This Blog is a-Movin'!

Same blog, new location:

www.laurenliess.com/pure-style-home

I'm saying goodbye to this web address but Pure Style Home is moving with me!!

{image via here}

If you've received this post in your email, and would like to continue receiving these emails, please click here to visit the new blog and sign up.  (It's on the new left-hand sidebar where it says SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL)  

Also, some RSS subscribers may need to update their feed URL. Please be sure to update the RSS feed URL to http://feeds.feedburner.com/PureStyleHome

In a day or two, this web address will automatically be redirected to the new one.  If you have a blog and have the time though, I'd love it if you could update my new address on your blog roll.  It's the power of blog rolls that really helps people find you!!

I've got a new post up today- about our recent photoshoot- so please check it out at www.laurenliess.com/pure-style-home

Thanks so much for moving with me!!  See you there!!



If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Fern Star in Yellow in a Reader's Living Room!

This weekend, I received an email from a reader, Nichole, who had purchased yards & yards of our Fern Star in yellow:

{Lauren Liess Textiles' Fern Star in Yellow, available here}

I originally drew Fern Star in pencil, a look inspired by antique botanicals:

Nichole was writing to share a photo of her beautifully decorated living room with me -using Fern Star- and I was so thrilled to see it!!  I asked if I could share it on Pure Style Home & she graciously agreed.  I love how Nichole dressed up the curtains and brought in another shot of blue with the banding:

{work room services by Bill and Mario with MBP Interior Design Work Room Services in Dallas}

I also love how Nichole's style comes across so clearly in her living room, which she decorated herself.  It feels so cheerful& pretty & freshly traditional.   I was glad to see how versatile the pattern is.  Nichole's mix of elements like the modern parsons table with traditional ginger jar lamp really gives the room a collected vibe.  It's interesting and has an energy about it...  it feels like it was put together over time. 

Here's Fern Star in my friend, Helen Norman's guest barn.  (Guest Barn??? Yes Please!!! :)

That's Grizzly in the bed:

We've also used Fern Star on curtains in our clients' home, but they were very different from Nichole's more tailored curtains,

We paired them with matchstick shades for a relaxed look:

Now that I've seen Nichole's banded Fern Star, I'm itching to try it out!! :) :)

Thank you so much to Nichole for sharing and for using our fabrics in her home!!! It's so exciting to me that something that started out so small a year or two ago is now a part of others people's lives!! :)

And finally, I am MOVING THE BLOG very soon!!! (wahoo!!!)

The new blog address is www.laurenliess,com/pure-style-home

and soon this blog will automatically redirect you to the new address.  I'll be posting instructions shortly on how to update your RSS Feed and email subscriptions.  

I made the switch because I wanted to condense all of my websites into one cohesive site.  The new website incorporates the blog, my professional website, and fabric shop all in one.  We worked with super-talented Emily Thompson of Indie Shopography who created this:

See you over there soon!!


If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

The Final Lap

Next week, we are photographing the house that's consumed us for the past 11 and a half months.  Almost a year ago, having just finished our house, and having out 3rd son, we stumbled upon a promising real estate listing a couple of towns over. The new house would be a complete redo and an almost total gut job.

{the new house, before}

Our heads told us to stay put because we were finally finished working on our house and we were so happy with it, but the ever-persistent "gut" said to go for it.  With two boys and an infant...

... we plunged ourselves into a full on renovation:

{we lived here throughout the entire process}

It was truly the fastest year of my life.  The whirlwind we entered into has been exhausting, exciting, rewarding and all-consuming.  Throughout this process, I've felt so excited and happy with how everything's been going, but I've also felt stretched very thin.  I work on doing the house after or before work is over, so our free time has been so limited.  In a sense, it's like I'm slap happy a lot of the time.  All along I've trusted that everything would fall into place and have felt a real peace inside- so I wouldn't say this process has been emotional at all or that I've felt anything but awesome about it- but it's more like my brain is on overload and I just sort of have to shrug or laugh at the amount of work that needs to be done in so little time.  In short, I haven't regretted our decision for even a moment but I am SO ready to relax a bit and have a little more time.

{need more moments like these}

So...  it's all coming down to this next week.  We chose to put this insane deadline on ourselves because it was really important to me that the house be photographed when it's in full bloom...   My house is all about indoor-outdoor living and when you're inside, the outside is right there with you. The outdoors are so much a part of the house's design that we need to photograph it at a time that really illustrates this feature.  It's pretty much why I fell in love with the house in the first place.

