Design Ideas
She She On Design
Catch up with wallpaper and home goods dynamos, Jenny Hornig and Kate Worum, the women behind She She, as they share their toughest projects, favorite wall art, what design really means to them, and more.
The storytelling around a home project isn’t confined to architectural styles or interior design. Sometimes it’s painted right on the walls. Just ask She She.
Friends (first) and business partners (second), Jenny Hornig and Kate Worum, are the dynamic duo behind She She, the self-described “multidisciplinary print and pattern studio, specializing in wallpaper, fabric, and home furnishings.” The women began their entrepreneurial journey together hand-painting toile-style wall art for clients, but have since expanded far and wide to create designs for products ranging from custom wallpaper to home goods.
Hornig and Worum recently took a trip to Marvin Headquarters in Warroad, MN, to see their Marvin-brand-story toile in its fully installed glory (they’re also the team behind another custom Marvin-exclusive design: the Nordic-inspired wallpaper pictured above), and took a minute to answer some questions. Read on to see where they get their eclectic inspiration from, how they know when a project is done, why it’s hard for a wallpaper designer to choose wallpaper, and more.
What's the most challenging project you've ever taken on?
Jenny: Ceilings are incredibly difficult to hand-paint in a pattern. We rarely have a She She fight, but when we do, there is usually a ceiling involved.
Kate: The project that comes to mind for me right away is the Museum of Ice Cream. We had an extremely quick turnaround to get two wallpapers created, printed, shipped, and installed for the grand opening. It felt like we were on a reality design show. It was challenging, but I enjoyed the pressure!
Where do you get inspiration from?
Jenny: All of our designs are rooted in storytelling, so we truthfully get our inspiration from our lived experiences, as well as the memories our clients share during our ideation session.
Kate: Everywhere! Pop culture, travel, fashion, set design, vintage fabrics, through meaningful storytelling by our clients’ experiences and our own.
Favorite architectural style and why?
Jenny: Modern architecture is the easy answer for this, but honestly, there is such a special place in my bones for brutalist architecture. It's so raw and sparse and honest, I truly love it.
Kate: I love cozy and welcoming architecture. For example, New England-style shingle homes in Maine, Creole-style houses with big, beautiful porches in New Orleans … and then in a dream world, a Nancy Meyers-styled interior. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a Cancer sign or what, but I love a welcoming or hygge aesthetic. I recently heard the style “Grandma Cottage” and that sounds fitting.
How do you know a project is complete?
Jenny: It just feels right. We will often be tweaking icons and adding in additional details.
Kate: When the design feels balanced, color combinations sing, and when nothing needs to be added or taken out … but most importantly when there’s no feedback!
What building/home
/installation/piece do you wish you’d designed?
Jenny: This is an easy answer, The Naniboujou Lodge on Lake Superior. We love the color, the hand-painting, and the energy of the location. Naniboujou, if you are looking for some updates to your guest rooms, we have a large list of wallpaper ideas.
Kate: The ceiling mural by artist Abel Macias in collaboration with Kelly Wearstler in the Downtown L.A. Proper Hotel. It’s so fun and beautiful!
What does good design mean to you?
Jenny: Our goal is to shift our client's life experiences for the better. We are firm believers in the idea that where you spend your time matters. We want to elevate people's lives and make them happier, confident, and safe in their surroundings when our designs are installed.
Kate: There are so many facets and types of design. But, to me, it’s all about surface design. My brain is always thinking about illustrative print and pattern … Whether it’s creating a wallpaper or a miscellaneous freelance project, my work is primarily thinking through pattern layouts, artwork style, color palettes, etc.
When did you know you wanted to be a designer?
Jenny: Truthfully, design and architecture was the only thing that I really wanted to do in college. I thought I was going to go into psychology, and I really did love the classes, but architecture was so challenging and interesting I couldn't resist exploring the degree. After my first class, I declared it my major and took nothing but Architecture and French for the rest of my time in college to complete my degree in time. The sleepless nights and superglued fingers were definitely worth the way that degree made my brain think in new and broader ways.
Kate: My mother surrounded me with arts and crafts at a young age and never stopped nurturing my love for it. She would send me to art camps, classes, and encouraged that I follow it my entire life. I struggled as a student in school, but always thrived in my art classes. It gave me a boost of confidence to have a lane.
How do you incorporate light, air, and views into your designs?
Jenny: It's funny, being a wallpaper company, it would be assumed that we want full walls everywhere, but we classify ourselves under the "more is more" ideology and we prefer every wall and often the ceiling to be covered with the pattern. Windows and doors allow a space to not feel overwhelming with this type of install—they give your breath and eye a place to rest. We love our papers to be punctured by the openings allowing the natural outdoors in to partner with our designs creating a calmer and soothing environment for our clients.
Kate: Translating to pattern—there’s a way to design a wallpaper that doesn’t feel too heavy and busy in a space. For example, instead of a loud color palette and a busy compact design, we can create in calming hues and a larger scale print with ample space between elements leaving the space more light and air.
What’s something that people would find surprising about you?
Jenny: We started our company after knowing each other for a few months. We started working together almost instantly and after about three months we made it official.
Kate: That I find it hard to design wallpaper for my own house. I love designing for a client or to be given a prompt. I thrive with parameters.
What’s next for you?
Jenny: We are continuing to build out our home line with additional soft products, such as pillows and blankets.
Kate: That’s the thing with creative work, you never know what projects will pop up! A few things that are for sure next: More print and pattern, working my way through a few new cookbooks, and enjoying quiet life at my “Cottage Grandma” home with Dan and Clifford (our big, half-lab half-German Shepherd).
Check out previous “On Design” stories, including Lake + Land Studio, Jessica Williams, and Douglas Friedman.
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