It’s always great to see Lauren and Dave at events around town, to write about the interiors she’s designing for her lucky clients, and most recently, sit on her furniture! I made a bee line to the Woodbridge showroom when I arrived at High Point this fall to see her debut collection there, which also mixed in upholstered pieces from her collection next door at Taylor King.
I took one look around at these soothing, laid-back vignettes and told her I felt like I was standing in her house.
“I guess I made my house,” she said, pointing out that the white slip covers on the upholstered furniture by Taylor King are all washable, “like a white shirt.”
The Forever dining table, furthermore, is very similar to the parsons table she has in her own dining room. This one below was inspired by a French farm table, and it has storage room underneath the surface for the leaves:
And these dining chairs are quite literally Lauren’s own, she says, “but much bigger and more comfortable, so you can actually enjoy them—and be a little higher.”
If you’ve ever seen Lauren’s “Homework” video on catch-alls that can easily store away magazines, mail, toys, etc., you’ll see why she’s created a variety of furnishings that include storage, like the Joinery end tables above with all their shelves, or this genius console with hidden drawers:
As a decorator, there’s pieces that you want and that you can’t find and so I wanted to make them, and have them made; a lot of it is very much my relaxed natural down-to-earth type of lifestyle—there’s very worn finishes so when the kids beat it with whatever it still looks good. And that’s why the slipcovers are prewashed, so you can wash them in the machine – no shrinkage, very easy to live in. And lots of natural materials—you’ve got the stone coming in and you’ve got the plaster coming in, you’ve got the wood and the brass, all my favorite materials. It was a really fun collaboration with both Taylor King and Woodbridge.
Here’s some more of what she’s talking about, like the Baker’s sideboard with torched bluestone on the surface:
Or the Sculptor’s bookcase, which looks like it was built into the walls, and the Folk bench — rustic with flair:
At the end of our tour, I asked Lauren what her favorite room was in her own house. She talked it out for a bit before making up her mind:
It changes depending on the season, so I’d say in the winter and fall I have a little family room with a fireplace and four chairs in it, and I love it because I have a lot of fires and it’s super cozy, but then in the spring and summer we’re in the living room more. It just changes with the seasons.
But then there’s the bedroom, a haven not only for her and Dave but for their five kids—”That might be my favorite, because we have a king-size bed and everybody piles in.”
But wait!
Actually you know what? My favorite room in my house is my bathroom, now that I really think about it, because all seasons it’s my favorite. It’s big and it’s got a tub that overlooks our property. We have a window, we open it up and I love to take a bath and just look outside with a glass of wine, it’s really nice. On Friday’s it’s like ‘Yay! Bathtime!’
If you want to hear more compelling stories about Lauren’s life in decorating—and buy her latest book, Down to Earth—come on down to one of my favorite stores in the area, Red Barn Mercantile in Old Town Alexandria, for a talk and book signing on Dec. 5. Hope to see you there!
For more information:
Lauren’s collection for Woodbridge
Her collection for Taylor King
And here’s a great video by TheHome.com where you can take your own tour of her collections:
