“We need to be stimulated by shapes, colors, textures and by the things that are special to us because they remind us of who we are specifically, and that we do not have to be like everyone else.” – Elena Bertinetto-Jensen

Elena Bertinetto-Jensen is an interior designer who’s getting a lot of attention in New York and around the globe.

Educated in Rome, Bertinetto-Jensen cooperated with numerous architectural studios in Italy before setting up her own business where she was commissioned to design several antique villas and houses across Europe.

Now, living in New York with her husband Garry Jensen she is continuing interior design under her new business called Deeply Madly Design. Together they have also opened Deeply Madly Living, an online interior furnishings store full of unique items designed to make a statement in any home.

Winning praise for her use of bold colors and combining antique pieces with ultra-modern furniture Bertinetto-Jensen will be featured in HGTV’s Ten Most Beautiful Houses set to air this spring. Modern House Magazine caught up with the designer to find out the inspiration behind her designs.

MHM: Elena, you started Deeply Madly Design sometime after your online retail store Deeply Madly Living, can you give some background on how the store started and how that led you to starting your own interior design business?

Elena Bertinetto Jensen: That is not exactly correct. I’ve been designing homes for the past 8 or 9 years, so yes Deeply Madly Design was created shortly after Deeply Madly Living, but that was just a reflection of how well the site was going and how much interest it generated.

The idea of founding Deeply Madly Design came about after we moved to New York City and to our surprise found out that interior design stores here did not offer as many original, “different” pieces as we expected. It was a little disappointing to see most stores displaying standardized furniture and that even the accessories seemed somewhat uniform and lacking in character. And to think that it is every young creative designer’s dream to have the chance to show their creation in NY! When I was decorating our apartment I had to walk endless miles, often in vain, to find the cool pieces I was missing. I then turned to the internet, but my search there had the same unsuccessful outcome.

Clearly there was a niche that needed to be filled, i.e. a one-stop store offering a whole range of exciting, out–of-the ordinary, unconventional pieces to spice up the home. This consideration, along with the awareness that there were so many original young designers having so much trouble getting their products out to the consumer, and the fact that US consumers are very comfortable with internet buying, gave birth to Deeply Madly Living. The incredible interest generated by the site led to the creation of the Design section, showing some of my design projects.

MHM: You are known for a very exuberant design style mixing bold colors in uncommon ways. What inspires your design style and how does your background as a trompe-l’oeil artist affect how you see a finished room?

Elena Bertinetto Jensen: As a trompe l’oeil artist your goal is not only to decorate but to emphasize the architectural strengths of a room and hide the imperfections through the use of optical illusions. My training and experience as a trompe l’oeil artist in Europe taught me that the use of color and proportions can operate wonders in any space. In very simple terms it all bolts down to contrasts, whether it is colors, shapes, materials, contrasts make everything look better, more interesting, more inviting and, contrary to what one may think, it also ties everything together.

When I came to New York I was astonished to see that so many houses were the clean monolithic all white type of houses. I remember I was speaking with an architect who for one project had used something like 22 different shades of white! I wonder if anyone would truly be able to notice the difference. “White-ish”, “gray-ish”, even “beige-ish” walls will look like plain white to most eyes.
But the point here is that all white is just too impersonal and sterile. Thank goodness, we live in a colorful world! Mind you, a white background works well in a picture ad, where everything needs to be clean cut, orderly and unnaturally perfect. But that is necessary in order to get the viewer’s attention on specific details. Could you look at that same picture for hours without getting bored? I don’t think so.

I believe that the same applies to the home that we live in. Living in a uniform environment that could be anyone else’s home and does not say anything about you can neither be restful nor comfortable. We should be able to be ourselves at least a home, shouldn’t we? We’re all different, we all have our own particularities and just living in a very uniform environment is not the best thing for our psyche. We need to be stimulated by shapes, colors, textures and by the things that are special to us because they remind us of who we are specifically, and that we do not have to be like everyone else. I think that is fundamentally what is behind my designs.

The exuberance you refer to is predominantly expressed through my love of strong contrasts and colors. Deeply Madly Design is all about integrating and balancing different styles. I’m a daughter of a diplomat and throughout my youth we moved from country to country. We were exposed to an incredible variety of cultures, styles, artifacts. It is very hard not to find something that you really love in each style – so why not combine them? The secret is to remember not to mix together objects, shapes or colors that are too similar- you’d end up with just a messy disorderly arrangement. But put things that are very different one next to the other and tie them with a bold color and they will work really well together. You can pair almost anything together, as long as the contrasts are strong.

