Inspiring Conversations with Jami Jenkins of Details Design and Forward Rentals

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jami Jenkins.

Hi Jami, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My earliest memories of creating start with Barbie — and Velveeta cheese.

To be honest, I don’t know if our family had the means to buy all the paraphernalia associated with Barbie. It wasn’t about HAVING the things, it was about MAKING the things, and household waste became my treasure chest. Sewing pins with colored heads were clipped, creating pierced earrings for Barbie. Bottle caps became bowls and rubber liners became plates for stylish table settings. The Velveeta cheese boxes? By carefully cutting the boxes, adding quilt batting and fabric I was able to design sofas, chairs, ottomans, and beds. Barbie who? It was never really about Barbie, but at age 9 she certainly delivered the dream world she promised. By middle school, I had moved on to bigger things and was drafting floor plans, knowing someday I wanted to design my own home from the ground up.

Although I’ve always had a passion for interior design, my degree is actually in graphic design. It serves me well and allows me to think about spaces differently, as does my background in event management. For twenty years I owned an event management company, primarily focusing on corporate, association, and nonprofit events. Our scope of services covered nearly everything related to events, from using CAD to maximize seating at ticketed events to creating printed graphics and designing custom websites. These projects challenged me to think about how people flow through a space, how to maximize square footage, and how to delight the participants all while having them believe there was an effortless ease to it all.

I retired from event management at what some would say was an early age. But I still had a drive to create. Four years ago, I realized if I wanted to follow my original passion for interiors, I’d better get going. So at 52 years of age, I started a new business, took classes in interior design to add to my graphic design degree, as well as courses in sustainable design. Full circle? Yes, and I’m living my best life.

Creating functional, beautiful spaces that are comfortable while also stimulating the senses thrills me. My architectural and interior design of the Carpenter’s Cabin, in Laurelville, Ohio, has been shared by many around the world, including accounts like SHLTR and Bob Villa. As our personal vacation home, it was a labor of love, but it is so much more than that. My heart and soul are in that cabin and to read comments from our vacation guests, see it shared on accounts and in magazines around the world, is both humbling and affirming. My husband, Scott, sometimes raises an eyebrow at my ideas, but has learned to trust me… enough to build two more totally unique, luxurious, and sustainable vacation rentals, Twelve34 House and GloCabin, opening mid-year.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
When you’re presenting paradigm shifts there is always pushback. The number of times I’ve heard, “That’s not the way we do it.” or “It can’t be done”. Well, I lost count way back. I’m not here to do what has always been done. If you already know how you want something done, do not hire me. And anyone who knows me at all has heard me say, “Assumptions are dangerous things”. NEVER assume! Most struggles I’ve encountered can be narrowed down to these things. If you hire me, you should expect the unexpected.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Details Design and Forward Rentals?
I’m the owner of Details, my design company, and I’m the only employee. This was a conscious decision after closing my event planning company, which had multiple employees. When you have employees, you are suddenly removed from much of the creative and spend more of your time managing people. As someone who works with suppliers, I already have enough to manage. This also allows me to carefully select which projects interest me and how many I take on a year. As a client, it means you’re working with me, so we’d better like each other. It also means it may take a little longer to complete your project.

An ideal client is one who *truly* wants design direction, not someone who wants me to tell them their own ideas are awesome. I will definitely push you outside of your comfort zone, but if you choose to trust me, you’ll be glad you did. There will be no shiplap and no design cliches, but there will be art, color, and unexpected moments. My specialties lie in space planning and color selection, and while my services are not exclusively sustainable design, I do try to educate clients on the benefits as I present options, hoping to effect change.

No project better exemplifies my philosophy more than the Carpenter’s Cabin. Our vacation rental company was, of course, established to be income producing, but it was founded on everything Scott and I believe in and live out in our own lives. Creating a sustainable vacation home was a no-brainer for us as stewardship in our personal lives is a foundational truth. It was also important to me as a designer to show “this can be done”. The architecture and interiors were designed to prove sustainability, toxin reduction, and beautiful architecture and interiors are possible even on a budget. Creative space planning allowed the small footprint to grow to over 1700sf of interior living space with four bedrooms, three full baths, and two media areas as well as a library.

While size matters when it comes to environmental impact, there are so many other things to consider. The primer is low VOC and the paint is zero VOC with air purifying technology, the flooring is reclaimed barn wood from here in Ohio, we used several Ohio craftspeople for everything from countertops to furniture. The insulation is made from recycled newspapers and the interior and exterior materials are all durable with a long lifecycle and low maintenance. But we didn’t stop there. Each and every item purchased was carefully selected, right down to our Simply Organic Bamboo sheets, our organic French linen duvets dyed with natural dyes, our organic eucalyptus bath towels, performance fabrics without chemical treatment, and on and on.

The Carpenter’s Cabin and our two new vacation rentals, Twelve34 House and GloCabin, are all luxury, sustainable getaways with reduced toxins and carefully selected materials. This is important to our family, because it’s how we live. It’s not a gimmick. We’re not just a box calling ourselves sustainable.

How do you define success?
There’s a moment as a creative in which you hold your breath, waiting for the reaction to your work. It’s a line you balance, between the panic of rejection and excited expectation. When you realize you’ve “delivered” and the client/guest/customer is thrilled because it is so much more than they expected, that’s success, when your heart bursts with pride of accomplishment.

Contact Info:

• Email: forwardrentals2020@gmail.com and detailsdesign.jami@gmail.com
• Website: https://www.staythehockinghills.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carpenterscabinoh/

Image Credits
Moody Cabin Girl
Shelby Wilray
Southern Aerial Drone Service