Designer Spotlight: Janet T. Marena Interior Design
Architectural Design + General Contractor: DiVittorio Designs
Tile Installation: Magic Tile
Photography: Agnieszka Jakubowicz
Bringing Nature Indoors: An Approach to Biophilic Design
Janet T. Marena is the Principal of JTM Interiors, a San Jose based design firm. Janet combines her passion for creativity in design with her appreciation for the wordless beauty and transformational power of a truly well-designed space to bring your vision to life.
Janet and the team at JTM Interiors use evidence-based design to build spaces that support health and well-being. The result weaves the warmth of a well-loved and comfortable space with a clean look to create beautiful design that is at once elegant and inviting, current, but not trendy, and classic in the sense of enduring style. Their work focuses on nature and bringing it into the home. She loves incorporating biophilic design elements into her projects, and she is passionate about educating her clients on these principles to help increase their connection to nature. She enhances her designs through the use of organic materials, natural light, and color.
For a recent bathroom remodel, Janet selected the Billie Ombre Blue Mosaic Gloss Glass tile by Artistic Tile from All Natural Stone. The Billie Mosaic tile is an ode to the legendary jazz musician Billie Holiday, tracing her trademark melodic vocalizations along a wave of vibrant colored glass, creating an overall ombre effect. The Billie Collection includes Grey, ranging from rich charcoal to pure white; Blue, which blends from glistening navy to cool sky; Green, from the deepest forest to the palest celadon; and Moonbeam, which glows with shimmering opalescence. All are available in the Billie Ombre sheet, going from light to dark, and in solid Billie Gloss “extender” sheets, in a dark and light selection for each color series, offering a unique array of design possibilities.
Janet customized the colorway to fit a wall with a dark blue gradient ombre. She often chooses natural stone, porcelain, and tile for her projects that reflect a natural element connected to her clients. In this particular project, she loved how the Billie Ombre tile looked like rain running down the wall. The design was customized to fit the wall with a little more of the dark blue on top.
Selecting “The Perfect Finish”
“I begin with finding something that my client loves and the rest of the design evolves from that,” Janet shares. “I love to see my clients viscerally react to the materials they end up choosing.”
Working with All Natural Stone
“I’ve been working with Tony for years. He once told me I was a ‘weird’ designer and that I don’t walk in there looking for something in particular. I let myself and the client experience the different materials and see how they respond and affect us. I don’t stop until I find what my clients love. Tony and I can pull a whole house together in a matter of hours.”
“I love All Natural Stone because of how much they help me do my job. And my clients' smiling faces tell me we hit the mark.”
To see more of this project, including a beautiful kitchen with quartzite countertops and backsplash reminiscent of the colors and textures of Yosemite’s Bridal Veil Falls, visit the JTM Interiors website.
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