We have people coming to stucco the fireplace today and there are a few miscellaneous painting and touch up projects we need to get done.  Curtains are going up, artwork is being hung, and long-awaited pillows and bedding are arriving.  It's so satisfying!!  But also a bit nerve-wracking...  will everything actually get here in time??  I'm sure a few things won't and I don't know what to do about them.  We bought a dining table online a couple of weeks ago from a company in Pennsylvania (with local pick up only) and have not been able to get in touch with them about picking it up.  Without it, I don't really know what to do, but we can't exactly drive up there and knock on the door of the shop without knowing if they're open.   Stuff like that... and there's a lot of it.  To be honest, this is exactly what it's like when working on clients' projects, but the fact that it happens during work hours makes such a difference.  We've been doing everything on borrowed time.

{Christian}

Christian- our six year old- once told me that he liked our old house better.  When I asked him why, he said "Because you and Daddy work too much here."   Made me sad and feel terrible.   (Where do kids learn how to do that guilt thing?!! ;) ;)

Anyway, please send some good thoughts (and energy!!) our way this next week.  Helen (our photographer) will be shooting Wednesday through Friday so we have a few more days for things to actually get here.  Fingers crossed!!!

{To do before next week: stain the house, fix the garden edges, among other things}

We're working out what we'll actually be doing with the photos of our house once we have them, and I just cannot wait to share them.  (I was always that annoying kid who wanted to show my parents or grandparents what I was excited about: "Look at what I made!!"  .. So I guess I haven't changed much.)   I have been thinking of a magazine to publish it and am also playing with other ideas.  This house has been such a part of us, and we've poured so much into it.  We think of it as our "forever" house.  It's not big or impressive, but it's ours and we love it.  I can't wait to share it.


  ps- In the midst of all of this, we're launching a brand-new website.  This blog will be moving.  At this point, it's still up, but when we make the move (any day now) this blog will automatically redirect to the new one at laurenliess.com/pure-style-home    I'll post info on how to refresh your subscription and all of those fun techy details soon!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

A Peek: Our Kitchen Garden

With things as hectic as they've been lately, I've been truly cherishing my time in our garden.

{We created our garden with the help of my friend Danylo, owner of Organic Edible Gardens www.oegardens.com who we worked with to design & install the entire thing.}

 

 It's the first thing I do when I wake up (ok, after kids and putting out fires) and walking through it, weeding, snipping things here and there just makes me feel at peace. 

We found an old potting table and it's made planting, cutting and washing so much easier.  Having a place to stash everything has made such a difference and I now can't imagine the garden without it:

The garden's full of flowers right now, including limelight hydrangeas, echinacea and English roses.  I've been loving cutting them and bringing in fresh bouquets.

 

 

 The Asian cucumbers are possibly our favorite thing in the garden right now.  This one is over a foot and a half long and I even plucked it a little early!--

 

They're so good we can eat them plain!!

There's something about bringing things inside from the outside that I just can't get enough of.  We cook with herbs from the garden almost every night and have just been getting to enjoy the tomaters!!!

 

The boys fight over who gets to actually pick everything.  I'm looking forward to when all of the plants are producing fruit so "picking" is a little more peaceful ;)

 

Here's one of my favorite most recent meals from the garden:

 

 

Eating from our garden makes me so incredibly happy!!!  The boys love to help out and this weekend we put together our own little invention (which I'm sure has probably been invented before)- "pestodillas:"

 

 

Here's the Recipe:

 



-We took fresh baked whole wheat tortillas (whole foods' fresh baking, not ours ;) and layered them with pesto from the garden, shredded parmesan cheese, fresh spinach, garden tomatoes and a wheat tortilla with garlic butter on one side.  (Oh sooooo bad but so good!!! Will try without the garlic butter next time to be good ;) ;) 

-We microwaved them for a minute and were in love!!

 

I hope you get the chance to try it = Heaven.

 

 

Anyway, I'm off for another crazy day, but I hope you enjoyed this peek into our garden.  We're photographing our house next week and there's still so much that needs to be done...   Curtains & artwork need to go up (and be framed!!) , hardware needs to be installed, things need to be painted, bedding and pillows are being made, and we have a couple more small construction projects to finish up with.  So many things need to fall in place in order for next week to happen and I'm really feeling the pressure.  We're photographing it as early as we are because I want to have the photos happen when everything is in full bloom around here, which is now.  This morning I woke up sort of just wishing I could give up though. :/   (I think that's mostly because I'm tired & sick and it's Monday ;) ;) 

I think I need to take one more little walk through the garden this morning. 
Have a good one!!

For info on Organic Edible Gardens & their services, visit here. 


ps- If you missed my last post, our new distance decorating service - PARCEL- is finally available!!!  We've had an overwhelming response to the service (which is available on a first-come, first-serve basis) and I can't thank you all enough for spreading the word and for your support!! 
If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.  If you are interested in PARCEL please mention it in your inquiry.

parcel: design delivered to your door

par·cel

1. something wrapped up; package

2. a group of people or things having some common characteristic

3. an essential part of something

4. a package of bespoke designed goodness delivered to your door

...

