A late summer sun washes in through the warehouse windows of Juniper House Studio as Jamie Campbell Bynum pins magazine clippings and fabric swatches to a large board; inspiration for a new interior design client.
“I try to look at the room as a whole and really take every inch of it, and make it feel all connected; to create a space where [my clients] can sit and look all around them and feel like they’re nestled in their space, not a space I made for them.”
Jamie began her journey as an interior designer around 2020, after a successful career in media and advertising. But her interest in creating a beautiful living space stretches much farther back in her past.
“I’ve always been arranging things. I remember as a kid setting up my own little apartment in the basement of my parent’s house. My room was always really important to me, but everywhere I’ve lived it’s evolved. Anyone who’s known me since then is like, ‘Oh, there she goes again,’ but there’s something about the composition and arranging things that has brought me here.”
As Jamie assembles her mood board, a picture of warm tones and earthy textures mixed with unexpected patterns and modern fixtures emerges. Her spaces aren’t just aesthetic, they’re homey and immersive, inviting and intriguing.
“I guess that immersion comes from layers of color, and layers of fabric, and adding nature in brings another layer, but [the client’s] things, their memories are the most important part.”
Her Baltimore studio is a prime example of nature and personal artifacts blending together. Details and textures catch in the periphery, each more beautiful than the last: a cloche with coral and a pheasant feather stands on a shelf of swatches and samples, a moth rests on the coffee table near a collection of art books and magazines, shells and driftwood, smooth stones and trinket boxes decorate her work table.
“I create rooms for people’s everyday life. It’s not a fantasy, which is what we see in magazines. What I love to live with everyday is nature. I love living with nature, I love living with candlelight, and beautiful objects. I also love living with useful objects, there’s no reason they can’t be both. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It just has to be meaningful.”
But Jamie isn’t alone in this endeavor. Her long-term creative partner and husband, Drury Bynam, works with Jamie to make decisions about color and treatments. He also creates custom artwork and murals for Juniper House clients. Together they’ve built a practice that give Jamie inspiration and vision for their future.
“We met when we were 30 and when we got together we were like, ‘We love this world, let’s just keep going and see what we can do.’ We’ve been building, building, building, and this is where we’ve landed. We’re almost 60, and this is it. This is what we’ve been working for, and I think we’re just getting started.”
