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FeedNo Need to Whisper
Tom DeLonge is a rock star; his wife, Jennifer, is a nationally recognized designer. But in their home, there’s no tippy-toeing around designer furniture.
With an MTV Moon Man award on their Christian Liagre coffee table, Jennifer and Tom DeLonge could very well turn a tour of their Rancho Santa Fe home into a highbrow affair. As the frontman for Angels & Airwaves and former guitarist/vocalist/founding member of blink-182, Tom is a rock star whose voice is heard around the world. Jennifer, an interior and furniture designer, has an A-list following of her own, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Courtney Cox, both of whom chose items from her Child line to furnish their nurseries. But ask the DeLonges what life is like for them, and you won’t get a rundown full of glitz and glam. Instead, they’ll probably tell you about last night’s Scrabble match with Ava, their young daughter.
“We love to play games like Scrabble. My 5-year-old is amazing at it,” says Jennifer, who designed their 6,000- square-foot home with a growing family in mind. “The open floor plan and mixed use of the main room really suits us well. We cook, do homework, watch movies and play games as a family—all in the great room.”
Recently, Jennifer introduced new pieces to her children’s furniture line and also launched Fresh Vintage, a line of redesigned furniture, case goods and accessories. Among her favorites is a high-back wing sofa with matching ottoman she reupholstered with charcoal fabric and chrome nail heads. She also found a 1930s Victorian bed frame and painted it a high-gloss black. “A little Victorian, a lot of sexy” is how she describes the redesigned piece. The same could be said of her signature style: a confident mixing of old and new, evident not only in her furniture but throughout the home she shares with Tom, Ava, Jonas (their 2-yearold son) and dogs Chloe and Grey.
Alongside a modern Holly Hunt sofa and ottomans by Minotti is one of Jennifer’s favorite pieces from the Child collection. Charles, a round side table, also serves as storage to “hide the growing collection of toys in the living room.” The Edward Daybed, on the other hand, is a grownup piece they all use. In a manner consistent with the way she dresses, Jennifer picked the bed from her new collection and placed it among sexy, sleek, modern pieces.
And what about that fabulous Christian Liagre coffee table? While it provided inspiration for the design of the room, it—like the rest of the house—doesn’t get whiteglove treatment.
“I will own that piece till I’m 100!” Jennifer says. “I have watched my children grow up around it, climb on it, dance on it . . . It’s starting to get beat up, and I love that.”
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