Shades of pink envelop the walls, ceiling and niches in this eclectic home. (Photo by Mali Azima)
Richmond-based interior designer Janie Molster says we shouldn’t wait to have nice things — until the children are older, until the pets are better trained — because those things don’t go away, they simply change. “You can’t wait to live your life, [your home] is for right now,” she says. “Don’t put it off. Once people do focus on their home and try to elevate it, it’s immediate gratification."
Living fully in your home and surrounding yourself with beautiful things is one lesson Molster hopes readers will take from her new book, “House Dressing: Interiors for Colorful Living,” hitting bookstores this month.
“House Dressing” is not only an exploration of five homes designed by Molster, but also a collection of essays that explores the principles that guide her work, including what “the new formal” means (hint: it’s not just for “ladies’ lounges or pompous parlors”) and how to create a color-rich room that isn’t overwhelming. “A lot of people buy design books for visual inspiration, but also it’s really helpful to be able to take away some pearls of wisdom,” Molster says.
Another lesson she hopes to impart: Your home should be about you, not the latest trends. Molster helps her clients follow this principle by suggesting they “dig deep and figure out what appeals to them and works for them.” In personalizing their spaces, she encourages her clients to be fearless. “Don’t be scared to make a mistake, step outside the lines,” she says.
Molster’s book is the result of a perfect confluence of circumstances. With 25 years in the design world, the renowned designer has amassed an impressive body of work, some of it already captured in print-ready photographs. Encouragement from colleagues and a pandemic that happened to fuel a surge in the popularity of home design books made it the right time to tell her story, she says. “One part that’s been beautiful is that home has become so important to people."
A grouping from the homeowners' art collection sings against a soft backdrop of white and gray. (Photo by Gordon Gregory)
Molster also notes that the five homes featured in the book, which run the gamut from modern to her very own urban farmhouse, are located in Virginia. “I’m so proud of that,” she says. “I just love the fact that we have such great designers and architects, and these publishers recognized that and wanted to do this book.”
In “House Dressing,” readers will also learn how her sophisticated yet vibrant style embraces color, texture and often a sense of the unexpected. “I love mixing elements in a room to sort of play off of each other and play up each other,” she says. “I do think that the mix — whether it’s architecture or antiques of different periods or mixing in contemporary design — the actual tension you create by the rub of those different elements is what I’m always trying to achieve.”
