Nesting is something we all do, especially when we move into a new house. It happened to me back in 2001 after our custom farmhouse was finished. I had been designing our dream home for more than 5 years and it was finally a reality. As a designer, the process of filling the house with objects that reflect my personality is a slow and meaningful one. After more that 18 years of curated collecting, I feel like my nest is at the point where people who visit me will get a pretty clear idea of who I am stylistically.
What’s really interesting is that as I started my decor journey, my design challenges actually spurred my passion project… L I S A Lounge. My house became the prototype and fulfilled my love of product design and textile design. As a specific need for decor to style each room came up, the wheels began to turn and new product ideas were born. As a designer, I’ve always believed that “form follows function”.
My first challenge was finding a large-scale art piece for my family room that would hang behind the sofa. As an avid collector of vintage textiles, I had found a silk-screened bark fabric panel from the 50’s which was lightweight and could easily be hung from a curtain rod. After hanging there awhile, it occurred to me that I might be able to illustrate my own wall hangings! I quickly google searched (this was around 2004) and could not find new illustrated large wall hangings in the marketplace. I also found a company called Spoonflower that was printing repeat patterns onto fabric. After figuring out that I could print a single image onto 2 yards of fabric, my first product idea was born!
So now my next challenge was WHAT to illustrate onto the fabric panel. This is where my love of nature and collections came into play. My gardens around my house were designed way before the house was finished because nature has always been my muse. We live in the country and love hiking in the woods. I usually end up collecting objects I find in the woods or my gardens and bring them into the house as a display or collection. As a designer, I have always been drawn to the MidCentury Design era. So I combined the shapes and patterns of nature with a modern style and called it “MODbotanicals”.
Many MODbotanicals later, I began thinking of other ways to use my fabric panels. I collect a LOT of chairs (I don’t know why) so I came up with the idea of upholstering my designs on vintage chairs. I like the idea of a larger scaled illustration on furniture rather than a typical pattern repeat you normally see in the stores. It turned the chairs into small works of art.
And then I needed some curtain panels in the kitchen and voila!
I guess the point I am trying to make with this post is that we all naturally surround ourselves with things that make us comfortable and happy. One morning while sitting on my couch, just drinking my coffee, I took the time to let my environment inspire me. And most importantly, I acted on that moment of inspiration so many years ago… which led me to this.