Jenna Dewan & Designer Julien Marbot Infused Her Home With Personal Style

For Julien Marbot of Interior Particulier, interior design is all about collaboration. So it's not a surprise that when Jenna Dewan asked him to help her decorate her new home, the collaborative process was a key element of the project.

"She wanted help realizing a space that felt authentic to her while exploring different design directions and incorporating pieces she had already and loved," Marbot tells MyDomaine. "Throughout the project we were constantly texting about new ideas and sending each other pictures of things that we were seeing and discovering."

Marbot says that communication helped them narrow down their thoughts and ideas to ultimately create a space where Dewan would feel relaxed, be able to welcome guests, and be surrounded by things she loved.

Combining Two Ideas in One Home

Even from the beginning, it was clear Dewan and Marbot had different approaches to decorating the house. As Dewan began traveling more, she sent Marbot pictures of anything she was inspired by: new places, hotels, and even set designs.

Her ideas for the space were more colorful than Marbot's, whereas he says he initially pictured a more neutral palette. But they met in the middle, starting with a soft, neutral base and adding "colorful and eclectic elements" to it.

The result is a perfect combination of Marbot's design expertise and Dewan's personal style. The space is filled with new finds that Marbot sourced alongside pieces that Dewan knew she wanted to keep from her previous home: the family room sectional (in a performance fabric that makes it perfect for kids) and her grandmother's piano just to name a few.

"I was describing to Jenna a dinner party where one of the guests I met stood up at the end of dinner and sat to play at the nearby piano," Marbot recalls. "It was a triumph of a party and I absolutely love this memory. We agreed her grandmother's piano had to be in the entertainment space."

Marbot also wanted to incorporate Dewan's love of crystals into the space—"Jenna has a passion for crystals," he explains. "I did not know much about them before I met her!"

Not only did he utilize decorative crystals as accent pieces, but he infused the space with mineral elements through some of the furniture as well.

The coffee table in the living room is made of travertine, while the one in the family room is marble, for example.

Marbot credits Dewan's strength as a collaborator for the success of the project. "Jenna is the absolute sweetest!" he says. "She surrounds herself with really great people too, which makes working with her really enjoyable. She welcomes new ideas with an open mind and is curious to see what is out there and look at things she would have not picked on her own."

Seeing Design as a Way to Explore

Marbot, who has a self-described "difficult relationship" with trends, chooses to be inspired by art and fashion instead of what's "current." He truly sees design as a way to express oneself. Instead of choosing trends for the sake of trendiness, he suggests looking at design as a way to explore and to have fun.

When it comes to his own design style, he describes it as more of a feeling. "I strive to create spaces that enhance people’s experience," he says. "I don’t know if it is a style per se, but I believe good design makes people feel and that is what we try to achieve with every project."

Marbot's design mindset is perhaps most notable in Dewan's office, which he says didn't turn out exactly how they had envisioned in the beginning. One of the standout pieces is the "dripping" coffee table, which he says they ended up building the space around. "The room took a totally different direction from what we were originally thinking of," he says. "I love the bold peacefulness of the room."

Marbot hopes that the home is a space where Dewan and her fiancé, Steve Kazee, can create memories with their children and guests.

But most of all, Marbot says, "I hope the space translates Jenna's brightness and joie de vivre! The sophisticated textures and bright pieces from all over hopefully show Jenna’s curiosity and love for design."