New home design and retail boutique opens in Sewickley

Jennifer Janeway of Cranberry is learning there’s no place like home.

She opened Jennifer Janeway Home in a brick-and-mortar store on Aug. 2 in Sewickley after operating her home design business from her residence for five years in Cranberry.

Known for her vibrant and vivid design choices, Janeway is excited to join the village shops of Sewickley and help clients design and decorate their homes.

“We love color and pattern,” Janeway said. “We can adapt to different client styles. We love incorporating textures and different colors.”

The home decor showroom is located at 438 Division St., tucked away off of busy Beaver Street.

“I always loved Sewickley. We were looking for space and looked at a lot of commercial spaces and found this building that has character and charm,” Janeway said.

The entryway welcomes customers into a light-filled foyer and once inside the boutique showroom, home areas — including a kitchen — are designed in warm and vivid tones, with myriad home furnishings including candles, pottery, pillows, tabletop decor, blankets, kitchenware, glassware, furniture and barware.

Janeway is a busy mother of two young children, a wife and a former IT healthcare executive. She graduated from North Allegheny High School in 1994 and the University of Pittsburgh.

A few years ago, she decided to ditch her corporate job and hasn’t looked back.

“I did that for 25 years so this is my second career,” said Janeway, 48. “I was looking for a new challenge and something different and I’d always been a design enthusiast.”

She aims to help clients navigate the design landscape and avoid getting overwhelmed.

“I love it. It’s definitely a leap of faith, but everyone coming in is welcoming,” Janeway said.

With no formal interior design training, Janeway said design came naturally to her and she always enjoyed interior design.

She honed her skills in her own home and then relatives and friends sought out her design advice and tips.

“I’ve always had this innately, but even with that talent you have to nurture it, train it and continue to grow it,” she said.

Her career turning point happened when she and her husband built a home seven years ago and had to make design decisions together.

“Everyone told me I would hate it because there would be so many choices to be made, but I love it. I love the choosing. It was a blank canvas and as I saw the process something started to spark in me and I decided to change gears and do something different.”

The clientele is mostly residential, primarily serving the northern suburbs including Wexford, Cranberry and Sewickley.

Janeway is joined by professional associate designer Dorothy Fleming of Zelienople, who studied interior design at the University of Akron.

Clients can book an in-person consultation for 60 minutes ($250) or 90 minutes ($350) where Janeway and Fleming talk them through their space, brainstorm ideas, provide suggestions and suggest colors, pattern choices and more.

“They can take that and run with it or they can engage our services,” Janeway said.

Kitchen and bathrooms are the most in-demand interior inquiries.

“Once you get to a 20-year period, no matter what you’ve done with decorating, it can start to look dated,” Janeway said.

The new business is a hybrid studio/shop concept.

A separate room is filled with fabrics and wallpaper samples.

“Being here we’re surrounded by the village of Sewickley and it’s been great. We have lots of organic foot traffic because Sewickley is a walking community,” Janeway said.

Home furnishing pieces start at $25 and up.

“We have something for everyone to be able to take home and put in their home. We want to make this a fun space for the community,” she said.

Joyce Hanz | TRIBLIVE

Popular sellers are rechargeable cordless lamps, tabletop items, table settings including linens and candles, pottery, ceramics and glassware and vases.

A mix-and-match lamp space, Bloom Bar with create-your-own faux floral arrangement selections and fabrics and wall covering library help customers find something perfect for their space.

Fleming said having a showroom affords more interaction with the public, clients and potential clients.

“It’s really exciting to be able to show our taste in design through the product in the store to new customers who’ve never heard of us before. Even just helping customers to select a pair of mix and match lamps is enjoyable because you give them a taste of how we go about designing and selecting items for a home,” Fleming said.

Joyce Hanz | TRIBLIVE

Furniture and home decor in the retail showroom of Jennifer Janeway Home in Sewickley.

First-time customer Debby Fritz of Middlesex Township discovered Janeway during a random internet search.

“I was downsizing from a 100-year-old farmhouse to a new house,” Fritz said.

Fritz needed design input for the high ceilings in the living room, master bedroom, master bathroom, window treatments and carpet selection.

“She’s really personable and takes all the time you need to help. If you’ve never built a house before, it can be overwhelming. She’s so good at putting fabrics, colors, textures and styles together,” Fritz said.