Chip: It’s also like, don’t worry about it. Don’t be so freaked out that what inspires you isn’t what inspires your eight buddies that are sitting next to you.
Joanna: We’re all so focused on what is inspiring everybody else. It goes back to the trends of things. We get all caught up in it, and then we pretend we’re inspired by it, but really we’re all just acting. It’s better to just own it. Love what you love. That’s the whole point of what I do at home. I like the farmhouse look. If you like black walls, then paint your walls black and own that. Don’t look in magazines and get inspired by what everyone’s doing with the new shade of teal. I think it’s the same thing with lifestyle. If this inspires you, and it’s not the latest trend, guess what? You’re gonna be above and kind of ahead of everybody else because you’re sticking with your gut. I think as a society, we’re all scared to stick with our gut because we wonder, What are people gonna think? Am I gonna look like the oddball? Well, those oddballs are the people that typically change the world—the ones that are going with their gut and not going with the next trend. I think that’s why we love the farm. It’s because we finally settled in this place of, “This is what inspired us from the beginning.” It’s what inspired Chip as a young kid. It’s what inspired me as a young girl, in my daydreaming. This isn’t a lifestyle we’re trying to push on people. It’s just more the idea of finding what it is you love and what inspires you, and stick with it.
ON FINDING A SENSE OF STYLE>>>
Mark: Are there projects that take you really far away from your own design sensibilities?
Joanna: What I struggle with the most are the clients who say, “I want what you did on this other house!” I try to say, “Well, let’s do something different.” “No, no, no,” they’ll say. “I want that exact same specific style.” So sometimes I have to figure out what it is they really liked about something I’ve done in the past. I want to give that to them because, honestly, it’s their money, it’s their investment. So if they want white subway tile I’ve got to give them what they want. I think that’s the unique spot I’m in as a designer—it’s client-driven. So I’m trying to give the client what they want, while also challenging them from a design standpoint. But any time I can get a modern style house or a ranch or something that’s far from my comfort zone it’s fun because I like to do all kinds of spaces. I’m not limited to just the white farmhouse. I think right now it’s kind of a trend. You start seeing these farmhouse styles everywhere. But at some point people are gonna get tired of farmhouses. I won’t, because that’s what resonates well with me, because I’m not a trendy person. But people who are, they’re kind of falling into that “I want the all-white” thing. So I’m just trying to balance that, as a designer, for these people, going, “Hey, let’s stick with this. It’s timeless. But then let’s try something new, too.” I think that’s what you see on the show. There’s a lot of a similar look, but basically that’s because it’s client-driven.
I think my real “style” is mixing old with new. You look around, and you see a lot of new elements in the house, but blended with old antique pieces or whatever, so that the blend feels comfortable. A lot of these houses I see are brand-new everything and it feels somewhat stale. Then a lot of these houses are all antique and it seems a little bit stuffy inside. There’s this perfect place where new and old meet, and that’s the balance I like.
Mark: You weren’t trained in design. How did you come to a place of being confident enough in what you’re doing to be able to share it with other people?
Joanna: Well, I was quiet. I didn’t become a great designer because it was instinctively in me. I didn’t grow up loving it. I didn’t have a class on it. I think I finally came to terms with being confident when I realized I could say, “Even though it doesn’t seem like this is the trend right now, I feel like this is right for me.” It was finding that place of, “Wait. I’m gonna go with my gut here.” When you go with your gut it just feels right. I’m telling you. When I’m in my friends’ houses that really could say the same thing, I know they’ve never done design, but they’ve put stuff in their house that they really love, and they’re unapologetic about it. I don’t go in there and go, “Oh, I wouldn’t have done that color on that wall.” I go in there and I feel like this is home, because they have unapologetically, no rules, created a home that speaks to them and only them, because that’s all they care about.
On the flip side, you go into some homes where it’s people that are trying to speak to the masses. You’re like, “Why doesn’t it feel like home?" I think it’s because they’ve copied something that’s not really their gut. When people say, “But I don’t have a gut,” I want to encourage them: “Yes you do!” People know what they don’t like, and people also know what they love. They’re just afraid to admit it! So if you’re designing around this place of, “Hey. I love that piece. It’s quirky, and I don’t know why it speaks to me,” and you get that piece, and you’re unapologetic, and you own that, there’s something great that comes from that place of confidence. People are drawn to confidence. I think that’s where you feel the two different environments of home. You go into one that’s beautiful, and it’s perfect, but you don’t feel at home, even though you think, This could be in a magazine. You go on the other side, where it’s, like, really quirky, and the colors aren’t really right, and the patterns are a little off, but you’re like, “Why does this feel so right?” That’s what we’re all drawn to. That’s the person that was confident, who went beyond and before or after the trends and just kind of owned it. I think I had to come to terms with that. People feel at home when there is a story being told—it’s not about a perfect space.
Mark: Confidence is attractive, right? Whether it’s in somebody’s style, somebody’s presence. . .
Joanna: You see a person that throws together an outfit, and you’re like, “If I did that, I’d look like an idiot, but that person, because she’s owning that, it really works.” I think that’s true. Hey, Chip is a cowboy. We’re not trying to inspire everybody to become a cowboy. That’s not the deal. He’s just owning that and doing that. What is it for you? Is it athletics? Is it running a business?
Times have changed. The world is much more open to new ideas now. I think it’s not really about looking out and around anymore to see what trends to follow. It’s more about honing in on who you are. I think when you find that place, that gut, whether it be your style, whether it be your lifestyle, that’s where you start finding life, because it’s you, it’s not the masses.
I think that’s the style that I have from a design standpoint. Yes, there are a lot of patterns that are in and out. I don’t want to be caught in that race or I’m always gonna be looking out. Instead, I want to constantly be asking, “What’s right in my gut?” and setting my own standard in that way. I don’t want to be known as a trendsetter. I really don’t.