Interior Designer: Rebel House Design
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, with such unexpected combinations in their own unique way. I am hoping that this will also inspire you and give you ideas of how pattern can be incorporated into your own home.
Seascape in Summer in Rebel House Design’s Melrose Avenue project. Photography: Ryan McDonald
Today I am talking to Marli Jones co-founder of Chicago based interior design studio Rebel House Design. Marli grew up in a very creative home, both her parents are Realist painters, the art world was a natural environment to her, but her interests had always veered towards, more practical art forms, texture, structure, architecture, and design. “I would fill notebooks with magazine clippings and build model houses as a kid. I originally thought I wanted to be an architect. I still get a lot of laughs when my childhood neighbour friends recall me drawing life-size (or child-size) floor plans for each of them on their respective driveways,” remembers Marli.
She went on to do a BA in Fine Art and American Studies, then pursued a master’s in architecture and design and interned at several architects firms. Marli then switched over to interiors and worked with a series of interior designers in San Francisco, before taking a job back in her home city Chicago designing boutique hotels. Once there she was inundated with requests to design residential projects so Rebel House Design was born.
This was 2015, and like many of us when starting a business, Marli initially ran the company on her own from her dining room table. “The dining table years were fun and challenging – eventually I also had design assistants, who worked around the table in my personal home. We’d make lunch in my kitchen, and I had a pantry full of design samples. We grew to the point of needing office space, moving to larger offices twice, but the dining table has always come with me - and now is my desk in my private office,” she says.
Seascape in Summer in Rebel House Design’s Melrose Avenue project. Photography: Ryan McDonald
Rebel House Design are intentionally minimal in their execution. “Design elements need to have a purpose. That said, I love fine details (probably because of my exposure to Realist art growing up). I go crazy for intricate line work on a wall covering or fabric, and I adore carvings in millwork. I appreciate craftsmanship. From there, we always need a rebellious element. Something that turns your head and makes you look twice. I am not a flashy person, but I adore the rush of little surprises - personal moments that make a space fun and unique to its inhabitants” says Marli.
When designing a child’s bedroom within a house for a family of five, Marli suggested Seascape wallpaper in Summer. “Once the family set their eyes on it, they were sold. It became the foundation for a fun, but still sophisticated kid’s room. We love the subtle energy the pattern gives the space and the client agreed that it would age well with their young son,” she says.
Marli Jones of Rebel House Design. Photography: Vince DeSantiago
If you would like to see more of Rebel House Design’s work check out their website and Instagram.