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Artful Living | North Notables: Andréa Dixon and Jen Ziemer of Fiddlehead Design Group

Photography by Spacecrafting

Andréa Dixon and Jen Ziemer

Fiddlehead Design Group

Fiddlehead Design Group’s Andréa Dixon and Jen Ziemer have a few design rules: Never buy the set. Animal prints are neutrals. A room isn’t done until it’s done-done. And it’s their job to push clients one or two steps past their breaking point. Wait, what?

Dixon and Ziemer — their voices weaving together in the way only pros who’ve problem solved together for 15+ years can — dissolve into laughter. Turns out, the “serious about style, fanatic about function” interior designers are also truly funny. It’s a value-add for anyone working with the duo, who believes that design should feel like a fun adventure, not a chore. And they don’t finish the job until everything feels just right, because they have the experience to know when it’s done-done. 

“We have a gift for making people feel really comfortable,” Dixon says. “There are no judges in the room. We talk things through and make jokes about all of it; it’s why we get so close with our clients.”

Dixon and Ziemer’s chemistry is undeniable, with their complementary personalities, corresponding strengths and a conversational patter that involves completing the other’s thoughts. “We have really different skill sets, so we’re able to tackle a project in a way some design firms can’t, from the furnishings perspective to fabric — all of that,” notes Dixon. Ziemer finishes her sentence: “Dréa is a certified kitchen designer, so she does a ton of cabinet design and other services that a lot of other firms just don’t have in-house.” 

Handling everything from new builds to remodels to room-by-room finishing, the Fiddlehead team has nabbed plenty of awards and accolades, including being named “innovation designers” by Better Homes & Gardens. (In fact, their work was showcased on the magazine’s cover back in 2014.)

And yet, they have always been approachable — and have always resisted being pigeonholed when it comes to style. “We’ve made a conscious choice not to do that,” Dixon says. “It’s not fun for us if we design just one genre.” Ziemer jumps in to finish: “It’s always personal and collaborative. It’s the two of us, our synergy and how that translates to our relationship with our clients.” 

Read this article as it appears in the magazine.

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