Our Favorite Black Owned Home Brands
Courtesy of Estelle Colored Glass via Instagram
The past few months have been a painful time wrought with emotion in America: a long overdue reexamination of race relations in this country, brought to the forefront after the death of George Floyd, ignited a firestorm of protests across the globe. We are all listening, learning and engaging in important conversations in all areas of our lives, from the office to the dinner table, on how to amplify Black and BIPOC voices in different ways. Here at Fenimore Lane, we are interested in how we can do better, listen more, and be more inclusive in all aspects of the design industry.
The interior design industry can often feel as if it operates in a bubble, far removed from these types of conversations or national events. But it shouldn’t be: it has long been clear that people of color have been underrepresented in the design industry. Ignited by the passion behind the protests, we felt a roundup of our favorite Black owned home brands to support could be a great place to start. We would love to add to this list, so if there is a company you absolutely love, shoot us an email at inquire@arielokin.com, and we’ll continue to flesh it out!
Courtesy of Ronni Nicole via Instagram
RONNI NICOLE
Ronni Nicole’s sculptural plaster floral collages first caught our eye back in early June on Instagram – their delicate beauty is striking yet soft, and absolutely stunning. Ron creates a sculptural collage from the plants growing on her land; she starts her day with daily walks in the garden gathering flowers that speak to her the most – lately, she’s been obsessed with poppies, avens, and cinquefoil. Before getting started, Ron rolls out a slab of clay on her slab roller, and then lays the flowers in a design and presses them into the clay. After she removes them, she paints in the floral details with white plaster as their first layer and uses a pigmented plaster for the background layer. When the plaster sets, she peels away the clay revealing a Wedgwood inspired plaster and paper relief wall art that’s sure to be a focal point of your walls for years to come. We’re currently on the waitlist for her newest collection, dropping on the first day of fall, September 22nd.
Courtesy of Ariene Bethea via Instagram
DRESSING ROOM INTERIORS VINTAGE SHOP
Ariene Bethea is the zesty founder and shopkeeper behind Dressing Rooms Interiors Studio, a boutique vintage furniture shop we recently found through a fun House Beautiful article about shopping vintage goods on Instagram. Fueled by the thrill of the hunt for one-of-a-kind vintage pieces, Ariene has a flair for mixing vintage with modern day furnishings to create bold and culturally inspired designs. Ariene grew up in a home infused with art and culture, which has undoubtedly influenced her casual collected style and playful use of patterns and colors. The huntress’s wise take on vintage shopping? Collecting is about “judgement, taste and imagination.” We couldn't possibly agree more! Check out this Talk Shop interview we recently did with Ariene for her favorite home picks, tips and more.
Courtesy of Nicole Gibbons via Instagram
CLARE PAINT
As an interior designer and blogger, Nicole Gibbons has years of experience with the paint-selection process – a process that most of us stress over. In founding Clare Paint, she aimed to simplify choosing a color by using her expertise to develop and curate the perfect shades of paint that are washable and almost odorless. They even offer free color consultations to help make the process as seamless as possible!
Courtesy of Sabai Design via Instagram
SABAI DESIGN
Caitlin de Lisser-Ellen and Phantila Phataraprasit, the co-founders of the Sabai Design, were inspired to launch their company when they went to ditch their IKEA furniture from college, and realized there weren't many furniture brands for young folks that were affordable, eco-friendly, and easy to assemble. Enter: Sabai. The direct-to-consumer brand’s sofas are sustainably designed and flat-packed, with environmental consciousness driving every facet of their design process.
Courtesy of Sheila Bridges via Instagram
SHEILA BRIDGES DESIGN
New York–based interior designer Sheila Bridges was inspired by traditional French toile to create Harlem Toile du Juoy, an updated motif that reflects the day-to-day ebullience of her own neighborhood. The print has been featured in The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Museum of Arts and Design, and even the Musée de la Toile de Jouy in France, and is in the permanent collections at The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. We love Sheila’s work and particularly loved her dog themed room, “La Salon Des Chiens” at Kips Bay in 2019!
Courtesy of Estelle Colored Glass via Instagram
ESTELLE COLORED GLASS
Estelle Colored Glass is a luxury brand of hand-blown colored stemware and cake stands, offered in a mix of gorgeous jewel tones and soft pastels. Founded by Stephanie Summerson Hall, the Estelle Colored Glass collection is composed of original commissioned pieces made by glass artisans in Poland who possess a rich 100-plus-year-old history. Estelle Colored Glass is inspired by Stephanie’s grandmother, Estelle, who loved antiquing and collected colored glass.
Courtesy of Johanna Howard Home via Instagram
JOHANNA HOWARD HOME
The roots of Johanna Howard’s products are in her native Sweden. As a young girl, she sat in her mother’s atelier as she meticulously crafted dresses by hand. Johanna learned to appreciate the quality and versatility that only hand work can achieve, and it is where she was surrounded by the clean elegance of Scandinavian design. As a young woman, Johanna took these influences with her to America to attend fashion school and then to establish herself as a successful clothing designer for companies like BCBG, Express and Gap – her accessible designs have been worn by women all over the country. Now, Johanna has turned her eye to designing for the home. Through her travels, she has discovered incredibly talented artisans and collaborates with them to elevate their traditional craftsmanship with refined composition. Whether engaging the dyers in the highlands of Peru or the weaving families of Portugal, she envisions the possibilities of their techniques and incorporates their unique skills into her products. We particularly love the dip-dyed throws!
Courtesy of Jean Brownhill via Instagram
SWEETEN
Sweeten is a unique end-to-end experience that empowers homeowners to renovate fearlessly. They match rigorously vetted general contractors to each project, offer intuitive online tools, and provide support and advice from start to finish – and having personally used it for clients at our firm, we can attest, they are the best. Sweeten created a platform and a process that unites transparency, education, and data for smoother, saner renovations. Trained architect Jean Brownhill founded Sweeten (as in “home, sweet home”) in 2011 after a maddening attempt at renovating her own Brooklyn townhouse. Today, Sweeten has residential and commercial projects worth more than $1 billion in their pipeline.
Courtesy of Pur Home via Instagram
PUR HOME
PUR Home is a natural, non-toxic Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergent and Household Cleaners product line. PUR selects organic and raw ingredients that are plant-based, biodegradable and low toxic, and all of their products rate a 1-2 on the EWG’s website. PUR Home was created by Angela Richardson, the CEO, formulator and product developer at the company. She is passionate about natural products and began her journey into eco-friendly living seven years ago when she made her first ever natural bar of soap (she’s been obsessed ever since!) Angela’s love for ingredients and their function in products is what drives her to create natural household and skincare products.
Courtesy of the Jungalow via Instagram
JUNGALOW
Jungalow started as a design blog in Justina Blakeney's tiny, plant-filled living room back in 2009, and has since grown into a lifestyle brand and the go-to source for “jungalicious” design goods and inspiration. Their shop features signature Justina Blakeney Home and Jungalow collections designed in their Los Angeles studio, as well as a curated ensemble of creative, colorful, modern goods from around the globe. Jungalow also offers an exclusive, rotating selection of high quality, limited edition art prints from an international group of female artists.
