Meet the Team: Caroline Jones

It's been a few weeks since our newest designer to the team joined RODE, so we asked Caroline Jones to tell us how she came to be at RODE and what she's been up to since she started...

1. What appealed to you most about interior design that led to you becoming a designer? My love of design has always been there--as a kid (and still) I played Tetris with my furniture and went to any open house I would see in my neighborhood. After working for a couple of years out of undergrad I felt creatively deprived and began taking evening intro to architecture courses at my local community college and the rest is history.

2. How did your career lead you to RODE? Jess Haley was one of my studio professors while I was in graduate school at the BAC and then became my graduate thesis advisor, which is how RODE initially got on my radar. I began following along with the projects RODE was involved in and was intrigued by the range of project types and sizes for a smaller firm. Once I knew there was a position open that I was qualified for I was all over it!

3. Is there a particular focus of interior design you are especially knowledgeable of, or interested in working on at RODE? All of my professional work has been focused in residential design so I am especially excited to be working on future hotel and restaurant projects since that will be an entirely new experience!

4. When you aren’t at work making the world more beautiful, how do you spend your free time? I love being outside--I have a 6 year old dog, Oakley, who I got of course because I love dogs and the companionship aspect, but I also wanted an adventure buddy who would get me outside on some of the less than ideal New England winter days. I hike and downhill ski, but with the pandemic and ski areas closing early I got into cross country skiing and Oakley loves it as much as I do!

5. In your opinion, what is one of the worst interior design trends you’ve seen in the industry (past or present)? What is one of the best (past or present)?

Not all accent walls are created equal! I feel like I am constantly trying to talk a friend out of painting one random wall a different color than the rest. I am really excited to see that bold patterns and color are again being used by the masses in both wallpaper and tile installation. Maybe we will be making fun of our choices in a couple of decades, but for now it's much more fun to be in a space that feels more lively.