the heart of the home

PARTNERING COLOR AND PATTERN by laurie lamountain

When she was in her 20s, Janine Dowling already felt interior design would be her second career. At the time she was using her master’s degree in social work as a couple and family therapist in Boston, but when the agency she was working for merged three times in three years, she realized it no longer aligned with her reasons for going into social work. In addition, she felt her work lacked creativity. She started taking continuing ed classes in interior design at night.

“It was like a fire just ignited in my brain. I would go home after every class and I’d fall asleep and dream and have these vivid, colorful, three-dimensional dreams about whatever I was learning.”

She did some research and discovered that Boston Architectural College (BAC) specializes in night classes to accommodate those with day jobs. Then in her 30s, when offered a position as a design assistant at Wells and Fox Interiors and a job as a paralegal in a divorce mediation firm on the very same day, she decided to take the leap. Janine took the position with Wells and Fox and started at BAC three months later, completing her certificate in interior design and sustainable design at night.

“Those little serendipitous things that keep coming up when you go to school and learn on the job at the same time, they mutually layer the building blocks,” observes Janine.

After completing the BAC program, she was asked to teach courses there, beginning with Introduction to Interior Design and most recently an Advanced Studio in Interior Design.

Seven years ago, Janine made the decision to slowly transition from senior designer at Wells and Fox Interiors to owner of Janine Dowling Interior Design. Heather Wells (now Heather Wells, Inc.) was both encouraging and accommodating throughout the three months it took Janine to establish herself.

“Whole house interiors have consistently been my sweet spot. With the jobs we’d get with Heather, sometimes we’d start with plans. Or we’d start when it was just framed, so having that experience to see how full interiors come together—kitchens, bathrooms, trim, molding, hardware, lighting—and then having the ability to impact what’s on the walls with the soft interiors.”

Her client and project management experience as a therapist, advantages that Wells recognized thirteen years earlier, have been invaluable in building Janine Dowling Interior Design. She credits them with giving her the ability to read behaviors and ask questions and listen deeply to her clients. Because it produces such an emotional response, color is a key component. It provides the means for her to develop the emotional mood of each project in a way that reflects her clients’ personalities. Partnering color and pattern to reflect her clients’ personalities is where Janine excels.

“Knowing how far to push color theory and understanding the psychological impact of color in general and then on a client. There are some clients who maybe are more internally charged,

This client loves layers of pattern and color and especially loves bright colors. The palette was based on the colors in the drapes – blue, salmon and green – and informed every other color. The drapery fabric is by Sister Parish, a designer historically known for layers of pattern and colors. I call fabrics that have the full color palette “connector” fabrics, as they are the key that unifies a diverse color scheme. They harmonize everything. Clients who love a mix of color and pattern still benefit from harmony.

that if you gave them a serene, soothing room it agitates them. I have to give them a more charged environment and then they calm down. That’s where my background in understanding psychology and what makes people tick, marrying that with interior design, I think it helps bring forth the emotional mood and I really do try to capture the right emotional mood. And then it’s also attractive, pretty and functions well, but I do like paying attention to that.”

But she’s quick to add that it doesn’t matter how beautiful it is if it doesn’t function. Janine begins by sketching out a floor plan and identifying how the client wants to function in their home. Understanding and listening deeply to how they live and use a space is essential to her process.

Then there’s regionality. Having designed interiors all over the country, Janine is mindful of the fact that every region has a different feel to it. Being on a lake as opposed to the ocean is really significant. And a Victorian row house in Boston is about as far as you can get from a log home on a lake in Maine, both of which she lives in. Personally, she prefers a transitional style because it feels more timeless. She loves mixing interesting vintage or antique pieces—like arts and crafts with mid-century modern. In Maine, she has created an interior that feels soothing and energizing at the same time. For her Boston row house, she used a softer, more subtle palette and curves to contrast with the more linear architectural details of an 1880 Victorian.

When it comes to her clients, however, she doesn’t have a preferred style because every client is different.

“I am not my project. They’re the client and it’s my job to figure out their best style and to educate, rather than dictate. I always try to get their story and educate them on the pros and cons of using x,y, z. Because it is their house—they are the client—and I really want them to find out who they are in their home.”

This client loves a modern style with pops of color. Once again, you see the “connector” fabric in the pillows. These colors have higher contrast and are considered a triad on the color wheel. There is more energy and vibration between colors that are farther apart on the color wheel than colors right next door. When clients like their room to be more energizing, introducing colors that have more contrast, while low in pattern, is a way to go. A bright color palette also makes a modern style feel warmer than the typical stark colors.

This condo living room not only needed to function for three generations, but also for a family member in a wheel chair. Coordinating the colors of the textiles with the artwork creates a sense of modern energy. Fabrics were chosen to withstand grandkids and a dog. The oval ottoman is faux leather and on wheels. The angles in the sectional mimic the walls of the room. The sectional itself provides enough seating for the whole family, without sacrificing space or style.

She points out that one of the toughest parts of doing traditional projects is that the market has changed for product and there are fewer fabric houses making traditional fabrics. To be equally creative in a truly traditional environment that’s inspired by classic English or French design, which is what we do in New England, is getting more difficult because they’re simply not making the fabrics or trim anymore. Then there’s texture to consider.

“Texture makes a huge impact when the seasons change so rapidly. In New England, no matter what the client wants it to look like, the fabrics need to have a certain consistency to them. And it needs to be flexible, so it doesn’t feel cold in the winter and hot in the summer, and it wears well with kids, dogs and wet bathing suit bottoms.”

Mixing patterns in a narrow color palette offers clients ways to create energy without a lot of different colors. Blues and coral with a neutral of soft beige set the tone. Then, the diverse patterns provide a transitional contrast in the drapes, rug, pillows and chair. This provides energy in a softer way to a room.

Whether it’s interior design, architectural interiors, a new home consultation or a paint color consultation, Janine makes no distinction between her clients. She is who she is with every single client and they all get 100% of her. The result is a very diverse portfolio.

“When you look at my portfolio every project is really different, but I think they all have a similar emotional feel; there is a calmness that comes forth. No matter what style you’re working with, if you use good scale and proportion and pay attention to color theory, that’s where the calmness comes from. The Greeks and Romans figured all that out a few thousand years ago and when we stick to those true design elements, it doesn’t matter what style it is.” R To view more of her work, visit janinedowling.com or find her on Facebook and Instagram.