Jade Joyner, an interior designer and co-owner of Metal + Petal, doesn’t believe in one-size-fits-all design. Her Athens studio and storefront offers a glimpse at her aesthetic. The shelves are a kaleidoscope of decor that is new and old, European and Southern, colorful and muted, and a variety of patterns, materials and finishes. Here are Joyner’s tips on interior style, from planning to finishing touches.

 Why It’s Newsworthy: Jade Joyner is a local interior designer gaining traction for her projects across the state and country.  

Comments trimmed for length and clarity.

Get Inspired

I don’t think you can really be inspired sitting behind a computer all day. You have to be out in the world.

Open the Paint

Anyone can paint. Getting rid of whatever your builders put in your house is super easy.

Opt for Timelessness

Anything that you see that’s trending on TikTok or Pinterest or Instagram, you don’t want to do. You want to get ahead of the trends. Anything you can buy at HomeGoods is over. So, elements that you can use to keep classic are stones, marbles, mixing and incorporating different metals, not matching all of your finishes. Definitely embracing color but in a subtle way.

Bring in Nature

A plant — it cleans the air, it brings texture, almost all of our projects have 25-100 plants in them. I just love it. And they’re sculptural as well.

Lighten Up

Light fixtures are the jewelry of your room, and the key is to have them be the right scale and to use the right material. You don’t want to use a glass light fixture with a glass top table. That gives you nothing. You want to make sure you’re mixing materials, but I think they’re super important; the first thing I do is change out all my light fixtures in my house.

Seasonal Shake Up

I’m not definitely not a pumpkin spice kind of girl — no offense to anyone who is. We kind of look for something that’s a little avant-garde or outside the norm. Layering your homes, adding in more warm colors, kind of going for that maximalist approach — that’s what I do for fall.

Find Balance

I don’t like rooms that are just so Laura Ashley, overpoweringly sweet, and I don’t like a room that’s too heavy and strong. We always want to make sure there’s that balance in the room, and it’s just important, just like in every other aspect of your life, to have a balance so it’s not too hard or too soft.

Erin Kenney is a senior majoring in journalism and English.