After 10 years of helping friends decorate, Jan Ware officially stepped out and started her own company, Jan Ware Designs. “I’ve always had that passion, but with four children, I’ve never had the time to be able to work, ” Jan says. “This is our home for awhile, I’ve loved fixing up houses. After our last move, my husband said, ‘We’ve found our forever home. You need to start doing this for other people.’” Jan says she always has felt a passion for décor, a trait she believes she inherited from her grandmother. “My mother’s mom always had a one-of-a-kind look in her home in Nashville and at her home in the Keys. I used to love all of her pieces. She grew up in the Boston area and had great taste and a real flair for style. She was always such an inspiration for me. She was a very classy lady, ” Jan says. “For nearly 18 years I have enjoyed treasure hunting with my two sisters and father at different flea markets around the Southeast. I truly have a passion for spending time with my sisters and father at different markets. Jan particularly enjoys working around sentimental pieces in her clients’ homes, and she wants each project to be individual to the owner. She never uses the same fabric in two homes. “It’s their home, ” Jan says. “I want it to suit their personality. It’s important to take an individual approach.”
Scroll down for a slide show, which includes more images and information on Jan's home and decorating. Click here to see the feature article that highlights the decorator's home. Click here for another of Jan's projects featured in the 2012 March/April issue of Birmingham Home & Garden.
Cara D. Clark
