Designer Profile: Thomas Jayne
Architect-trained and with an impeccable curatorial education, Thomas Jayne follows in the footsteps of ‘the great decorators’, preserving a continuum of traditional principles whilst invigorating houses for modern life
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

‘Tradition is now’ is Thomas Jayne’s succinct and apposite mantra, as well as the guiding ethos at Jayne Design Studio which he founded more than three decades ago. It captures both his scholarly knowledge of period detail and his skill in harmonizing this with contemporary comfort and spirited design.
His ability to marry historical sensitivity with a modern sensibility has been recognized with a plethora of interior design industry accolades on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Andrew Martin International Designer of the Year Award 2021 (opens in new tab) – which led to him being included in our list of the world's best interior designers.
Here we explore Thomas Jayne’s aesthetic, influences and career.
Projects past and present
The Jayne Design Studio (opens in new tab)’s work includes contemporary dwellings and historically important houses, from a seaside cottage in Oyster Bay (below) and a Soho loft in New York to The Director’s House at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware and an important 18th century house in Charleston.
Sitting room in the Boathouse in Oyster Bay
Thomas’ lead on redecoration of the drawing room and dining room at Crichel House in England received both The Georgian Group (opens in new tab) Architectural Award and the Stanford White Award from the New York Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art (opens in new tab) in 2016. The Grade I listed Georgian property in Dorset is recognized for important interiors by neo-classical architect James Wyatt (1746-1813).
Dining room in the Boathouse in Oyster Bay
Current projects underway by Jayne Design Studio include a new house in Pacific Palisades, an early 20th century Spanish revival cottage in Santa Barbara and the restoration of a colonial revival house in Greenwich, Connecticut.
The Thomas Jayne Design Studio forte
The sitting room in a two-bed Upper West Side apartment in New York
More than 30 years in practice has meant the development of an authoritative contact base. As Thomas says: 'I used nice things when I started, but I use even more nice things now. Our list of resources is vastly bigger; our circle of traditional craftsmen and makers is rich.'
He adds: 'We still make beautiful curtains and we know and understand all the traditional aspects of decoration and how to achieve them.' He is also patently proud of his team: 'As a studio, we do everything in concert and really come to a decision together.' He adds, 'The Andrew Martin award is really for all of us.'
Style aesthetic
New Orleans project, Thomas Jayne
'We have an antiquarian aesthetic with a modern eye,' says Thomas whose interiors are noted for a dynamic interplay of eras and references, rooted in decorating tradition.
Comfort and functionality underscore every project yet it is his sophisticated ‘collage’ approach to blending ancient and modern that is, perhaps, most admired.
'You can see a consistency in our work: it’s not about old-fashioned comfort in a sedate way, it’s about old-fashioned comfort in a lively way,' he says, adding, 'a lot of our early work still looks good and ages well because it was a little edgy when it was new. We always push it to be more contemporary.'
New Orleans project, Thomas Jayne
He later expands, 'I dislike the phrase "traditional with a twist", it is traditional – the twist isn’t a factor – so I disagree with that. It’s not about being slavish to the old, it’s about seeing how it resonates today.'
In fact, as Thomas commented on the 25th anniversary video on his website, 'We think of tradition as an active voice, not a passive voice or a dead voice. Just because something is traditional doesn’t mean it is flat or boring and regressive; it just means it’s part of a continuum.”
Injecting a playful note is important, too. 'We have a sense of humor. I think our decoration is serious, has some humor, and there is also a sort of counter-trend, a slightly subversive note,' Thomas says. 'Subversive for us is never delivering curtains "on trend"... making sure the pattern on a piece of furniture lays out... being cautious to make a chintz sofa! Mrs Parish told me "one should always use caution with chintz."'
An education in design
Dining room in the Boathouse in Oyster Bay
His upbringing in South California in the Pacific Palisades brought together an influential mix of tradition and modernity. 'We lived in a house that would, today, be called a tear down; it was modest, but my mother filled it with art and family furniture. It was organized formally with a living room that was a proper room for receiving guests.
'I went to St Matthews, an episcopal day school, where we read prayer every morning, and to a modern church where they offered a 17th century service. I was living in modern times but with old things and traditional rituals and these informed my decoration.'
Even before his teens, he was already interested in design. 'When I was 12, I read a book by Mrs Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis about The White House; she had done a lot to improve it. It fascinated me and as a direct or indirect response I painted my bedroom red to match the red room at The White House and I moved in some old furniture which was reminiscent of a Lincoln bedroom… so I created a pastiche of the Red Room in The White House in the Palisades!'
