Jenna Dewan: Creating a Dream Home, If Not a Forever Home

On this episode of The Better Buy, dancer and actress Jenna Dewan shares how she designed her family’s home to meet all their needs.

Dennis Leupold | Design: Better Homes & Gardens

The Better Buy, a podcast from Better Homes & Gardens, explores all things home—from decorating and DIY to renovating and budgeting. For season 2, we’ll delve into the full home buying process, from house hunting and moving to interior design and landscaping, with stories, practical tips, and advice from our guests each week. We’re on a mission to inspire and empower you to create your dream home. New episodes every Wednesday!

Follow now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Amazon / Google Podcasts / iHeart Radio / TuneIn

Host Mélanie Berliet talks with actress and dancer Jenna Dewan about how she’s found a balance between family-focused comfort and sleek design, why her decor style benefits from refurbished furniture, and what went into her favorite—and incredibly peaceful—part of her home.

Jenna Dewan is an actress, dancer, and mom of two who’s channeled her personality beautifully into a comfortable and classy home. She starred in Step Up, The Rookie, American Horror Story and more, and has also appeared on reality competition shows Dancing With the Stars, World of Dance, and Come Dance With Me. Previously, she was a backup dancer for Janet Jackson, Missy Elliott, *NSYNC, and Kelly Clarkson. Now, she’s raising her two kids and four dogs in a stunning Los Angeles home.

Jenna shares her tips on using interior design to create calm spaces in a busy family home.

I think we’re adaptable. And so, this work from home, Zoom life, I started to find the positives in it. And now I find it easy. It works well with my really busy life. I’m able to do more with the kids. I’m able to be more home, and you start to create your own little zen atmosphere.

When you have that many little things running around in a house, there has to be a lot of comfort. You want to be able to have playful items. You wanna have things that are not too precious, that are not hurtful when your three-year-old wants to jump off and rappel off things, and he’s wild. So we’ve got a lot of comfortable pieces. Also really, with this house, my style evolved a lot throughout all the life changes. And so, I really found myself being drawn to more modern, chic, a little bit less frilly bohemian, and a little bit more sleeker lines, chic feeling. I did a lot more neutrals than I’ve ever done. There was a lot of changes going on, but you still feel that element of, this is a family with a lot of kids and dogs. You should feel comfortable here, and you still get that little touch of mysticism as well.

We’re all on top of each other all the time. However, our pool house/guest house kind of area has turned into Steve’s getaway. It was a natural progression, but definitely a, like, “Okay, let me go get a little bit of a break, have some me time.” So there’s a comfortable chair. There’s a record player back there. There's all his music equipment … And we created a meditation patio upstairs off of the master, and it’s kind of my favorite place in the world. We have this water fountain going out there. There’s these really beautiful, modern couches that are low to the ground, with this Tibetan table that is made from a prayer altar. I hang out there when I need my me time. So we’ve naturally had that happen, but for the most part, we’re all on top of each other.

There are certain things that are so precious to me. I have this piano from my grandmother, who is probably ... I’ve thought about this. I think she is the only other musical influence in my whole family. We have her piano, and it's in our first room when you walk in. And it’s constantly being used. The kids love it. People come over, and you never know. People can actually play piano, and they’ll sit down and play. So I mean, I love that it's hers. I mean, it could be refurbished, and maybe I will one day. But I also kinda love that it's not. It’s a little bit of this memory of my youth, and she used to teach me … So I love bringing in certain moments of history, and combining new with the old.

I am drawn to layers and textures in houses, and in decor. And so, there’s something about a fresh new modern piece, but when you combine it with something that has history to it and has been refurbished, I think it brings a depth to the room. I think it brings an energy to the space that I really like. It’s like when I go camping, I wanna go camping for two nights, full-on camping, tent, Big Sur, middle of the forest, and then I want two nights at the Post Ranch Inn.

This house in particular has light all hours of the day. It’s truly, consistently bright and light, and that was a huge selling point for me. I wanted to walk in, and to feel brightness. I didn’t want to have to turn on a bunch of lights … I’m more suited for bright, bright light. That’s just how my personality is.

Editor’s note: Please note that this transcript does not go through our standard editorial process and may contain inaccuracies and grammatical errors.