and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jennifer, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I have always been a “nester.” As a child, I spent countless hours designing and laying out the rooms in my dollhouse and thinking about the needs of the little stuffed mice who lived there. Throughout my life, I have never been able to focus on classes or a new job or a new city until I sorted out my space. It just took me forty years to officially begin working with interiors.
In my twenties, I left my home state of California for New York City and started my career in fashion and design at Calvin Klein Inc. From there, I became a wardrobe stylist for print shoots, TV shows and TV commercials. A move back to San Francisco enabled me to work as a window stylist for Banana Republic. Designing and styling the Banana windows felt like working in a life size dollhouse… I was right back to my childhood roots. From San Francisco, I moved to Amsterdam where I remodeled our apartment and had two babies. I was really enamored by the innovative ways the Dutch architects and designers melded buildings erected hundreds of years ago with clean, modern interiors so when I was ready to go back to work, I decided to pursue interiors, rather than apparel. In many ways, clothing and furnishings are quite similar, just on a different scale… taps and lighting fixtures are like the shoes and handbags of an outfit. I officially started my interior design business seven years ago.
Some aspects of designing spaces is just intuitive and about collecting pieces that feel good together… something I’ve been doing my whole life. But laying out interior spaces is also technical. I started bumping up against this issue as I took on bigger projects and ultimately decided to enroll in design school (I was previously self-taught) to learn AutoCAD and other programs so I could make accurate drawings. I am a complete luddite so this was pretty challenging (and humbling!) for me. Fortunately, I had an amazing teacher and terrific classmates to support me and I am so grateful for this learning.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I have an interior design business based out of Boulder, Colorado. I work on both residential and commercial projects. For me, the inspiration for every project starts with the people who are going to be living or working there. I really work with my clients to design warm, personal spaces that reflect their loves and interests. I want to showcase their heritage pieces, their children’s art, their family photos, whatever is important to them. Ultimately, I want the home to tell the stories and be representative of the family who occupies it. At the same time, I try to create highly edited, modern spaces that are calm and give the eye places to rest. One of my favorite takeaways from my time living in the Netherlands is the concept of “gezellig,” the Dutch word for coziness. When we returned to the states I wanted to create my own “modern gezellig” in my family home and now in the homes of my clients.
In addition to my design business I have a blog: https://www.jenniferrhode.com/
We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.
I don’t have a business partner per se, but I do have a whole host of people I rely on (and am super grateful for) who support my business. I began collecting these people pretty early on as I needed help with one thing or another. I don’t know what I would do without my accountant, who has become a dear friend, or the vendors I continually return to for plumbing or lighting or furniture for each project or my favorite photographer who shoots my work or the local artists who create beautiful pieces for my projects or the various builders who have brought my ideas to fruition and of course, my clients who continually inspire me. I have been very lucky to work with super talented, dedicated partners. Seven years in, I am still constantly learning from this ever expanding team of people, which is so rewarding.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I love when things feel balanced: a modern space that is warm and inviting, as well as minimal and simple, bright colors and bold patterns mixed in with quiet moments, antiques paired with streamlined pieces, items with personal meaning in the mix with something new. This balanced dichotomy give spaces intriguing contrast, depth and texture. Feeling calm and joyous in my home has always been important to me so my goal is to help create interiors for my clients that also elicit that response. I want my clients to feel nestled and peaceful and represented in their homes, successfully creating those kinds of spaces fills my heart.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jenniferrhode.com/about
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferrhode/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenniferrhodedesign
- Other: blog: https://www.jenniferrhode.com/blog
Image Credits
personal photo: Jessica Braun interior photos: Heather Knierim of HBK Photography