With degrees in art history from Sarah Lawrence College and New York University, Gibbs accepted a research position at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, leading to a five-year position at Christie’s as a Fine Arts Specialist and member of the Estates and Appraisals department. While at Christie's Gibbs was recruited by New York University to head a new program in Appraisal Studies of Fine and Decorative Arts, later joining Bard College as the Executive Director of The Lacoste School of the Arts in France.

In 2000 Gibbs moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn, embarking on a series of real estate improvement ventures. With a discerning eye and deep expertise in the fine and decorative arts, she was soon in demand by real estate professionals for her ability to maximize any property.  Jenny Gibbs Design + Staging was founded in 2003 in Park Slope (Brooklyn) where it remained until 2009, when Gibbs moved her family and her design studio to Boston to accept the position of Dean of Graduate Programs at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Now located in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Gibbs is known for her quirky, practical glamour and contemporary sensibility.  Her work has been covered in the Boston Globe, the New York Times, the magazines Connoisseur and ARTNews, the book House Lust; America’s Obsession with Our Homes and in blogs such as Brownstoner.com.