When rest calls 🌨️ Every now and then I hit a season of life where certain words or themes jump out at me over and over again and they won’t be ignored. I start noticing them in what I’m reading, watching, hearing etc and I begin to think about them and what they mean for my life… how I can incorporate more of this thing into it and I question why the word seems to hold meaning for me in that time. {contentment, love vibration have been some of those words for me in the past and they still jump out at me but they are old friends and nothing I’m surprised by when they pop up in funny ways.} Recently, “rest” has been coming for me… I’ve been appreciating it in various areas of life where I never really understood its role… in homemade pastas, broths and various recipes, in the land’s winter rest and my newfound patience with hard earth and bare trees, and in my own inner urge to pull back and rest, detoxing from noise and to be quite frank, the hate and anger I see here on a daily basis. Sending you love rest. (And I’d love to know- what words are calling to you right now? 🤍)
The girls requested a special wallpaper for their bedroom at the Meadow that incorporated the animals who live on and around the property. I got to work on drawing a new textile design and it’s coming together! We’re working on the final scale and colorways along with picking out the papers and tile for their bathroom and toy room. The full design session / studio peek is up on our you t u be chnnl now! 🌿 (And the paper & fabric will be available at LAUREN LIESS TEXTILES just as soon as we finish up!)
Snow day at the @laurenliessandco design studio and it’s so cozy in here!! 🤍❄️✨
Cue the dramatic music 🎶 {a little background on what’s been going on over at the Meadow} the full episode is up on our you t u be 🤍 it takes us FOREVER to edit these episodes and get them out because at this point our filming has been pretty unplanned/ too scattered/ disorganized to hire someone to help!! (lol you think we would have learned something from our @hgtv best house in the block days but 🤷♀️) Anyway, hoping to do a better job recording this next phase of construction and design so we can get some editing help this year and share it all with you! 😜 We have 4 more episodes that are almost ready (up to present day) so keeping them coming as fast as we can! 🌿
Snow days = the best bath days ❄️🛁
Fields of wildflowers have always been my happy place. When was litttle and I would drive cross country from my mom’s to my dad’s (divorced situation) I would oooh and ahh at all the wildflowers on the way. My dad made my world when he would stop and let me pick some. 🤍 Seeing my favorite wildflowers over and over each year and being able to interact with them, bonding with them in a way I never could with garden flowers (long drives staring at them, the ability to just go and pick one, examining it and touching it, making arrangements with weeds because no one missed them etc.) has made me passionate about spreading them. THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of native seeds have arrived for the Meadow (I went crazy ordering) and we’ll be putting them down this spring to replace our lawn!! I am SO excited to try to bring more biodiversity to our property through the growing of native greases and flowers on over 7 acres!! (And I’m also excited for my vases! Don’t worry I won’t pick them all – I love our birds too much 😉}
The ideas we go through before reality sets in… how weird is too weird? 😜 decided in the end it didn’t make sense AND we will have enough excitement going on in there with other elements. Can’t wait to share this new Meadow Barn Design Sudio update with you!! Hint hint: look at all those perty holes!!! 👀
The new kitchen addition to a turn of the century four square project in DC. We absolutely love making new spaces seamlessly connect with old ones 🌿
design by us @laurenliessandco
renovation by @carrmichaelconstruction
Photo by @helennorman for my book FEELS LIKE HOME
Shadows and light oak with mixed metals and stones 🌿 { also the kitchen belonging to yesterday’s bathroom }🌿design by @laurenliessandco | renovation by @carrmichaelconstruction | photo by helennorman for my book #feelslikehome
Crisp clean bathroom makeover {swipe to the end for the before where you can see we had a closet -with a window in it!- removed to make room for the tub and to get more natural light in the bathroom} I love fixing floor plans and making things make sense in a house! 🤍 Happy Friday and heads up- most of our LL&Co. apothecary shop is on S A L E up to 50% off right now!! | designed by us | renovation by @carrmichaelconstruction | photos by @helennorman
Crisp clean bathroom makeover {swipe to the end for the before where you can see we had a closet -with a window in it!- removed to make room for the tub and to get more natural light in the bathroom} I love fixing floor plans and making things make sense in a house! 🤍 Happy Friday and heads up- most of our LL&Co. apothecary shop is on S A L E up to 50% off right now!! | designed by us | renovation by @carrmichaelconstruction | photos by @helennorman
Crisp clean bathroom makeover {swipe to the end for the before where you can see we had a closet -with a window in it!- removed to make room for the tub and to get more natural light in the bathroom} I love fixing floor plans and making things make sense in a house! 🤍 Happy Friday and heads up- most of our LL&Co. apothecary shop is on S A L E up to 50% off right now!! | designed by us | renovation by @carrmichaelconstruction | photos by @helennorman
Crisp clean bathroom makeover {swipe to the end for the before where you can see we had a closet -with a window in it!- removed to make room for the tub and to get more natural light in the bathroom} I love fixing floor plans and making things make sense in a house! 🤍 Happy Friday and heads up- most of our LL&Co. apothecary shop is on S A L E up to 50% off right now!! | designed by us | renovation by @carrmichaelconstruction | photos by @helennorman
