Welcome to Shaping the Art of Living
For more than four decades, our work has been shaped by people. By our clients–some we have known for ages, and across several homes. By artisans, makers, workrooms, craftspeople, and partners whose hands and knowledge bring ideas into being. By family, entertaining, gardens, horses, dogs, travel, collections, books, restaurants, old houses, new beginnings… and the small rituals that make daily life feel meaningful. It can be messy and beautiful. Since the years surrounding COVID, life has changed for all of us. There’s been grief and gratitude. Uncertainty and growth. Along the way, our understanding deepened—of what we value, what we carry privately, and how much the places that hold us truly matter. Much of our work begins by noticing what a client has not yet put into words. We watch where their energy changes, listen for what excites them, and pay attention to the small cues that reveal how they actually live. That observation and intuition help us see where they are now—and imagine where the home might go next. More Than Finished Rooms Interior design outcomes are often shown at the moment of beautiful completion. You know, when the pillows are perfectly fluffed, the drapes are freshly hung, fresh flowers gracefully adorn the spaces, and the natural light is just right. Everything appears still, polished, and carefully curated for the camera. But a home is never truly still. People gather there. Children grow up there. Pets keep us company. Friends stay a little too late. As well, our collections gradually deepen. The traditions in our lives persist and change as do the occupants of a home. Changes in life cause rooms to quietly take on new purposes while the house slowly begins to hold the layered memory of the life lived within it. We believe a beautiful home should support life and never be so special that it asks life to stand aside. A home can be elegant and well curated without being precious. It can be carefully composed and still invite someone to sit down, put their feet up, pour a drink, open a book, or welcome another guest through the door. This is what we mean when we talk about Shaping the Art of Living. It is not a style. It is a way of life. A Philosophy That’s Grown With Us Shaping the Art of Living has been part of Julian Design’s philosophy for decades. Over time, its meaning has deepened because the work itself has taken us into many different ways of living. We have designed for clients across a wide range of circumstances, helped shape early memory-care environments, and worked internationally on hotels and multifamily residences. The settings have changed, but the common denominator has not: we begin with people and how they live. Years of designing, living, losing, celebrating, gathering, and beginning again have taught us that a meaningful home, like life, is layered. Like a duck gliding across a lake, the surface can look effortless while a great deal is happening underneath. Joy and sadness can exist beside one another. A home does not solve life’s difficulties. But it can offer comfort, refuge, familiarity, and a place to return to ourselves. What’s To Come As we reflected on the stories behind our work—and on who we have become—we realized our website no longer felt like a true reflection of Julian Design. The finished rooms have always been only part of the story. Behind them are the people we have known for years, the clients and partners we trust, the places that inspire us, and the many observations gathered over more than four decades of shaping homes around the lives lived within them. So we redesigned the Julian Design website to feel more like us—and to create a richer place to share our philosophy of Shaping the Art of Living. Here, we’ll share our completed projects, but we’ll also open the door wider to share about: projects in progress, materials on the worktable, people and places we admire, and stories from the studio, the barn, the garden, and our own homes and lives. Our new website is now live, and we invite you to visit: www.julianinc.com. Follow us as we begin sharing new editorials and more of the stories that shape the way we think about home. Julie Ann