I am so excited to announce parcel, our newest decorating service!!   Over the past couple of years, I've been unable to keep up with servicing both traditional clients and online clients, so I've had to put the whole online decorating thing on the shelf for a while.  We've had lots of requests to bring it back though, and we've been working really hard to try to rework our company so that we could, and  it's finally time!!

SO, we came up with parcel.  It's basically this:  design delivered to your door in a pretty little parcel.  It's everything you need to put the room of your dreams together, the way we do it. 

{a recent project}

 Instead of meeting traditionally, we communicate via emails and questionnaires and our clients receive a chic little parcel of essential step-by-step design plans in the mail that they can implement on their own.  We're starting parcel projects in just a few weeks and are taking on new clients right now for the Fall so if you know of anyone who might be interested, please let them know that they can sign up now!  If you'd like to sign up yourself, go to the contact section of our website (www.thepurestyle.com, which is switching over to laurenliess.com next week!)  and submit a project inquiry, mentioning that you're interested in parcel. I'd love to have you as a client!! 

Also, for any other decorators out there who've been considering offering online services, I can say that I really loved doing it in the past, and that creatively, it's very similar to taking on traditional clients, but that's it's so different (of course never actually seeing the client or home in person) in that it's really more time spent designing vs. communicating and meeting and managing projects.  I loved doing it- which is why I've brought it back- but for me personally, I also needed the flesh and blood relationship-building side that traditional  projects offer.   I'm hoping this will be the best of both worlds!!  I'll keep you posted!

ps- Would love to know what you all think of it!!  

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.  If you're interested in becoming a parcel client, please mention that in your inquiry.  Thanks so much!
*images via pinterest and photo of our recent project by the talented Helen Norman

Southern Living Shoot Today!

Photo by Helen Norman

I'm off for the day to do a shoot at our client's dining room for Southern Living's November issue!  It's our first project featured by Southern Living and I'm so excited!!  Laurey Glenn will be photographing it and Susan Victoria is doing the styling.  I'll be posting behind the scenes stuff today on instagram so be sure to check it out!  Have a good one!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Big Changes at Lauren Liess & Co and for our Family

It's been almost a year now since my husband, David- Dave or Dav (at home ;)-  came to work full time for our design/ textiles business and it's been a whirlwind of a year.  We debated hardcore on whether he should make this move.  (Playing devil's advocate, doing worst case scenarios etc.)  We finally came to the conclusion that we'd always wonder "What if?" if we didn't give it a go.

{Us with our middle guy, Justin.  Photo by Helen Norman.}

So, putting all of our egg's in one figurative basket, Dave left his English teaching position and began working full time for our company. Last summer, I'd just given birth to our third son, Luke, (Our "Louie") so Dave & Meghan (our junior designer) were in the office more than I was actually, as I attempted maternity leave with three boys to take care of.  (Ha!)

Driving home from our beach vacation last July (pic above) we were browsing houses for sale online "for fun" and came across an affordable (and very intriguing!!) fixer-upper house a couple of towns away. The next day, we went to the open house and decided to make an offer.  We knew what we were doing looked crazy: Hey let's quit work and go buy a new house!!  We knew the best financial move would be to sit tight in our newly finished home we loved and wait to see how things worked out with both of us working for the company, but sometimes your gut pulls you in a different direction.

So, we moved to the house in September, immediately tearing out the floors and walls and adding new windows, and have been putting it back together over the past ten months.


Our oldest, Christian, started kindergarten this year and we hired an amazing nanny- who's now like part of our family- to take care of the boys during the day.  There are days when I just don't know how we're ever going to get everything we need to get done, done... and there are days when I look over at Dave as we're out doing something together for work and I think, "I can't believe we get to be together every day."

We're one of those annoying couples that's basically attached at the hip (it used to make our college friends roll their eyes...  maybe still does ;) and always wants to be together.

{college}

It feels like we get enough time.  We were only married a year before I was pregnant with our first "surprise" son so maybe it was that the newlywed phase was joined so quickly by our little guys.  Anyway, suffice it to say that I love being able to work with my husband.

In the past year, though, there have been some crazy times.  Most days, Dave & I do completely different things and don't really get to hang out until work's over.  We've pulled lots of all-nighters trying to get things done for our house or for work.  Designing this house has pretty much happened on borrowed time.  It happens on nights & weekends and when the contractors show up and need an immediate answer on something.  We've also seen our business grow, which is really exciting.  I'm thrilled that we're now a part of more & more projects being built from the ground up or project undergoing extensive renovations, which is a true passion of mine.  I love being a part of the architectural process and being able to help make choices that will make the house come together perfectly.