MHM: You have a house being featured on HGTV, tell us about the project featured?

Elena Bertinetto Jensen: It is a mid-town loft with a very modern, sleek open plan kitchen with concrete, stainless steel, light grey acrylic panels and dark wenge wood. The renovation introduced a central wood block housing the kitchen, a guest toilet and an office in the middle of the loft, which kept most of its industrial features like the many pipes and beams on the ceiling and the original concrete floors. But this is far from being a typical NYC loft – the house hosts an incredible mix of modern design and antiques. There are bold splashes of color throughout the house that create the perfect setting for a series of collections of art pieces of very different epochs and geographical origin. A Poussin oil painting, a Warhol silkscreen and even a Soviet propaganda poster all coexist in harmony.

The modern kitchen hosts various vintage and antique pieces, like a collection of English shakers, cut glass bottles, Italian candelabras with fuchsia candles, and a silver samovar. The eating area is dominated by a unique table created from an antique marble church altar set into a modern white lacquer base and surrounded by modern designer chairs. A magnificent eighteenth century French rock crystal chandelier hangs from a chain covered in magenta velvet. It is a great example of how modern and antique can complement each other and create a unique living space.

It’s going to be featured this spring on HGTV’s program called “The Ten Most Beautiful Homes In The World”- so I was obviously extremely flattered.

MHM: The current economic slowdown seems to be affecting everyone in some fashion. What has this meant for the interior design business and how can a designer make it through the tough times?

Elena Bertinetto Jensen: The credit crunch, the housing slump, the turmoil in the stock markets are affecting everyone and many are holding off the big expenses unless absolutely necessary. Many new construction and restructuring projects are being put on hold, and clearly architects and interior designers are suffering from the current economic environment. But on the other-hand the slowdown has also brought people to stay in more and focus on their home.

We do see especially with Deeply Madly Living an increased interest for everything that is accessories, so whether it’s a throw or funky pillows or new cutlery, people seem to be putting their interest in making their homes the place they love to be in. There is so much you can do to improve your home on a budget, especially now that prices are under pressure. After years of big spending, architects and interior designers need to be able to suggest affordable alternatives that will keep their clients comfortable as to what their costs will be.

MHM: What’s one secret that anyone can use to make their own house more like a Deeply Madly Design house?

Elena Bertinetto Jensen: A bit more self confidence. I believe that people that have the standardized home are people that are not confident of their personality and their tastes. They prefer to play it safe and have what everyone else has for fear of making a mistake. If there is something you like, just go for it!

MHM: Deeply Madly Living has got quite a lot of press from one single product – the Celebrity Lamp. Have you used the celebrity lamp in any of the houses you’ve designed?

Elena Bertinetto Jensen: The celebrity lamp is a unique lamp made of 40 pairs of aviator shades. It is ironic yet incredibly elegant and surprisingly easy to place. Usually the customers who buy it are very confident and do not ask for advice as to where to place it or what to combine it with. It is a very “cool” lamp that definitely makes a statement.

I’ve used it in a couple of my projects. One of them was for a lady that owns a modeling agency. Her living room was a deep aubergine with wonderful grey tortoise velvet fabrics. The lamps looked striking, especially when lit, as the shadows of the glasses were cast all over the walls. It looked really really funky. And the other one was totally different type of client, he was a young professional, and the room was very masculine. This time the Celebrity lamp was placed against a dark grey wall, and the effect was just as stunning.

MHM: What’s down the road for both Deeply Madly Living and Deeply Madly Design – new products, big sales, important clients?

Elena Bertinetto Jensen: Much of it depends on how the economy evolves. We’ve just had a “Wall Street Crash Sale” that received a very encouraging response. We’re always out there meeting young designers. After all the attention that we have gotten from the media, they are the ones that now are contacting us and sending us their ideas and prototypes. We do not want to be pessimistic, and like everyone else we are hoping for a recovery by the end of the year. With some luck next year we’ll be off again in the right direction.

As for Deeply Madly Design, I’m continuing with the projects and the contacts I had before the crisis started, and hopefully by the end of the crisis new clients will come along.

MHM: Any major clients you can talk about?

Elena Bertinetto Jensen: Major clients? They’re all major clients to me.

MHM: Good Answer!

Visit Deeply Madly Design and Deeply Madly Living online.

View the complete featured slide show of Elena Bertinetto-Jensen Designs