A personal highlight for me at IDS11 was talking with one of my favourite interior designers, Jane Lockhart. I first discovered Jane when she was one half of the design team on One House, Two Looks. More recently, Jane has been making the lives of homeowners more colourful on her W Network show, Colour Confidential. Her design work has appeared in numerous magazines, including Canadian Living, Style At Home, and Homes & Living. She’s also written two books, Room Recipes: Cooking Up Style With Colour and Paint: A Great Impression.
Jane was at the Gresham House Furniture booth during the IDS11 opening night gala where her new furniture line for Gresham was on display. I can vouch for the fact that it’s not only good looking, but comfortable too :-)
I was thrilled when Jane agreed to do an interview with me. So with no further ado, I bring you the colourful, talented, and very sweet Jane Lockhart…
You were just at the Interior Design Show in Toronto this weekend – have you recovered yet?
It was great to be there. It is a show with a lot of energy, and this gives me allot of energy.
Did you see any products or booths at the show that really caught your attention?
Loved the IKEA kitchen booth. Great ideas. And I really liked what Casey House did by having famous design professionals decorate chairs for auction. Really cool and for a good cause.
Panton chair designed by Jane for Casey House at IDS11 {Image via Style At Home}
There were a lot of famous Canadian designers at IDS. Is the Canadian design community close?
Yes, I would say we are. I admire many of my colleagues like Sarah Richardson and Steven & Chris.
Brandon Barré does photography for you. As an interior decorator or designer, how important is it to have your rooms photographed by a professional vs. taking them yourself for your portfolio?
This is absolutely critical. Our work needs to be properly showcased, which means great photos. It costs money, but it truly matters if you want to grow your business. Brandon is amazing and I love him to death! So talented!
How would you describe your design style?
I have very varied tastes and I design to what my client wants. However, I am very tailored overall and I like clever design. I am also rooted in the importance of history in the current context of design, so I always research problems by looking back in time to see how they were handled. (Obviously flat screen TVs are new but everything has been around before). And I really like good, solid, classic design that lasts.
What designers past and present inspire you?
Brian Gluckstein is someone who is inspiring. His design is clever and classic. Candice Olsen also has a very definite design style and I like to see her solutions to problems. But I like to go online and track designers from around the world that aren’t in residential design. Work in other industries always inspires me, such as industrial design and automotive design.
You’re on Twitter and have a Facebook page and a blog. How has social media affected how you do business and connect with people?
I like Twitter so that I can follow other designers and manufacturers. I learn a lot from listening to them. Designers are so smart and so resourceful, so I get inspired from these conversations.
I love the feature on your web site where you can see the steps in accessorizing a room…
What are your top five accessorizing tips?
1. Buy more than you need.
2. Never underestimate any retailer, as you never know what they might have.
3. Mix old and new items together.
4. Search the cupboards of your clients, as they often have good stuff.
5. Pillows can save any colour scheme!
Gresham House Furniture
How did your collaboration with Gresham House Furniture come about?
Marilyn and I are both completely random when we do stuff! We just like to experiment to see what happens, and that’s what we did here as we both really believe in the same things, so it was natural to simply try furniture together! And she makes all these pieces for us regularly, so it worked!
Can you tell me a bit about the philosophy behind your furniture line for Gresham – what sets it apart from other furniture lines?
I believe in classic lines, but styles that can be transformed by the fabric. Each piece is a chameleon and changes depending on the designer’s vision of it and the room in which it will be placed. These are ALL Canadian pieces and made with the BEST quality materials. They are sustainable and the fabric I chose for these particular pieces is meant to age or ‘patina’ gracefully. They are heirloom quality and meant to be part of someone’s life forever!
Heath with optional swivel base
Can you tell me a bit about your furniture designing process? Where do you start and how does the design evolve?
Comfort and proportions are super important to me when designing furniture. I personally don’t understand buying furniture for your home if it is not comfortable for you to sit on! I like making prototypes of pieces so that I can sit in them to see if they are right. It’s important that the sofa pitch and height are perfect. From there, comfort is flexible depending on the client. Some people like hard seating, others soft. My job is to provide those options so customers can have whatever they want.
How did you come up with the names of the furniture pieces in the Platinum Series?
Totally the hardest part! I wanted names that were classic and reflected the quality of the pieces, but that also feature Canadian names – “Heath” is named after Heath street in Toronto, and “Robson” is named after this famous street in Vancouver. Here’s a secret: ‘Manchester” is the name of our sofa because it’s really designed for the MAN of the house as THE SOFA for comfort and television watching!
The manly Manchester!
What inspired you to make a donation to WWF Canada from the sale of each piece from the Jane Lockhart Platinum Series? (I think this is a great idea!)
