As part of an on-going series on the journal I am profiling some of the interior designers whose work I admire, and who have used my products and patterns so beautifully. I find it so inspiring to see how these wonderfully talented designers use my wallpapers and fabrics in their own unique way and with such unexpected combinations. I am hoping that they will inspire you and give ideas of how you can incorporate pattern into your own home.

Oak Tree in Darkness wallpaper at The Reserve in Westown. Photo by Daniel Jackson

I first met Eileen of Eileen Tognini Designs many years ago, the first time I exhibited at ICFF in New York in 2012 and Eileen had just launched her design studio in Philadelphia.

Long before she started Eileen Tognini Designs, Eileen had a love for interiors. Her father was an artist and her mother a clothing designer so creativity was in her DNA “My earliest memories are of incessantly rearranging my bedroom furniture in the middle of the night, insisting on teal shag rugs and being convinced that pasting a vibrant printed bedsheet to my walls was a good idea. (Which surely made the Mother of 12 year- old me go a little crazy). It was likely the first sign of my curiosity for creating spaces,” says Eileen. With a corporate interlude, running a software company, Eileen then worked for a Landscape Architecture firm before she began a decade long project curating a Sculpture Garden at her 175 year old farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania, whilst also curating other large scale exhibitions before her interior design studio was born.

Oak Tree in White wallpaper at The Reserve in Westown. Photo by Daniel Jackson

Eileen defines herself as a Curator Collaborator Innovator with a focus on an art-centric, handmade approach to commercial projects working closely with local Artists and Makers. Her studio focuses on the communal areas of urban, multi-family buildings that range in size from 180 to 400 units. Bringing her philosophy to life with the spaces she designs, Eileen creates comfortable, sensory environments, where people feel at home. “Creating space is storytelling, plain and simple. Creating a narrative built on an experience you wish people to have when they walk into the space is our guiding principle,” says Eileen.

Brambleweb at Dusk wallpaper at The Reserve in Westown. Photo by Daniel Jackson

Eileen really appreciated the importance of choosing a pattern. She says “Patterns and textures are a part of the story that is being crafted and enrich the interaction people will have to the space. I consider wall coverings as art, and as an interpretive design element- telling the story in a very impactful gesture. Indeed, I think of wallpaper as more than simply a pattern. I feel just as strongly about texture and how texture suggests an emotional response. Speaking of texture in the context of wall covering pattern… I may love a pattern I have seen, typically on-line, but if the texture of the substrate it is printed on does not complement the design, or express a certain authenticity “in the hand”, we will not use it. The handmade quality of Abigail’s work is precisely the convergence of art and craft.”

The Amenity Clubhouse at The Reserve in Westown, (shown here) was built on an old farm. As a nod to its former life, its ethos, was to be that of a modern farmhouse. “I envisioned the trees and the brambles that might have existed on the property perimeter. While there is an illustrative sensibility about Abigail’s work, there is also a fairy tale quality that resonates; a simplicity in its design, yet a complexity in the memories that the illustrations evoke. I have always adored the small, restrained notes of burnished gold in Abigail’s wall coverings, considering them as punctuations of quiet elegance. I was thrilled to have found Abigail’s work many years ago, and her work has stayed with me awaiting the perfect project. I would say, The Reserve was indeed the perfect project,” says Eileen.

Eileen is currently working on multiple large multifamily projects as well as several other inspiring projects including a restaurant/inn in a Victorian property. “Fortunately there are plenty of stories yet to be told,” she says.

To see more of Eileen Tognin Design’s beautiful projects have a look at her website

Interior Designer: Eileen Tognini Design