Angels & Armchairs: An Interview with Jennifer DeLonge (wife of Tom DeLonge)

Wife of Blink 182 and Angels & Airwaves front man Tom DeLonge, Jennifer DeLonge is best known for her modern children’s furniture line that is a favorite of celebrity moms from Gwyneth Paltrow to Courteney Cox Arquette and Mira Sorvino. She recently sat down with me to talk about what inspires her, what makes her giddy and her plans for the future.

You’re married to Tom DeLonge, best known for his roles in Blink 182 and Angels & Airwaves. Does the whole family go on tour together?  
Yes, we go on tour as a family. It’s quite an adventure! It’s a lot of fun to show Ava (5 years old) the world. Jonas (1 year old) is a little young, but he will catch up. 

Has that had any impact on your career?
Yes... Hugely. I have a very broad worldview approach because of the influence of travel -- from being a kid in a military family to touring with Tom. I am highly influenced by European simplicity and overseas fashion. They are always so far ahead, it’s fun to see it hit here in the States months later. 

How do you balance kids, family, a tour, a business?
It’s a day-by-day, task-by-task balance, for sure. We try to plan a lot between my husband and me. For example, who will pick up Ava or who will take Jonas to a class, etc. We are a very hands-on family so it’s always a matter of juggling everything on our plates and taking time to find that balance. And we make sure to try our best to make time for everything -- whether it’s attending a school event, a walk as a family or a movie premiere for Tom and I. Having your own time as a couple and your own time as a mom is definitely a factor that I think helps keep me well-rounded. 

Do you ever feel burned out?
I think every mom gets burned out at times. We are predisposed to think we can and have to accomplish everything. We do, after all, wear 20 different hats, from therapist to doctor to cook… in some cases entrepreneur, CEO, etc., so it’s understandable that we all have our moments of feeling a little burned out. 

What’s your go-to cure for the burnt-out feeling?
The gym -- a good workout always lets off some steam! And watching really bad (PG) reality TV with my daughter makes us laugh. 

There has been a great increase in visibility for Mommypreneurs in recent years. What inspired you to strike out on your own?
I have always considered myself an entrepreneur. Well before we started our family, I had my own design company, stationery shop... and being a trained designer and now a mom, launching the furniture line was really a  natural progression. 

Do you feel that parenthood propelled you towards your own business?
Yes, of course, my children are my muses! And while I’m doing more with interiors and refinished one-of-a-kind pieces -- stuff I’ve always loved -- it was becoming a mom that helped me find a really great design niche in children’s furniture. As a mom I realized there was a void to be filled there. 

How did you decide on furniture as your medium?
That was easy. Furniture makes me absolutely giddy. It’s what I love, it’s my industry, it’s my roots as a designer. 

What influences your design decisions?
I am a functional designer so I am highly influenced by products missing in the marketplace. The Ava, my first product, filled a missing niche in the retail world. It was such a rewarding experience. 

Do you adhere to a particular design philosophy?
First of all, go with your gut! Clean lines, graphic contrasts and good branding come after that. 

Some designers are influenced by nature, some by industrial lines. Where do you get the ideas for your designs?
Form follows function is a strong belief that I hold. 

Do you have a favorite designer?
Right now, I would say Marimekko… I am so into textiles. I love the simplicity and I see it making a big comeback in new textiles. It’s just a great sort of cycle of new designers borrowing from the old. It adds such flattery to a well-designed house.

We’ve all seen the Ava chair, and your new tables. What’s next?
Wow. What’s not next? We’ve been so busy. Being a mom for the second time and watching Ava grow really sparked the designer in me!

As Ava grows, so does the Ava line. We have child-size Ava chairs and we added Ava sofas for two -- for lounging, for video games… they are so much fun!

Do your kids have opinions on your furniture?
Yes, Ava does. She is always our first tester. Jonas is too young to wrap his head around design, but he is very inquisitive. He likes to drop chalk and other items into the lid of the new toy storage and try to figure out where it’s going. It’s so funny! 

Do you use the kids in your R&D process?
Yes, and they now fight over the toy storage and who is allowed to try and draw on it. 

Did you design Ava and Jonas’s nurseries? What is your favorite element in each?
Yes! Jonas’s room has an incredible art wall with mismatched art -- it’s my favorite wall in the house. And his day bed is one of our new vintage pieces. Right now we lounge on it together, and it will be his bed once he is out of the crib. It’s a great transitional piece. And the David Hicks fabric is such a classic icon print -- I’ll never get tired of looking at it!

Ava’s current room has a big canopy bed. I love the bed because she picked the fabric. The best part of the whole room -- it’s so bright! Only my daughter would agree to use it! I love the hanging light in her bathroom, too. It’s a bright yellow capiz shell lamp -- it’s fabulous! And it hangs on an acid green wall -- so the pop factor is fantastic!

Both our kids probably have the coolest bathrooms in our home.

What advice would you give parents on integrating children into their adult spaces?
Use multifunctional pieces like our new Charles storage in the main living areas so your family can really be a family. Pieces like these keep everyone happy. When the kids are at play, they have toys within their reach… mom and dad can enjoy a drink when the day is done with toys in their places. When you come into our home, you see a design home, but there’s no doubt we’re a family. We live cohesively, and that doesn’t have to mean toys bulging out from under the sofa. With well-designed storage, multipurpose furniture, your side table can be your toy storage and your coffee table can double as their creative station.

What do you tell parents about how to create a personal space devoted to their kids?
Understand what they are into and what inspires them. Take it in a 2-step process. Figure out a way to integrate their current favorite thing -- like art projects or firetrucks -- and be a forward thinker. If you have an artist, have storage -- maybe a cabinet -- in the main room devoted to housing your child’s art supplies. It should be easily accessible to them and closed off when needed. Chalkboard and corkboard on the inside of the doors will allow them to showcase their art and make them so proud! If firetrucks are the order of the day, create a modern purist display area of red firetrucks in your living space. It helps kids to know where things go when you are cleaning up and allows them to display their current pride.

Thanks so much for sitting down with me -- this was a lot of fun!
My pleasure!

120 Family182 Published 10/11/07   Message Add to Friends

 

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