Interior design is a personal art.

At the same time, it’s an act of communion.

When designer Hazel-Jane Kalyn accepts an assignment, her goal is to create a truly unique room, suite, office or storefront that reflects the personality of its occupants.

This takes preparation time. It takes getting-to-know-you time. And Hazel-Jane, senior designer for Origin Design of Calgary, is prepared to invest as much of that time as required to get in close touch with a client’s innermost wishes, needs and dreams.

She brings an artist’s eye to every job. She also brings an otherworldly colour sense and an uncanny gift for perspective and proportion.

Business Edge
Senior designer Hazel-Jane Kalyn and daughter Jessica

But perhaps more importantly, Hazel-Jane brings empathy to her work. There are times she thinks it may be the most valuable attribute an interior designer can offer. Because at Origin Design, they believe that home is where the heart is.

If you ask them to change the look, the feel, the emotional texture of your house or suite, you can rest easily in the assurance that the finished product will welcome you like a cherished and comforting friend at the close of the working day.

Origin’s design philosophy reflects Hazel-Jane’s belief that pleasing home and work environments are essential to mental health and emotional well-being. When your mood demands privacy, your home should be your refuge, your fortress against the world.

Yet when company comes to call, a well-designed living interior always rises to the occasion. It helps you to put your best foot foward. It serves as a convivial and hospitable setting, whether the occasion is an upbeat dinner party or intimate candlelight and wine.

Above all, the room or home must reflect the clients’ own sense of inner well-being. And the look, the feel, the function of the space in question must stand as something uniquely and forever their own.

Origin Design does not work with pre-conceived patterns. They refuse to resort to cookie-cutter “theme” designs. On the contrary, they guarantee a unique and creative response to each individual assignment.

Hazel-Jane is a staunch believer in the informal approach, and she’s certainly not one to stand on ceremony. But she does admit to cringing slightly when people refer to her as a decorator. She prefers to describe herself as a problem solver.

Origin Design relies on Hazel-Jane’s taste, versatility and practical understanding of structural design to solve unforeseen obstacles on your road to an ideal living space.

Whether you’ve got an acoustics problem, an esthetics problem or a wiring problem, Hazel-Jane will dig deep in her bag of skills and resources to find the solution.

Because Hazel-Jane not only wields the palette of an artist, she’s also a pretty fair hand with a hammer, chisel and saw.

“I was born to build,” smiled Hazel-Jane, whose grandfather was a master carpenter. Thoroughly qualified in the art and craft of interior design, she is also knowledgeable when it comes to the basics of the construction trades.

Determined to learn from the ground up, Hazel-Jane spent months pursuing a post-graduate course, of her own design, in building construction. Without compensation, she followed drywallers, electricians, plumbers, carpenters and structural designers on their rounds to develop the hands-on expertise that her clients value so highly.

“I did the tough jobs,” she grinned. “But I learned. I may not have all the (construction) answers but I know where to go to get the answers.”

Because, let’s face it. A picture-perfect room doesn’t amount to much unless it’s able to combine full functionality, trouble-free maintenance and all-around utility with the maximum in visual and tactile appeal.

“Making it work. Getting to the heart of what people need,” Kalyn said. “There’s more to this job than choosing the right colour.”

Origin Design is pleased to arrange consultations that can help you find a solution to your own design challenges, whether they’re large or small, commercial or residential.

All it takes is a telephone call to 403.251.0071. Set up a getting-to-know-you appointment with senior designer Hazel-Jane Kalyn and start getting to the heart of the matter.

Enjoyment. Esthetic beauty. Function. They’re the keys to effective interior design and the cornerstone of Origin Design’s approach to each and every assignment.