Atlanta-based Donjenna offers contemporary, handcrafted home décor as art. And art as home décor.
The founder & artist: Donjenna Yokley grew up Greeneville, Tennessee, and attended East Tennessee State University. She studied sculpture at the Atlanta College of Art and Georgia State University. In addition to her work as jeweler and sculptor, Yokley has worked at furniture trade shows around the country, where she became aware of many, smaller artists and furniture makers and their work.
The shop: The Atlanta-based online store opened in early 2014. It offers contemporary and distinctive hand-crafted pieces from the South and across the world, including lighting, chairs, ceramics and glassware.
Southern artists & companies: The Atlanta talent includes: Christopher Moulder (sculpture and functional lighting); ceramicist Michelle Dziak; and lighting by Smart Glass owner and designer Kathleen Plate. From North Carolina, furniture by Van Collier.
Other favorites: 3 Marbles Pendant Glass lights by New York artist Lorin Silverman. Also the chairs by B. Pila Designs in Miami.
Popular gifts: Sempli hand-blown Italian glasses ($56 to $77) for aperitif, cocktail or wine glasses). Also the handsome wooden trays ($180 to $198) sold with the glass sets.
Favorites
- Blogs & websites: French by Design; Vosges Paris; Wallpaper.com; Contemporist.com; and Artnet.com.
- Magazines: Metropolis; Cultured; Surface; and Interior Design.
- Instagram: StudioGallet (bronze cast and hammered furniture); CG Interiors Group (modern, hip interior design group); 1st dibs (old and the new items, from art to furniture); Dering Hall (nice representation of quality furniture); and Burnaway (The Voice of Art in the South).
- Atlanta area home/design stores (other than my own): Martin Nash in the ADAC (Atlanta Decorative Arts Center) and City Issue.
- Places for unexpected finds: ADAC and the ICFF, an annual global showcase for high-end and contemporary furniture and design in New York.
Design pet peeves: Cheaply made, but marked-up, mass-manufactured furniture and lighting. Also design knockoffs.
Current design obsessions: Chairs and lighting.
New (or re-emerging) designs I like: Wallpaper. Many are like design pieces of art themselves.
… and looks I am glad to see go: The 1980s furniture and fashion.
Most unusual request: Create sample ceramic vases for a plastic surgeon group in Beverly Hills.
What's new: Hand-blown glassware from North Carolina's Mark Russell and collectible, hand-stitched Choctaw decorative baskets.
Find Donjenna at:
· Website: donjenna.com
· Facebook: @donjennahome
· Instagram: donjenna.home
