PROFILE
Delivering A Trusted Vision
JEN DALLAS | BY HELÉNE RAMACKERS
Finding her career path early in life has ensured that interior designer Jen Dallas loves what she does, delivering a trusted vision to her clients. Jen, tell us a bit about yourself. I have lived in LA for over 20 years and am originally from Chicago. I am an interior designer and have my own studio, Jen Dallas Interiors. We mainly do residential work from remodeling a home to ground up construction. I love what I do and am grateful I found my career path early in my life. My studio recently ventured into product design and launched Maple Jude & Co., a lifestyle shop for the home. We have our own line of textiles and ceramic tiles. We are going to launch our own wallpaper line in the Spring of 2023. I also recently launched my first lighting collection, which is very exciting! Did you have an influence in your youth that shaped your career path? My parents were both very encouraging of being creative and thinking outside the box. I was brought up being around a lot of artists and creative people. Being a child of the 70s was such an amazing time to be a kid. I took so many art classes and had amazing teachers that always encouraged my creativity too. When did you start your firm, Jen Dallas Interiors? I started my interior design studio in 2008, a year after my son was born. I always say he was my good luck charm that pushed me to do it. I had always dreamed of my own business. Being a new mom, I started it so I could have more to be with my son and have never looked back.
What and who inspires you? I am inspired by good design. Anything from a toaster to a design of a car to the colors of a flower. For a creative person, we see inspiration everywhere. I love going to people’s homes. I find it fascinating to see how people live and what collections they have and what story their homes tell me. I am inspired by how vintage, and antiques can add character to a home. It will instantly add a layer that a new home needs to allow it to feel livable and comfortable. That inspires me. Do you have a signature style when it comes to interior design for clients? I find that my own style is edited and clean. I always pay special attention to the architecture and how that follows into the interior. I have classical training and love that to melt into a modern sensibility. I love functional spaces that are beautiful and inspire the people that live there. When working with clients, how do you persuade them to see your vision without it coming across like it’s your idea? I try to convey my vision in such a way that it assists my clients to see it. I am old school and still sketch my ideas out for clients. When my clients get excited about the ideas and even start to own the ideas as their own, then I have done a good job. What are / have been the biggest challenges in your career? I don’t think of life like that; challenges are just things to move through and figure out how to shift so things work out better. When you face a challenge, it just means something isn’t work-
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ing out as well as it could, and life takes over to make it better for everyone involved. Important lessons along the way? Being selective in the jobs I choose to do. Not trying to be everything to everyone. Staying strong in my abilities and choosing clients that I can serve and be proud of what we accomplish together. The favorite part of your job? Sharing my vision with my client who trusts me to deliver it. When we are installing it and they see the vision we have discussed for months or even sometimes years and get excited about the final product. Talk us through a timeless interior design style. Timeless is a comfort and a confidence that a home or a room conveys when it completed the architecture perfectly. It is a use of color that feels fresh and doesn’t overtake the room or home. The materials used from the flooring, molding selections, counter tops, tile and fabrics are quality and are made to test time. For me, timeless design is when one room flows into the other flawlessly and is married with the architecture. Where it feels like it has always been that way and will still look good years from now. Is there a right and wrong when it comes to decorating? Please explain. There are rules that work when decorating, and scale is very important in that application. Scale and proportion are a huge consideration when designing spaces. I love when a room feels to scale and not overdone. Positive and negative