But as the business has grown, things have had to change.  A couple of years ago, we stopped offering consultations and online decorating, because I couldn't keep up with both consultations/ e-decorating and full-service projects.   I haven't been thrilled about that and I've always intended to hire more people to be able to bring these services back, but just haven't had the bandwidth to do it.  Lately, though, we've been doing a lot of thinking and reorganizing and are in the process of finally making the move and I'm so excited about it!!!

We're in the process of hiring a new business manager for Lauren Liess & Co and will then be hiring another junior designer in addition to Meghan.   We recently hired a part time assistant/ intern named Daniel, who helps with a lot of the literal heavy-lifting.  With these new additions to our team, we'll be looking at an office space to lease because we pretty much just won't fit in our home office.  If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably know that we've mulled over moving our office out of the house or keeping it in the home for years now.  I love being home and being near my boys (our youngest is only a little over a year) during the day so we're really trying to make this move carefully.  I plan on working both from home and from the new studio so it needs to be nearby.  We're also trying to figure out exactly what our needs for the studio will be:  do we want potential clients to be able to come and visit?  Do we want a space with a small showroom?  A store? etc.  I love the idea of clients being able to come into an environment we've created but I also want to be careful about this move too.  I don't want to take on too much financially, so we're thinking we'll move slowly.

{...But how amazing would something like this Liz Cann door be??!!  I've always wanted a black & white striped awning!!! :) }

Anyway, these are ideas we've played around with for years and will probably always be playing around with.  I'll keep you posted on our search and may be taking you studio shopping with me to get your input.   :)  And as soon as I can introduce our new team members to you, I will!!

Also, we've gotten lots of inquiries regarding our online decorating services and I'm working like crazy on trying to put together the packages we'll be offering. As soon as I have everything put together into some sort of intelligible format, I'll be sure to post about it and then we'll open up the list for new e-decorating clients.  I hope to be offering some sort of online or phone consultation services too for those who are looking for more of a general home consultation.

{an old project board from way back when...  our new online services will be similar but clients will actually be mailed a physical package of custom designed goodies.}

So, please keep your fingers crossed for us over this next month or so as we begin making all of these changes within our business!  It's not going to be the easiest transition but I really hope it's for the best!


If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.
*****UPDATE******  Our fabric website is down for maintenance this week as we launch our brand new website, blog and online store so if you'd like to place any fabric orders this week, please visit our website www.thepurestyle.com and go to "contact" and let us know what you'd like to order.  Thanks for your patience!!

The Butterfly Garden

When we moved to our new house, I was so happy to see an overgrown butterfly bush in the back yard!!  We'd had one at our first home and loved watching all of the gorgeous butterflies on the blooms.  It sits right on the edge of our kitchen garden:

We have butterflies of all colors & kinds and the perfect view of it from our living room window, where I planted a little lavender garden that they seem to love too.  

Here's one I took a blurry picture of this morning:

{Love her!!}

It feels almost like we're outside when we're inside and it just makes me so happy to have that little bit of beautiful life around the house.  In the evenings we take the boys around to visit the butterflies & it's so relaxing.

The butterfly bush also has such pretty blooms that I love to bring inside.  Here's a little arrangement I picked for our clients earlier this week in their new dining room:

And a little more of a peek into the finished dining room with my clients' new little monkey prints:

It's the little things that make life feel good.  As we try to get through this insanely busy time, I'm really trying to stop and take it in. Wish me luck with this, I need it right now!!!  And you too!!



If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Homemade Fast Food

I've been making homemade baked french fries lately (a friend mentioned it and I wanted to try too!) and when I came across these little disposable french fry and hot dog & hamburger containers on sale at Target a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't resist.  I love putting food on the table in a way that gets our kids excited:

We did lean hot dogs (attempted wheat buns but still not the healthiest ;) and basil burgers with our fries.  

{The boys are used to patiently waiting for their food as their ridiculous mother takes pictures of the food= The life of a blogger's child}

We have so much basil in our garden this year so it goes in pretty much everything.  We put it into the lean beef before cooking & then I sprinkled more fresh boxwood basil (which I love because you don't have to chop) on top along with cheddar, fresh onions, tomatoes and spinach.  I used flat wheat bread to try to make it a little better but the cheddar on those bad boys is the real deal:

To make the fries, I cut potatoes into fry-sized pieces, coat an oven pan with olive oil spray, toss the fry pieces on the pan with a little more olive oil and top with sea salt.  Then I keep them in there (somewhere around 400 degrees)  until they start looking like fries:

Then I popped them into the fun little packages!  (But normally, they go on a plate or I cut up brown grocery bags to make little containers for the boys.)

Sometimes I add parsley or Old Bay or garlic.  (Yum!)

I'm off for the day but hope you enjoyed this little display of junk food from our house to yours!!   (It's better than McDonald's though, right??? ;) ;)

Have a great day!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.