Leslie Winans Helps Clients Turn Their Spaces Into Dream Homes

Since graduating from FIDM, Leslie Winans has gone on to start her own interior decorating business, Grace and Jane Design, in Phoenix, Arizona.

Born and raised in southern California, Leslie first heard about FIDM from her sister, who was already attending the college as a Merchandise Product Development major. Leslie received her Associate's of Arts degree in Visual Communications at the Los Angeles campus and went on to pursue a Bachelor's and Master's in Education and became an art teacher soon after finishing her studies. "Art is definitely a passion, but design is where my heart is," she says. "I started doing side jobs in design, just to feed my soul. I would help people decorate their homes, and also worked in a small boutique store helping the owner design fixtures, store display, and window design."
 
Leslie, who was recently featured in a Q&A with Voyage Phoenix, launched her business, Grace and Jane Design, after being repeatedly asked to help people with decorating. "I needed an outlet to share my ideas and easy home fix solutions with people," she explains. "I love helping people realize they don’t need to go out and buy all new things. I love making what my clients already own work, just with a little refresh or reorganizing." She describes her design style as “Parisian Eclectic," preferring to mix rustic elements with antiques and lots of texture and says she's "a sucker for an old oil painting, vintage books, and architectural pieces used in odd ways." 

Leslie says that interior design is much more that picking furniture and paint. "It’s balancing time management, problem solving, and communication," she explains. "You have to think outside the box and be innovative. FIDM definitely taught me all of theses skills that I’m still using today. Even though my major was Visual Communications and not Interior Design, by the time I graduated, I was proficient in AutoCAD, space planing, and color balancing. Being right in the heart of the city, you knew exactly what was on trend and had every resource at your fingertips."

Categories:  Visual Communication