Dunn-Edwards Portraits: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities

Jenae Berg is a talented interior designer with a passion for creating beautiful and functional spaces. With a degree in Interior Design from San Francisco State University (SF State) and nearly two decades of experience in the industry, Jenae has done it all: from residential renovations and new builds to large-scale commercial developments. She is the owner of her own design firm, Paper Boat Interiors, where she juggles client needs, vendor and contractor coordination, project timelines, budgets, and design execution—all while refining design styles and learning from the challenges that come with each project.

When it comes to color, Jenae has a go-to white that she relies on for its versatility. "Certain white colors are really hard to find, but there's one that's looked good in every house I've put it in. My tried and true color that I've used in a ton of houses Warm White [DEW380]," she shares. Jenae appreciates its crisp, warm quality, which provides the perfect background for other design elements. "I love having a good canvas to layer in certain things for the house—tile, stone, fabrics, and architectural details," Jenae explains.

Reflecting on her journey, Jenae shares a valuable lesson: the importance of getting a formal education. "Extension classes, community college, or some other type of schooling is important. There are a lot of designers who don't have the formal training in CAD drawings, and knowing AutoCAD is a really good skill to have," she advises.

Jenae's own education played a pivotal role in laying the foundation for her career. At SF State, the interior design curriculum covered everything from textile design and color theory to the business side of interior design. "I don't know of many other interior designers who had a business class," Jenae points out, emphasizing the importance of this knowledge for survival in the industry. "Even if you're working for another company, you need to understand how business works."

While studying, Jenae worked part time at the San Francisco Design Center in the Cowtan & Tout fabric sample library, a role that proved invaluable. This experience allowed her to learn about products, understand their applications, and network with working professionals. "By the time I graduated, I already knew all of the local designers because of working in the showroom," she recalls.

After Jenae graduated, her San Francisco Design Center connection led to an internship that started just before the subprime mortgage crisis caused the Great Recession. The boutique firm specialized in high-end residential projects, and it was impacted by the downturn. Jenae explains, "Within that first year, the design market got hit so hard ... our industry was really struggling." This first major challenge of her career turned into a big opportunity. Although she started out doing "grunt work," as the firm downsized to stay afloat, Jenae was given more and more responsibility. "It was a difficult time, but it was fortunate for me because it totally fast-tracked my career. I was able to take on jobs and manage them way earlier than I would have normally," Jenae explains. She describes this period as an intensive learning experience, "I was a sponge and tried to take in everything. A lot of the ways I now organize my own business, I took from there."

After five years, Jenae moved back to Los Angeles (were she's originally from) and took on an administrative role in another boutique design firm. Although she had received a few other job offers, this one stood out because it was a different style of design than she had worked with before; it was more dark and moody. While she had been looking for more of a design assistant role, this firm had a void they needed to fill, and Jenae knew it would be a great learning experience. She explains, "Ultimately I took the job because I was interested in learning more about that side of things, how to run a business, accounting, reconciliations, etc. I learned a lot and it was really fun." The position provided valuable insights into the intricacies of running a business.

After a year and a half, Jenae was contacted by a former coworker who had left the first boutique during the economic downturn, and moved to a firm in Los Angeles. Now she was on the move again, and needed a talented designer to take her place. Jenae recounts, "So I went down and met with the owners, and they were like, 'When do you want to start?' It literally landed in my lap." The owners of the new firm liked that Jenae had been trained by her former coworker, so they both worked in a similar way in terms of taking notes, organizing projects, and communicating with vendors. It seemed like the perfect fit, and it turns out, it was.

Jenae stayed with the new firm for a decade and rose through the ranks. She explains, “They didn’t really do titles there, but basically I started off as a design assistant and ended up as their most senior designer.”

Eventually, Jenae felt ready to start her own business. "I always wanted to go off on my own," she says. The birth of her daughter further fueled her ambition. "I wanted the flexibility to balance my home life and work life. For example, I'm very involved in my daughter's school—and being able to have those moments is so important to me," she explains. Although she tried to break away to start her own practice in 2020, that effort coincided with the beginning of the COVID pandemic. The owners convinced her to stay on a little longer, and that extra year and a half became an unexpected, but useful training ground for her. During this time, Jenae was able to take on side projects, allowing her to grow her confidence and refine her business skills. Then in late 2021, she took the leap into opening her own design firm and hasn't looked back.

Jenae's insights offer valuable guidance for aspiring designers, emphasizing the importance of a well-rounded education, practical experience, and a keen understanding of the business side of design. And her story proves that even the most unexpected challenges can be transformed into stepping stones on the path to a rewarding and successful design career. Dive deeper into Jenae's design work here.

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