This is SOOOOOO important to me. I hate to take from nature and I hate to think of all the damage we do regularly to the environment. Because it continues to happen, I felt it was important to at least acknowledge that we are taking from our earth and try to give a little bit back. It may not be a lot, but every little bit helps {definitely!}. I hope more people do this in the future too, as we really can make a difference if we all do our part. {Click here to find out how you can donate to WWF Canada.}
Image via Nature’s Crusaders
Gresham is a Canadian company – how do you encourage your clients to buy Canadian products?
Buying Canadian is something we strongly stress to our clients. And most clients love the idea of purchasing from companies where items are made here. It’s important to show people that things are simply better quality when made here, and that they are more fully contributing to their city by purchasing Canadian products. Sometimes it’s difficult to find Canadian options, but we do what we can to give our client choices.
Jane on Colour
What does colour mean to you?
It’s a personal expression of someone’s inner soul.
How would you feel if you woke up tomorrow and could only see black & white?
I would feel pretty sad, but I still have my memories of colour! Very powerful.
You mentioned to me that you like to use colours that you’re familiar with because there won’t be any surprises once they’re on the wall. Can you share a few of your favourite go-to colours and why you like them?
I like the Benjamin Moore Designer Classics and Historical colours because they are “toned”, meaning they have grey in them. This helps them retain colour but not brightness. This is what I like, and think it’s a way to give over to colour without it being too unliveable in the long run.
Image via Benjamin Moore
What guidelines should a homeowner use when choosing a colour combination for a room? Where should they start and what factors need to be taken into consideration?
Think about what you own, what you want to feature, and what you are prepared to live with.
What’s the biggest misconception about colour that people have?
That it’s a life-long commitment!
What are your thoughts on Pantone’s colour of the year for 2011, Honeysuckle?
Nice but dangerous in the wrong hands! (It may be made into beige!)
Honeysuckle in Jane’s capable hands :-)
How important is colour in your life?
I love art with colour in it like red and orange. This gives me a lift every day! And I love flowers and grasses and their wonderful colours! They are a source of endless wonder for me.
Jane on TV
You did a dining room on One House Two Looks that inspired the paint colours for my dining room. Do you often hear from people who were inspired to decorate a room in their homes based on a room you designed?
Yes, designers often inspire people to try things in their homes they wouldn’t have tried otherwise. This is important to give people the confidence to do new things.
Sometimes on Colour Confidential, I worry about how the colours that the homeowners select will work together. Have you ever worked on a room where you were worried about how the colours would look, or are you confident that you can make any colour combination work?
There are no bad colour combinations....just bad designers who can’t make them work! But of course, there are colours that I don’t love and would never want myself – but if the homeowners love a certain colour combo, who am I to argue with them?
My favourite room from Colour Confidential is the New Orleans-inspired dining room/living room for Marijo & Andy. The homeowners looked totally blown away at the reveal. How do you feel when you see how excited the homeowners are with their new space?
This is the best but most stressful part. Of course, this is the same with all designers, as you always worry that the client or homeowner isn’t going to like what you have done. But it is very rewarding when they do like it, especially when you know they had to stretch their creativity to get there with you!
Are you still working on Colour Confidential? If not, do you have another TV show in the works?
New show in the works! I’m so fortunate to work with the people I do who are giving me another opportunity to inspire through television!
Just for fun…
- Ocean or mountains? Ocean
- Sports car or SUV? Station wagon
- Morning or evening? Evening
- Dogs or cats? I have both
- Steak or sushi? Neither
- Silver or gold? Prefer ‘gilver’
- Condo in the city or farmhouse in the country? Farmhouse.....most of the time
- Chocolate cake or apple pie? CAKE!!!
- Summer or winter? Summer for sure!!!
- A good book or a good movie? An exceptional movie otherwise it’s a good book any day!
If you’re a fan of Jane’s work, you can vote for her in the HGTVpro.com 2011 NKBA Design Competition People’s Pick Awards. Jane is in the final 12 with this beautiful Contemporary Vintage kitchen. Click here to check it out and cast your vote!
A huge thank you to Jane for taking the time to do this interview with me :-) I love her even more now that I did before!
* Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a beautiful horse photograph by Diane Schuller. Click here for all the details. *
If you want your home to reflect who you are and what you love, drop me a line for an in-person or online consultation.
Unless otherwise noted, all images from Jane Lockhart Interior Design
To read my interview with Brandon Barré, click here.
Bree Oliver, A Paddington Perspective
Image via Things That Inspire
Image via OnSugar
Image via Things That Inspire 
Image via Shima Studios
