Interior Designer Corey Damen Jenkins Offers His Best Traditional Design Tips

New traditionalist designer Corey Damen Jenkins' new book is Design Remix: A New Spin on Traditional Rooms. In this lavishly illustrated book, the Detroit-born and New York City-based interior designer and star of HGTV's Showhouse Showdown offers plenty of design inspiration for bringing a global mix, color and eclectic elements into traditional rooms to give them a fresh look. Why is Corey so drawn to tradition? "I connect to traditionalism because it is timeless and classic. We live in a world where people don’t want to re-do their home every few years as trends come in and out of style so quickly. Whether it is traditional with more of a modern, contemporary edge or with more of a neo-classic maximalist edge, it is something that remains evergreen, which is especially important right now."

"People want to live well and focus on having great experiences in life," says Corey of what he sees as his new traditionalist design mantra. "You don’t want to be constantly tasked with redoing your home because the choices you made were of the moment, then fell out of favor as trends shifted. You don’t have that problem as much with traditionalism, as long as it is kept fresh, vibrant and modern." One design trend that Corey has seen enough of? Barn doors. "They are very clumsy. I think it’s best if they don’t stand the test of time," says Corey.

Corey is a big fan of wallpaper on ceilings which he often refers to as "the fifth wall." But he does have some wallpaper words to the wise: "Make sure you have an understanding of what the wallpaper's repeat is and that the scope and pattern work," he says. "Not everything is meant to go on the ceiling. Sometimes people don’t check to see how the full pattern will run on a ceiling. It needs to be directional in a way that works well for an entire expanse of the ceiling and not just a small swatch." Corey says he kept the room balanced by combining that graphic pattern on the ceiling with a sedate, deep sea blue paint on the walls.

Want to achieve a dramatic look like this? Corey created a rich pattern play of wallpapers and curtains in this guest room whose 15-foot ceiling allowed him to make what he calls "bold choices."

"It’s all about scale," says Corey, about pulling off multiple patterns and colors. "Lay out your patterns in such a way so that there is appropriate scale differentiation. The same applies to color. You can’t have too much of a good thing, so be sure to carefully plan: lay things out, sketch them and measure before you execute and start spending money."