HOW TO DRESS YOUR HOME WITH SEASONED DESIGNER JANIE MOLSTER

Dolce spoke with interior designer Janie Molster from her home in North Carolina about her philosophy when it comes to dressing your home your way, filtered through a lens of irreverent design and boho flair

- ESTELLE ZENTIL

Janie Molster’s designs are completely imperfect. It’s for this reason, among others, that her work stands out from the crowd. “After installation, when we’ve fluffed every pillow and dimmed every light, and the candle is burning and we’re walking out of the room, and I look back, my overwhelming kneejerk inclination is to go mess something up. It’s just a little bit too perfect. That’s something that I always try to bring to the table, because if it’s too perfect, you kind of want to walk past that room.”

Having grown up in rural northeastern North Carolina, Molster’s ability to create a welcoming home speaks to her Southern charm and warm nature, “You want a house where you open the door and you feel like the house is embracing you and drawing you in visually. I don’t want the house to be so intimidating that you feel like you’re in a museum.”

The pages of her first monograph, House Dressing: Interiors for Colorful Living (published by The Monacelli Press), which is dedicated to her five children and husband, John, Molster, invite you to take a look at the spaces that are always intended to, “make people become more in touch with and raise the bar of their aesthetic,” including her very own urban farmhouse. Each vibrant project gives insight on how to work with colour, pattern and texture, while always staying sophisticated and finely attuned to their occupant.

Q: When did you have the “aha!” moment of when you knew you wanted to get started in interior design?