Paige-ing Interior Designer Rien

I count myself lucky to say this wonderful talented Interior Designer and very funny lady Paige Rien is a friend - one of the very first I made on the Gram! I’m excited to share my little slice of the Interweb with her this week!

Paige lives in the Maryland suburbs with her husband Francis, 4 kiddos and as she put it 1 horribly trained dog!

She shared how her parents building their family home had a formidable effect on her view of home, decor and set the tone for the rest of her life. “I grew up in a suburb of Philadelphia. My parents built our house when I was in third or fourth grade, then they saved up to buy things to furnish it. We had empty rooms for a while and when we did get furniture - the rooms were seldom used. This influenced my philosophy a lot because I don’t believe in waiting and for the most part I’m too impatient to but, I also think the marketplace has changed such that things are more affordable and there are more options direct to consumers as well. My home is livable for my entire family.”

“The first time I ever went camping - I moved all the furniture around in the cabin because it didn’t make sense to me. I was in the fifth grade.”

— Paige Rien

I like to ask every design creative if they decorated their bedroom while growing up. “Absolutely, I decorated and I was super into collages - I made collages all the time and I was really into self-expression and color!"

Paige can you tell the readers where you went to college and what you studied. “I attended Brown University, initially to play basketball but, I didn’t play the whole time I was there. I really wanted to pursue architecture but, didn’t feel like I had the academic chops to do it so I settled for ”Urban Studies” which was a combination of architecture, history, sociology and urban planning.”

“There is a class at Brown that was essentially the introduction to modern architecture and the professor’s name was Dietrich Neumann he explained the history of design from early traditional historicism and the dawn of modernity. How the cultural forces led to modern design and it was fascinating. Modernity came about as an aesthetic but, was rooted in a sort of rebellion or reaction to what many thought as the moral shortcomings of traditional design. There was a great desire to strip away all of the unnecessary - and anything that was overly fussy (all of the cornices/artifice/ornamentation of buildings) that was for some reason seen as not only completely useless but, attached to an outmoded way of thinking and living. I could go on and on about this I found it truly fascinating and it makes me look at every building and every example of design through this lens.”

Paige told me she cringes when she spies people squinting and deliberating over paint chips in a store. “I want to politely say, “You should really be doing this at home. The lighting in here is nothing like your house.”

Paige Stenciled her Kitchen Floor in May 2017 - It still looks brilliant!

Why did you create Paige Rien Design. “This is a long story but, after 9/11 I wanted to become an actor and I felt like it was worth going for it - lots of auditions - I did a bunch of commercials, I was on QVC, lots of theater. On a parallel path (my now husband) Francis purchased a fixer-upper townhouse in Washington, DC that needed a complete overhaul. It had been essentially chewed to the bones from termites. After that we bought three more total fixer-upper‘s and worked on them. I had often gone to auditions with drywall dust on my sleeves. At a certain point my agent said, you know there’s a lot of house shows and they might be a better fit for you and so we started to pursue that.”

“This coupled with the fact that I found out that being 6’1” doesn’t really fit for a lot of the acting jobs I wanted and I also was starting to build this expertise through our fixer-uppers and so first I did an episode of Curb Appeal and then I went on a lot of auditions and did a bunch of pilots and then finally got the job for the show Hidden Potential for six episodes. Six episodes turn into fifty and it was a really great experience for 5 years of my life.”

Tell us why you decided to write your book Love The House You’re In. 40 Ways To Improve Your Home & Change your Life.“Working in TV was great but, I could never really get my full idea expressed because everything was edited down and oversimplified. I also found myself in a position of dictating design to people. I was genuinely constantly interested in the homeowner and what made them tick as a key driver of the design - but this was not the HGTV way - this isn’t the traditional design method either (where the first focus is on the space) I felt like the focus needed to be on the people that were using the space. So I just thought gosh I have a lot to say about this and the idea for the book was born. I want people to really ask themselves who they are and what they really want in life as an integral part of creating their home. My goal has always been to educate, inspire and encourage readers - that they can have a home that they truly love, if they put the work, thought and time in.”

Paige went on to tell me that her helpfulness grew out of her participation in the 12 Steps program.“In my early 20s I went through a crisis and I had to sort of re-learn values and I got a chance to do that through the 12 Steps program. One of the core values of the 12 steps is service and not only is it a value - it’s a tool for gaining sobriety and getting healthy and I think this informed my approach - to be of service to a client, to be of service to the world. I’ve spent plenty of time being self-serving and self-focused but, it has just turned out better when I try to serve and support the needs of others. I also understand that human beings have many different unique needs - we all need and are drawn to different things. Interior design can be very homogeneous and assume that we all want the same thing which is not true. In the 12 steps program you are asked to develop a program of living based on what you need and this is part of the maturation process. I think that has influenced my approach as well.”

Redesign of the Livingroom Built Ins

Paige’s entry hall with art of the Virgin Mary

“I’m at 12 stepper and converted Catholic and my faith is a big part of my work as well. I think the home is a big part of our path to holiness or sanctification or salvation or recovery or healing or whatever you want to call it. The home is a place where not only do we want to express our faith but, I also have the tools of our faith all around us.”

I know Covid has thrown a wrench in plans this year but, do you have anything you would like to tell the readers about. “I’m really excited about a program I’ve developed Revived & Renovated with my friend and mentor Victoria Duerstock. Revived + Renovated merges two passions for me - the home and personal growth. It was created so Victoria and I could share conversations we had been having on all the parallels between the work on the self/in the soul and the work on the home. Victoria helped me understand and appreciate that I had more to say on the house than the garden variety home decor commentary - for both of us, home transcends decor and artifice - it is where we nurture and minister to our families and our own needs - where we work on faith and healing. So many of the same words apply to both self work and home/design work - restoration, revival, renewal, recovery. Each episode focuses on a particular “R” word. We are both excited to have these conversations with each other and share them with the world.”

“People can find us at www.revivedandrenovated.com and on IG. I hope your readers will join us!”

Not only has Paige been on HGTV Curb Appeal and Hidden Potential - Her sons nursery was featured on Apartment Therapy. She is a winner of Pier 1 Imports' Design & Conquer Challenge. Paige was featured in the Fill Home with Art That You Love article and she’s been on the Podcast Ruah Storytellers.