We had the opportunity to interview Jenny Brown and the Q & A follows:
Q: In your opinion what is the future of antiques in design?
I believe the antiques market is returning to its former glory with the current interest in sustainability, proliferation of cheaply made furniture abroad and renewed love of granny chic traditional design championed especially by "grand-millennial" young designers and influencers with social media savvy.
It's not that all new furniture isn't made well but the good stuff often costs a small fortune. There is a finite amount of antiques in the market and scarcity sells, though with the unprecedented access to dealers and auctions the internet affords, I'm not sure if prices will ever skyrocket to the heyday of the 80s and 90s. I always incorporate at least a few antiques and vintage pieces into every room - they don't need to be fussy but add style and soul.
Q: How long have you been shopping at Antique Resources?
I discovered Antique Resources when I started my own business in 2010 and was looking for local sources for antiques. Chicago used to have a thriving antiques district but the shops have slowly shuttered. I am happy to see the ones that have survived and embraced the online marketplace while maintaining their brick and mortar like Antique Resources. While I often source antiques online and abroad I always prefer seeing them in person and supporting local businesses. And it's exciting to see new shops opening in the city.
Q: What do you start with when designing a room?
While clients don't always know what they like, they are quite clear on what they don't like so we often back into design this way. I will bring a few of my favorite favorite schemes and we will jump off from there. I am also happy to look at clients' inspiration and inventory.
One client was knocking down her house to build a new one and when we went through to do an inventory I found a beautiful antique needlepoint rug she had splurged on in her 20's and was storing in a cedar closet in her basement. This became a starting point for the design of her new living room. I am very nostalgic and love to reuse treasured items and reference other rooms that have meaning to the client.
In one client's kitchen we were planning on white walls and were considering grasscloth or beadboard but ended up doing a custom vertical siding that mimicked the walls in our client's grandparents kitchen and it turned out beautifully.
Q: How long did it take to design the room for the Showhouse?
When I was assigned the bedroom my first call was to Schumacher to see if they had enough of the poppy curtain fabric. I have loved the Joni Chintz since I first received the swatch - it had the crisp, bright colors that remind me of the fabrics favored by my grandmother and her friends in the 60s and 70s - very Billy Baldwin.
Once I secured the fabrics, I throw on my blinders and tried to avoid distractions and the overwhelm of options. I was trying to figure out what to put on the walls and was reminded of the Dufour Stripe carried at Wells Abbot and when I put the two together they coordinated beautifully.
I tried to fill the room with only furnishings and objects that I absolutely loved, to ensure it was a true reflection of my taste and style and using this quite honestly as the directive for all of my projects. Many of the pieces came from my small inventory- I heard years ago that Inventory can be the "death of decorators" and have resisted, thus far, getting a storage locker, though admittedly have quite a few lamps, tables and chairs in my office that I simply could not resist.
But back to your question- I am not the kind of designer who makes all the decisions all at once, I like the design to evolve organically and over time, each decision informing the next. I believe I was assigned the room mid-December and we were tweaking the design until it was photographed in late April - so around four months.
Q: How long have you been participating in the Showhouse?
This is my first one since starting my own business in 2010!
Q: Future plans?
We'll see but right now I'm getting back to business. I did a huge clean out of my office at the end of the Showhouse - it is still overflowing with fabrics and carpets but I had papers and plans from projects I hadn't touched in a decade. It felt great getting rid of these things inadvertently and literally cluttering up my space and mind to make room for whatever the future holds.
Q: How do you manage to get an outfit that matches your project?
My whole matching series started on a whim a couple of years ago. I had been photographing my colorful outfits for my Insta stories and my inspiration. From a vibrant mix of construction signs to a garden of flowers to an assortment of shampoo bottles in my shower there are so many unexpected and beautiful color combinations we see everyday and it was fun interpreting using the proliferation of colorful clothes in my closet.
Usually I would just take the photos standing in front of a full length mirror but we were staying at a rental with a fabulous lattice wallpaper that looked great with a vintage lilly pulitzer dress. I took a selfie and posted it to my Instagram feed and received such immediate and positive feedback that I did it all over our summer community for a month and then continued it when I returned home. It is fun and funny for me to do. Sometimes it is planned but oftentimes just a coincidence. I've rarely bought anything to intentionally match and had actually not been posting as much leading up to the showhouse.
A few weeks before the Showhouse opened, I was in Naples with my family over spring break and my mother-in-law and I ran into a friend at a local antique store. She is on the board of the Infant Welfare and asked how it was going for the Showhouse and then said: we are all very excited to see what you are going to wear! I had been looking but had not purchased anything and I realized that I needed to GET ON IT. We ran to about six stores and found the PERFECT dress from Cara Cara in my size at Saks. The only one they had left. It was so fun to wear it in my room- I was practically camouflaged when I sat on the window sill and people would get startled when they noticed me. I love design and shopping and museums and estate sales and want to spread the beauty and joy and fun when and where I find it.
