#BestLife Series: Whitney Jones of Whitney J. Decor

Happy Tuesday Ladies & Gents!

I’m so excited to be introducing a new series here on the blog and today you’ll get the first glimpse of it. I’m a fan of people who live out their dreams and do cool jobs so I’d like to share some of the amazingness I come across with you. The people I’ll feature are living their best lives and I hope that all of us will learn to do the same. Without further ado, let’s get into an interview with one of the dopest interior designers I’ve ever seen.

For those who may not know you, how would you introduce yourself? What do you do? Where are you from?

I’m Whitney Jones, an interior designer from New Orleans that LOVES color and unexpected decorative elements. I love transforming homes in stylish, yet functional, ways so that my clients love their homes for years to come.

You’re not only an amazing interior designer interior designer… You also have a popping Etsy shop. Can you give us a little more information about how you got started with your shop and what you sell?

Thank you, Alex!! I sell luxe pillow covers. I taught myself to sew years ago after first having a jewelry business and then a candle business. I, then, wanted to sell handbags, so I taught myself to sew. Around that same time I started my design business and chose to instead concentrate on pillows, so that I could save my clients money on high-quality updates to their sofa. I opened my online shop a few months later and from then have sold over 500 pillows online around the USA and other countries, like Canada, France, Australia, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, and most recently, Kuwait. I have a lot of cool new stuff coming to the shop, like paperweights, bookends, artwork, and other accessories for the home!

Check out some of her fabulous pillows… Click the photo to be directed to her store.

My Instagram stalking of you has shown me that you’re not only super creative in your home, but in the homes of your clients too. How did you discover this creativity? What made you pursue your career?

I’ve been obsessed with decorating since I’ve been a little girl. I’m the oldest of 8, so my mom had to creatively fit us all in a three bedroom apartment. It was fun to watch as she moved furniture around every couple of months when we started to feel cramped, which gave way to my love for space planning. I loved conventional “toys” but loved getting gifts for my room, like bedding and new curtains.

What are some of the challenges you face as an entrepreneur? How have you been able to combat them?

For me, personally, I can say my biggest challenge comes from being afraid to market my business locally. I’ve worked really hard building an online presence, which is mainly how I built my business. The last year, I’ve realized how much I need to get out there locally to get local clients. That’s really hard for me because I’m an introverted homebody. One of the ways that I’ve tried combatting this fear is to reach out personally to my friends to connect me to people locally. That way, I’ve already made connections to new people and only need to meet face to face. This doesn’t give me that cold calling feeling that gives me anxiety. So, every time I meet someone new, I just tell them to connect me to one or two people that either would need my services themselves, could connect me to someone that needs my services, or could connect me to someone with a large platform that could get the word out about me and my services on a larger scale.

My purpose for starting this #BestLife series on my blog is so I can shine a light on some of the fabulous people I come across who I believe are living their best life. What do you love most about your life? And if you could change one thing about your life, what would you change?

What I love most is my family support. My fiancé, mom, brothers, and sisters support me tremendously, from dropping what they’re doing to help me install at the end of clients’ design projects, helping me with my upholstery projects, yelling to the world how great they think I am, and investing in my business. I’m so blessed and love working every day to make them proud. It makes building a business less lonely, especially since my business takes up so much of my time.

I also think I’m living my best life because I have a lot of fun. I’m really close with my family, so we spend a lot of time together and we laugh together A LOT. Most of the times the jokes are on me and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Honestly, my happiness is built on having a great family.

If I could change one thing about my life, it’d be the pathway I took to get to the design field. I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time in the wrong degree program to pursue a career that I didn’t love (physical therapy). I always wonder how much further along in my career I’d be if I started with interior design.

Do you have any advice for folks who are interested in a career in interior design but do not know where to start?

I’d first start with research into the career to make sure it’s what you really want to do. Interview designers to learn what they like/dislike about this career. Figure out what kind of a designer you want to be. Do you want to work for yourself or do you want to work for a well-established design firm? The answer to that can be two totally different paths to get there. Plus, owning your own design business in itself is totally different. You’ll wear many different hats when you don’t have a boss. So, if you don’t want to do bookkeeping, keep up with social media, or order and track products for design projects, you may want to work at an already established design firm.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

This is going to be super simple (and might even be silly), but the best advice I’ve ever received is to just ask for what you want. The answer is always no if you don’t ask.

BONUS QUESTION: Lastly, with the holiday season approaching what home décor tips do you have for the readers? Are there any inexpensive ways to jazz up your living space for the season?

I love the holiday season! I feel so cheesy for always saying, “Xmas is my favorite holiday”, because isn’t it like the go-to answer to the “what’s your favorite holiday” question? Here are some tips for decorating for the holidays:

If you don’t have lots of storage space, keep it simple. Delegate one large plastic tote to holiday decorations and if it can’t fit in the box, don’t buy it.
Fake trees are cool when they look like real trees. No, cheap fake trees do not look like real trees, no matter what the box says on the outside. No shade.
If you’re not comfortable with mixing textures and colors in your holiday décor, stick to a white/gold (or white/silver) and green color scheme. Green for your greenery and white/silver (or white/gold) for everything else.
If you love to personalize your tree with DIY ornaments, stick with solid color filler ornaments in different sizes and textures. Mixing colored ornaments with DIY ornaments in different styles, colors, and textures can look really cluttered.

One of my favorite inexpensive ways to bring holiday décor into a home is to skip the large tree and instead go for small potted pine trees. They won’t break the bank and they’re super cute and festive. And, if you already have a Xmas tree, get a fresh tree and go for only white or colored lights with no ornaments. The look is so clean and chic and will still bring in holiday cheer! Plus, the minimalist look saves you money!