Bedroom in the Boathouse in Oyster Bay
Thomas worked at two of the most renowned studios in America: Parish-Hadley & Associates and Kevin McNamara, Inc. before launching his own studio in 1990.
Prior to this, and after graduating from University of Oregon’s School of Architecture and Allied Arts, he undertook a series of fellowships and archivist roles including at The Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum (opens in new tab), the Museum of the City of New York (opens in new tab), The Getty Museum (opens in new tab) and at Christie’s (opens in new tab) in its Estate and Appraisals department. He also undertook a two-year graduate fellowship at the Winterthur Museum (opens in new tab) and studied a Master of Arts in ‘History of American and European Architecture and Decorative Arts’ before moving into interior design.
He is grateful for the blessings of his journey. 'I look at my decorator inheritance as something of an apostolic succession because the great influence of my life is Albert Hadley, and Albert Hadley knew Elsie De Wolf – so that’s like the hand that touched the hand that touched the hand.
'Albert also worked with Mrs Brown and because of Albert I have this path of great American decorators behind me. Of course, Mrs Parish was friends with Sibyl Colefax, too. That’s what’s great about traditional decoration because you have links to these forbears that influence you in different ways and at different times.'
Jayne Design Studio
Proud achievements
'I’m very proud of the people who have worked here (at Jayne Design Studio) and gone to other places because I feel that they take a sensibility and a tradition with them which is informative.
'And I’d also say the opportunity for us to decorate Crichel made me proud because I never thought I would work on a house of that quality and scale in a foreign country, so that was a tangible achievement.'
Design icon
New Orleans project, Thomas Jayne
'My design icon would be a hybrid of Albert Hadley and John Fowler… or perhaps more accurately Parish Hadley and Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler,' says Thomas. 'I’m Catholic in my idolatry.'
Edith Wharton and Ogden Codman’s book The Decoration of Houses (opens in new tab) has also been influential. 'I’ve read it faithfully throughout my career – once when I was a student, once when I worked on Wharton’s house, The Mount (opens in new tab), and at various times since. Their advice has always resonated in my mind.'
Thomas Jayne is himself author of three books on design. His most recent book – Classical Principles for Modern Design: Lessons from Edith Wharton and Ogden Codman's The Decoration of Houses (opens in new tab) explores ways in which his own decoration parallels and sometimes deviates from Edith Wharton’s approach.
Interiors editor and brand consultant, Kerryn Harper-Cuss has worked on four interior magazines and edited three of these, most recently The English Home, where she was Editor-in-Chief of both its UK and US editions for almost 12 years. She now writes for a number of high caliber publications, moderates design seminars and is particularly delighted to pen profile features on world-class interior designers for a regular slot on the Homes & Gardens website.
-
-
Hellebore varieties – 10 stunning types for eye-catching winter color
No matter what type of hellebore you choose for your garden, you're guaranteed a burst of color in late winter and spring
By Louise Curley • Published
-
What can I put on my living room wall? 10 ideas for added beauty, character, and decoration
Your living room walls provide an exciting canvas upon which to decorate, explore our collection of ideas and expert tips to help you get started
By Zara Stacey • Published
-
Designer Profile: Eddie Maestri
By Lola Houlton • Published
-
Designer Profile: SMW Home
A genteel Southerner with a deep-rooted connection to Britain, Scot Meacham Wood is as renowned for his distinctly timeless design aesthetic as for his larger than life personality
By Lucy Searle • Published
-
Designer Profile: Jen Dallas
We speak to the LA-based interior designer to discover more about her work, passions and style
By Lucy Searle • Published
-
Designer Profile: Victoria Sass
Award-winning, Minneapolis-based interior designer founded Prospect Refuge Studio in 2015. We ask about her design philosophy and inspirations
By Lucy Searle • Published
-
Athena Calderone's new designs for Crate&Barrel are a real eye-swoon
We talk exclusively to the designer about her design heroes, favorite places to shop and the new, gorgeously earthy collection that's already a hit. We defy you not to buy
By Arabella Youens • Last updated
-
'You'll never be bored!' Interior designer Laura Gonzalez reveals the inspirations behind her charming schemes
Architect and interior designer Laura Gonzalez tells us how her love of fabric brings everything she does to vibrant life
By Fiona McCarthy • Published
-
British Style: de le Cuona
We find out more about fabric firm de Le Cuona and its landmark range of organic, fully traceable linen
By Arabella Youens • Published
-
American Style: Kravet
Dubbed an 'indisputable titan of American interior design', New York-based Kravet Inc. is a fifth generation family-run company which offers a one-stop-shopping resource for designers and decorators
By Arabella Youens • Last updated