This article is a part of our Celebrate Black Makers content series designed to spotlight the stories and perspectives that our Black-owned supplier partners bring to the home industry.
Founder Lynai Jones never imagined she would ever be involved in anything creative when it came to her career, especially as someone who studied Economics. Creativity was always part of her life and her long love for architecture and design can be traced back to her childhood and growing up with parents who renovated brownstones in Harlem. Now based in Chicago, Lynai is the owner and founder of Mitchell Black, a wallpaper company featuring collections created by various designers and artists to bring living spaces to life.
“Sometimes wallpapers or your surroundings generally can evoke happiness, sadness a little, mystery, intrigue - all of these things that really can be communicated with design,” shared Lynai. “I appreciate different forms of art and enjoy being surrounded by design, so wallpaper really made sense for me to focus on.”
Lynai’s love for wallpaper started when she first launched Mitchell Black as a stationary and home decor line selling wall art. Debuting and showcasing her work at markets, she would often get asked if she could make her art bigger despite some of her pieces being nearly nine feet tall - that’s when she realized that what people wanted wasn’t wall art, but wallpaper.
When launching her business, Lynai worked with an in-house designer to create her designs but then realized the potential to collaborate with others whose colors and styles she truly admired. Now, she works with eight different designers, focused on bringing forth beautiful art work as well as designs with an Asian influence as a nod to her multicultural heritage. In her collaborative work, Lynai is constantly thinking about a collection's end result, where it will be used, and what feelings it could evoke.
Mitchell Black offers all of their wallpaper products in two different formats - both non-pasted paper and “peel and stick” adhesive vinyl. Lynai believes that her business can offer something for everyone, no matter their living situation or decor needs. “Peel and stick” is a great option for renters and Lynai believes that it's “easy and attainable for anyone to do a quick refresh of their home.”
Over the last few years, Lynai has watched her business flourish, especially as she became a fast growing wallpaper brand on Wayfair. Mitchell Black has experienced increased business by being able to reach customers who are looking for specific styles in different formats, colors and aesthetics. Offering customers the opportunity to buy samples has also helped her sales - something that she wasn’t able to do on her own due to limited reach and marketing. Lynai also credits the growth of her business to her customers, as listening to customer feedback has always been important to her and is what has inspired her to evolve her assortment to carry various different designs and styles.
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Mitchell Black wallpaper on Wayfair.