“The first impression when you

walk into your home should

represent something you love,” Jan

says. A table stacked with design

books inspires Jan when she steps

onto her porch,

above.

In the living

room,

top,

a favorite silk-screen

fabric punches up the sofa. “I’m a

textile fanatic,” Jan says.

Comfort is key

for Jan Niemi.

She prefers flats to heels and flowy

tunics to clingy blouses. And she believes that

shoes make the outfit,

lin e o f b a lle rin a -style shoes and, 10 years ago, founded he r com pany, Flats.

Ja n ’s fashion sense is m irro re d in the deco ratin g o f h e r 1920s cottage in

St. H elena, C a lifo rn ia . It ’s relaxed, fun , unfussy— and never predictable.

“Fash ion changes w ith e ve ry season, and I th in k a hom e sho uld change,

too, to keep th in gs fresh,” she says. “M y hom e is like a lab, w h e re I p la y

w ith color, textile, and pattern.”

F o r Jan, sim ple changes do the trick , m uch the w a y a p a ir o f turquoise

shoes can transform an outfit. She loves to layer the backs o f he r

slipcovered w h ite sofa and chairs w ith pieces o f fabric. “ It in sta n tly

awakens them ,” she says. “ I can’t get enough o f p re tty fabrics.” She also

p e rio d ic a lly rotates art o r places a fu n tote n e xt to the sofa to use as a

m agazine holder. O utdoors, b rig h t-c o lo r fabrics and p illo w s on chairs and

benches e n live n lush garden retreats th at w e re on ce -b a rre n patches.

A s fo r the com fort, that com es th ro u g h in Ja n ’s easygoing touches that

keep the hom e inform al. She prefers the carefree look o f m ism atched

chairs p u lle d up to a table or an antique candleh older placed n e xt to a

catalog vase. Books she has had since college o ve rflo w from liv in g room

shelves onto the m antel, g iv in g the E n g lis h m ajor a co m fo rtin g lin k to the

past. “T h e y represent little chapters in m y life,” she says. E v e ry room o f

the 1,750-sq u a re -fo o t hom e has a sim ilar relaxed look— and e ve ry space

gets used. “ I f th ere’s evidence that people have live d in all the spaces,” Ja n

says, “th a t’s w h a t makes a house feel loved.”

BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS JULY2009

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