I cannot express how humbled I am to be awarded the lifetime achievement award from KC Magazine.  Thank you, thank you….

When people ask me what I do, it really is an easy answer;  “I help people.  I help them to be happy!”   To get my clients to that point is a tremendous amount of work.  It is a delight to have all of those hours, weeks and months recognized by not only my clients every time we finish a space, but by such the wonderful and amazing staff at KC Magazine.

A big “Thank you!” too, to the article’s author, Kaitlin Motley.  I think you nailed it…even I couldn’t pin my style down!

EDWARD TANNER AWARDS – Lifetime Achievement In Interior Design

             Profile by Kaitlin Motley (as seen in KC Magazine, July 2011)

“If the Edward Tanner Award for Interior Design were to recognize achievement for a lifetime only as long as that of our Design Excellence Awards themselves, Jill Tran would still be an indisputable frontrunner.  A talent honored by the awards program all four years, Tran has established herself as a designer with a knack for transforming houses into homes.

Paying strict attention to her clients’ personalities, interests and sometimes hard-to-articulate desires, Tran has achieved what is perhaps the oxymoronic goal for every interior designer’s portfolio:  constant variety.  Armed with myriad influences and emotions suggested by her clients, Tran scours the world for unique pieces that bring everything together in nuanced harmony.  Often quirky painting or sculptures, the pieces add personality to a room and act as jumping-off point for conversation.

The anticipation of the activity and daily life that will take place in the finished rooms could be what inspires Tran to search far and wide for the eye-catching details that often punctuate her work.  She visualizes the way her clients and their guests will interact with a room to be sure no detail is overlooked.  Such was the case with this year’s winning design in the Children’s Room category (not pictured).  “[A] custom upholstered bench was brought in to allow the little girl to climb into bed by herself like a big girl, without having to utilize a side stool for Mom nad Dad to trip over, ”  Tran says of the project.

If wedding multiple influences and personalities is the challenge for Tran, the other part of interior design seems to come naturally.  She has a trademark flair for layering interesting textures and fabrics and setting them off with bursts of color.  Tran adopts her clients’ visions and maintains their requests, but she leaves an inimitable signature behind.  In regard to Tran’s winning bathroom design (a collaboration with Lyon Design, LLC, above), DEA judge Kim Tucker notes:  “I am in love with this vanity–and those silly, sexy legs.  The bathtub styling says:  Jill Tran.”

Tran has crafted her brand into design that is quintessentially both her own and her clients’, leaving a bit of legacy behind–just like this award’s namesake.”