BEACHWOOD

Lauren's personal home

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Built in Beachwood Canyon in 1912, this became my home n October of 2019- just a few months before the whole world was going to change forever. I loved it the moment I walked in the front door- with all the historic detail so perfectly preserved: coffered ceilings, bay windows, built in cabinetry, a charming kitchen - unique to a very special era in in LA.  I knew it was the perfect place for my son and I. At the time, I owned a boutique staging business in addition to my interior design and creative directing work, so this house was for many years, a kind of fluid canvas that held space for a constant rotation of things in and out. (Those years were a real lesson in un-attachment to objects!) 

I finally began to truly settle in about a year ago, as I decided to stop staging and lean harder into the build side of the company, and was at long last able to move pieces into my home that I had been carefully collecting over many years. My favorite item is the custom built solid walnut coffee table made by a millworker I have worked with for years.  I wanted it to feel lush but minimal, a little romantic but still rooted in timelessness.

In all my work, I like the feeling of a little emptiness- and I feel that it fuels my creativity to live somewhere that still holds a bit of possibility... and highlights items of importance.  That said, I have a large collection of  ceramic pieces, glassware, and SO MANY BOOKS that essentially are the artwork in this home.  I have a very low tolerance for visual clutter and chaos.  I also am so lucky to have a few of my mother and great grandmother’s pieces in my home; the kitchen table was the first piece of furniture my mother bought for her first apartment, and the dresser I use in the kitchen as a prep space was her grandmother’s.   I feel that they are very at home, here.

photo courtesy of Justin Chung