Interior designer Jane Cunningham draws inspiration from her client’s passions and interests. She then transforms the home from a place to an animated space.
By Alyssa Gautieri
As president and principal designer of Room Resolutions, Jane Cunningham establishes extensive relationships with her clients to craft spaces that maximize comfort and nurture happiness.
Melting her client’s vision with her own expertise, she is revolutionizing what it means to be an interior designer.
“Our way of looking at design is through a variety of perspectives, and one is through the client’s perspective,” she says. “It starts with understanding our client’s vision, and with a lot of questions from both sides.”
Whether it’s what brought them to the area or what sort of entertaining they enjoy, Jane explores a range of topics with her clients. “It is almost like you’re out on a date,” she jokes.
Serving pineapple-infused sparkling water and pineapple cookies to reflect a welcoming, relaxing atmosphere, the Room Resolutions team invites clients into their space and encourages them to open up.
Sanctuary Seating Area — Los Vegas
This room captures the beauty of the outdoors through the soft curves of the bay window flanked with serene embroidered linen sheers, inviting all to unwind in the refined blue leather chairs.
Cozy Great Room — Henderson, NV
“The grand piano sets the tone for this room (located in Henderson, Nevada), melding wood floor warmth with modern decor, all captured beneath an intricately detailed coffered ceiling,” Jane says.
“Getting to know our clients starts with something really small and grows until we are actually a part of their circle,” Jane explains. “It is the beginning of a long-term relationship so we want to make sure we start with a really open conversation. I want to know about their passions, likes and dislikes.”
With every bit of information shared, Jane begins to rapidly imagine her client’s dream based on newly-learnt insights into their lives.
“It can be overwhelming to create the home you love, and we are happy to guide our clients and have a home that they are proud of and want to show off,” says Amanda Cunningham, design manager at Room Resolutions and Jane’s daughter.
“The difference with working with Room Resolutions is the process and experience we guide our clients through. Clients appreciate our design project management framework and are grateful for the experience and feel understood.”
To create the perfect home for clients, Jane not only talks extensively with clients but with their homes as well. “I know it sounds crazy to personify the home,” she jokes, “because we are talking about an inanimate object and we are telling it to speak to us, but it can and it does. You want to make sure that when you are putting a home together, it delivers what you’ve asked of it.”
Whether it’s an oceanfront estate or a ranch overlooking the mountains, Room Resolutions has worked on unique projects across the globe — from Sydney and Copenhagen to Honolulu and Los Angeles. “I think we have an infinity to each place that we do, based on our passion that we can draw out of every client,” Jane says.
Always up for a challenge, Jane is constantly coming up with innovative ideas to match the unique visions of her clients. “If the challenge is exciting, then the challenge isn’t difficult. It is worthy,” she says.
One of her recent challenges — as she knew very little about horses — was a horse ranch in Colorado. “I learned so much about those horses and began to understand the owner’s passion for those horses,” says Jane.
Meanwhile a 20,000-square-foot mansion in Las Vegas posed a different set of challenges.
“How do we make this a family place, and make it feel intimate?” Jane asked. “We accomplished that, and it was really exciting for us to turn something so large into something so intimate and inviting.”
Jane has grown Room Resolutions around the idea of going above and beyond — arguing that every detail in a home must combine to create a cohesive space. “If something doesn’t feel right in a home, it is probably because you are not pulling its full potential,” she says.
A rule of thumb for the Room Resolutions staff — a home is not complete until each designer could imagine themselves in that space. “One of the things that our team always says, when we are nearing the end of a project, is ‘do we all feel like we could live here?’” Jane explains. “Even if it is totally against what we would want as a style, if we feel like we could live here, then we are doing our job.”
“We gave it a try, and we haven’t looked back since,” Jane says. “It is like having your most trusted, loyal companion with you all the time.” — Jane
Constantly accepting new challenges, Jane never grows bored of her love for interior design — which she says blossomed when she was only six years old.
“I think I always had it in me, and I finally allowed myself to break out,” she says of her decision to pursue interior design full time. “I had this wonderful opportunity to start Room Resolutions and begin on the interior design quest.”
A second important milestone in Jane’s journey was when her daughter joined Room Resolutions. While the two had not planned to become a duo, everything began to fall into place once they began a team.
“We gave it a try, and we haven’t looked back since,” Jane says. “It is like having your most trusted, loyal companion with you all the time.”
“It’s like working with your best friend every day,” Amanda agrees. “We have a connection that allows us to communicate in ‘code’ as we say. I already know what she is thinking and can anticipate her next steps and vice versa.” — Amanda
“It’s like working with your best friend every day,” Amanda agrees. “We have a connection that allows us to communicate in ‘code’ as we say. I already know what she is thinking and can anticipate her next steps and vice versa.”
The duo credits much of Room Resolution’s success to their genuine love and care for each client and project.
“We care so much about our business together,” Jane says. “We feel like we have created something extremely unique in the business world, as well as the design world.”
Photography by Shay Velich
