By Judy Carmack Bross
A new year means new beginnings—for some or all aspects of our lives. Psychologists call this the “fresh start effect” and research has shown it’s the most powerful mental trigger of all for making positive life changes. This may explain why Chicago interior designer Jessica Lagrange told me that every January, her office sees a substantial uptick in new projects. “New beginnings mean organizing, tweaking or totally redoing the problem areas in our homes,” Jessica said.
Given Jessica’s expertise and acumen in this area, not to mention the many stunning examples of her work we’ve seen over the years in publications and in person at many of our friends’ homes, we thought we’d check in with her on new beginnings. Here’s what she had to say.
CCM: The new year always offers us a path for new directions, so are there any new ideas you’re anticipating weaving into your work in 2025?
New ideas are different than new trends because they represent how our lifestyles are changing and will continue to evolve going forward. Right now, two concepts come to mind.
First, we’ve been seeing a strong connection between inside and outside spaces since the pandemic made us homebodies for a few years, but now this development is focusing on making interiors more restorative by incorporating elements that mimic natural settings. These features are not only beautiful and ideal for people in apartments without outdoor access, but research shows they enhance mental and physical wellbeing. This reflects our focus on wellness and using healthy materials in everything we do, which is exciting but also creatively challenging. It’s hard to find exquisite elements that embrace nature. One of my favorite strategies is to use scenic wallpapers from Gracie or De Gournay that evoke the outdoors.
Second, we’re seeing a drift towards personalized minimalism, especially from millennial clients who have different outlooks on ownership and don’t want to accumulate too much stuss. But they don’t want their homes to be stark and austere either. Yet designing spaces to be warm and personalized takes thoughtful and incredibly adept curation and enormous attention to the materials we use in a space in everything from the foundational furniture to the smallest accessories.
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Here are perfect examples of why we use scenic wallpapers: they make it possible to reference nature, get playful, add pattern, introduce color and freshen up every space imaginable Photo: Jessica Lagrange Interiors
CCM: Are you forecasting that there will be new interior design trends, and, if so, what might they be?
Trends come and go—and inevitably, come back. I can’t tell you how many times my beloved animal prints have been “out,” yet we always find a way to make them “in” because they’re one of those patterns that’s eternal. It can be scaled up or down, depending on how attention-grabbing you need it to be, to make a space feel fun and fresh again. But for now, I’m just back from Maison & Objet, the major French trade show for interior design, and have way too many trends to mention here. (Instead, see next week’s issue for our story on the most important trends Jessica saw in Paris.)
CCM: I know that your work takes you all over the country, with many great Palm Beach assignments, where will you be working in the early part of the New Year?
Given the cold snap that’s hitting the country this year, I’m elated to report that I’m working on several second homes in Arizona and Florida and am also lucky enough to have a second home in Palm Beach to escape to every few weeks.
Foliage-patterned drapes and an ikat woven in watery hues are instrumental in making this sophisticated living area feel casual and breezy when its glass doors are opened to the gorgeous terrace outside Photo: Jessica Lagrange Interiors
CCM: Colors, styles, window treatments—what are you seeing that clients are considering these days?
Window treatments done “right” are expensive, which makes them a foundational element. So regardless of what style a client wants—traditional, contemporary or something in between—we design them to be timeless and use durable but exquisite textiles. But our clients have been favoring dark, saturated colors for us for a while. Motifs that reference nature are a really nice touch, especially since they remind of the outdoors and can boost our wellbeing. Think florals or foliage. In my own bedroom, I used a fabric embellished with embroidered and beaded insects; think beetles, butterflies, dragonflies and bees. It makes me happy to wake up every day.
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Garden-centric accessories like foliage and swans and a flirty tablecloth are perfect foils for the scenic wallpaper in this foyer—for the moment! It’s so easy to trade out these decorative elements when it’s time to be more serious and sedate Photo: Jessica Lagrange Interiors
Photo: Jessica Lagrange Interiors
CCM: Indoor-to-outdoor spaces are truly a specialty and your work that embraces this strategy has such flow. What is your philosophy about this using this tactic?
Indoor-outdoor rooms aren’t just for warmer climates! They’re become an essential for those who have homes that have gardens. Huge windows or glass walls bring the outside in all year round. We’re creating a glass wall by increasing the window sizes in a combined family room and kitchen to give the space in a Lincoln Park home a year-round outdoor feel.
A seriously sturdy protective structure for this poolside space in a Florida home, and equally substantial weatherproof furnishings, make it a year-round living room Photo: Jessica Lagrange Interiors
CCM: How do you develop your work—what is the process of developing and completing a project?
Interviews, interviews and more interview at every step of the process. We develop our projects based on our client’s wants and needs, so we are constantly checking in with them. If something isn’t meeting their expectations, we need to fix it immediately. So much time, effort and money go into each project that we—and our clients—can’t afford mistakes.
CCM: What is the hardest thing about your work?
Meeting the mark for each client. We want them to love their homes—and getting everything right takes a lot of time, communication, research and feedback after each part of a job is completed.
CCM: How has your work/style/designs changed over the years?
My style has nothing to do with what I do for clients, and the way I work has never wavered: we are client-centric and base our design for each client on them. Sometimes a client will want something that really does not work for their needs or is not the right fit for a space, and that’s when we use diplomacy and research to have other options they can use. And while we focus on quality in everything we do, we also must deal with finite budgets. We’ve learned a lot from this process, like the fact that quality can be found at many price points. If anything, we’ve learned to be more rigorous about meeting client’s needs and insisting on using quality fixtures and furnishings in all our jobs.
We’re big believers in maximizing details to amplify the ambiance you want to evoke. The right plants, trims and exotic touches go miles when it comes to making decorative points that add sparkle, humor and joy to a room Photo: Jessica Lagrange Interiors
Photo: Jessica Lagrange Interiors
Photo: Jessica Lagrange Interiors
CCM: How do you like to have fun when you aren’t working?
I’m so boring! I truly love being with my family and friends and traveling and never tire of these things. I was just in Paris for design week and was able to sit in my favorite café (Café de Flore on Bd Saint-Germain) and people-watch. The outfits were beyond fabulous. Of course, some of the people were way out there, but for the most part the French are perpetually chic. Sneakers and down coats were very rare. It was so refreshing to see everyone in nice leather shoes and beautifully cut wool coats—even in the cold. It was inspirational.
Changing out pillows and pictures may sound boring, but done right it can totally rejuvenate humdrum spaces Photo: Jessica Lagrange Interiors
Photo: Jessica Lagrange Interiors
CCM: Are there simple tips that you would like to share that can make a little change in a person’s house in a gray wintertime?
Here’s another answer that sounds boring, but I guarantee you it isn’t. The easiest things to do are change out pillows or repaint a wall. Vivid colors really make a difference on walls, and exuberantly patterned pillows can change the entire mood of a room. For light, we always layer window treatments with a sheer textile closest to the window, so keeping drapes pulled open increases the light in a room—which is important for your mental health in the winter (trust me on this!). Trading out old objects and art for new ones can work too, but that can get expensive. As I mentioned in our last story with you in 2022, where we gave you all our resources (see the story here), sourcing is key and takes time. But it’s thrilling to get a good deal. And keep in mind that things have changed the auction houses we mentioned then. The buyer’s premiums have gone up, sometimes to 30%, and that adds a huge bite to what things cost so buyer beware!