Designer Jane Gardner Embraces Keys Style With New Showroom
November 26, 2015. –(Key West, FL). Designer Jane Gardner Embraces Keys Style with New Showroom
Nestled upon a sofa in Jane Gardner’s 328 Simonton Street showroom rests a hand-stitched pillow that reads: “I wasn’t born in Key West, but I got here as fast as I could.”
“Those are the best words to describe me,” says Gardner.
Since the mid 1960s, the interior designer has visited the Florida Keys with her family, collecting more than fifty years of memories of snorkeling the reefs and wrecks, fishing, shrimping, eating conch chowder and key lime pie, and all the exotic experiences that come with two annual weeks in paradise.
“My Uncle Harry’s nickname for me was ‘Conch-head,’” says Gardner, whose delight for the islands was obvious even as a child.
Her enthusiasm proved inescapable. Gardner relocated to Key West last year from Chicago and opened a showroom that distinctly reflects upon her memories and love for the colorful, tropical flair found in the Florida Keys.
“Though I have been coming to Key West for as long as I can remember, almost all of that time was as a tourist who stayed in a hotel once or twice a year or with my own children on their winter or spring breaks,” she says. “I felt that in order to really become a part of the Key West community, I needed to invest in a storefront business.”
Gardner brings with her more than thirty years in the interior design industry and clients from all over the country. The showroom gives her a comfortable place to run her design business while allowing customers to see the wide array of interior design that works here in the Keys, featuring carefully selected indoor and outdoor furnishings, decorative accessories, and gifts that offer a Key West flair and complement Gardner’s design services.
Her signature design style is eclectic, blending patterns and colors in a way that highlight the furniture and architecture of any space, and she appreciates the blend of Old World with modern. But more importantly, Gardner is an expert at using her talents to support the vision of her clients.
“The challenge is always to combine my expertise with their views and find their special style for living in the space,” she says.
The designer studied at the International Academy of Design in Chicago in the 1980s but also has a doctorate degree in Nursing Administration and Development, giving her unique insight in how to understand and evaluate her clients and their needs while being “fiscally responsible in providing the best service and design for their homes,” she says.
“My interior design education has continued throughout my career, but my nursing education has provided the basis needed for sound business ethics and judgment when caring for and creating a person’s most personal space,” she adds.
On Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5, Gardner welcomes the public to help her celebrate the grand opening of her showroom, with raffle prizes and refreshments, and a portion of the event’s proceeds to support the Key West Police Equestrian Facility.
Gardner will also offer initial complimentary consultations for customers interested in her services.
“My job and joy is to help clients find and define their style by bringing my expertise to their lives and sourcing the best possible solutions to their specific design needs,” she says.
But mostly, she wants to celebrate finally being here as a full-time Key West resident and business owner.
“I feel blessed to be amongst a community of open minded, socially responsible and giving individuals who also have been touched by Key West’s unique beauty and charm,” she says. “Since I was a little girl, I knew that Key West was a very special place.”
For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.janegardnerinteriors.com.
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