Let’s talk room size! A favorite spot in the house, our dining room was anchored on one side by a fireplace and French doors out to a screened porch on the other. In our next house, for our orangery- which we’ll use as our dining room, garden workspace, sometimes cooking space with fireplace – cauldron sink, and project room- I started with these same dimensions, (15’) because we loved it so much, adding two feet to width for a bit more walking/ work space. I like to keep rooms as small as possible but we also needed more space because it will be right off of our garden as used for organizing/ washing veggies and will also store a lot of garden stuff in it. I lengthened the room by 4-5’ to allow for a pair of chairs to fit by the fireplace and a bit more breathing room at the entry where we have a bookshelf wall. The ceiling in our new orangery is a while different story and I based it off of the exterior (what would look right proportionately out there) and I am scurred about it right now!! (It’s 16’ high at the tippy top of the vault ) 😳 This dining room of ours had a 9’ flat ceiling and I just loved it. | photo by @helennorman for my favorite book of mine- FEELS LIKE HOME {ps- chairs in stories LL shop announcement! }
OH MA GOODNESS!! MY next book, BEACH LIFE, has gone to print!!! This one is truly from my heart and is all about life at the beach, including interiors (of course!), food, wellness, nature, spirituality, and love. I pictured it being read by thalossophiles like me who love the ocean but can’t be there all the time, and for the ones who are living beach life daily, as a scrapbook of all the things there are to treasure by the sea. I’ve poured it all into this one and it’s now available for preorder and will be released on May 22nd!! I am truly honored to have the incredible work of a talented group of local OBX photographers in the book 📖 This touching shot of wild horses is by @markbucklerphotography 🤍🌊 order your copy now as pre-orders will always give you the lowest price a book drops to before its pub date! 🙌
To dirty dishes & fresh strawberries!🍓 {garden planning is starting riiiiiiight about now and I can’t stop won’t stop} One of my favorite indoor-outdoor features in our house is the pass-through kitchen window and bar. We’ve started feeding the birds on it this winter and we have so many new sweet little friends popping in while we’re at the sink each day!! I’m feeling like I need to give them directions to our new place where we’ll be headed soon!!} Our countertops and sink are soapstone our cabinets are the “raw” oak from our “Arcadia” collection with @uniquekitchensandbaths that’s our little signature step stool for the kids under the sink 😉
Pure quirk beauty by @simplybyarrangement 🤍 in a world of everything starting to look the same, stuff like this really excites me
Carrot tops are my go-to winter arrangement when I need a bit of fresh greenery around the house! 🥕
warning: long life ramble ahead!
It hit me yesterday that we’ll be going through some big changes this year… We’ve lived in 8 houses over the years and the kids are no strangers to moving. Some of them have been more resistant to moving than others. I couldn’t believe it when my 3rd son- the one most resistant to change- said the other day that he was excited to be moving into a house that wasn’t done because he loved seeing all the daily changes. (!!) major progress! 🙌
This next move is back into our house at the Meadow and it’s one I can say EVERYONE is thrilled about. But this means changes at work for us too- we’re turning our old barn on the property into the design studio (🫶) which means saying goodbye to the one in the white building in the middle of the Village we’ve enjoyed so much and also reopening our original studio in our building in the Village. (To clarify, we’ll have the barn studio at home the other smaller studio in the Village) 🤍
This year has felt so far away and now that it’s here I’m realizing that we have SO. MUCH. to do in so little time!! We’ve got so many renovations to finish and we need to spruce up our current house to sell!! Eeeek!!! I’m praying to stay chill and enjoy myself during what seems like it might be a chaotic time for the family. For now, please enjoy this photo of our calm quiet living room gussied up by @limonatacreative photographed by @angelanewtonroyphotography for our last @rugs_usa collection shoot. {the rug is the alder from my rugs USA collection | I also designed the “lady” sofa “joinery” tables for my furniture collections with Woodbridge & Taylor King}
“Princess and the Pea” window seat 🌿 {photo by @helennorman of that time we decorated a room for the DC Design House charity event 13-14 years ago} Everything had to be removable and there was shut off hvac under the cushions so the bottom two were carved out around it. This was the first ever project we worked on with Mike from @carrmichaelconstruction who offered his services for free and we’ve been working together ever since!
Back to reality around here after almost a week of snow days!! Still in fire mode though and this beauty is one of my favorites we’ve done. (Zoom in on that sweet little curve 😉 Stay warm everyone!! Xo | photo by @helennorman for my book DOWN TO EARTH 🤎 all the patterned fabrics are from my fabric collection Lauren Liess Textiles
It is SO rare for me to buy design books because I have so many talented friends in the industry who are constantly publishing books and they get sent my way (thank you sweet friends!!) but every now and then one catches my eye… @rosetarlowmelrosehouse ‘s new book THREE HOUSES was a gift from me to me after having been a fan of hers so for so many years. As we design our own place, THIS is the room I have thought about over and over (the books! The plaster! The patina! The atmosphere!! And HOW with the vines??!! 🌿) and it is one of my favorite rooms of all time. I am so happy to have this baby in such a large size and in print to stare at!!
See-through dream by @mcleanquinlan architects| photo by @trevortondro for @ad_magazine 🫶 we took walls down at the Meadow house to be able to see through from the front door to the back and the house just breathes differently now.
All about cozy places spaces right now ❄️ We’re having the prettiest winter in Northern VA (check my stories for this AM’s sunrise) and I’m loving it!! This is the kids’ bathroom in one of my favorite projects our design firm has done everrrrr that I have been meaning to share and do intensive blog posts about for waaaay too long. Only so many hours in a day I guess, but for now, please enjoy this fun tile warm wood paneling 🧡 photo @helennorman
