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The LL Journal

This post is sponsored by Bloomist.

If you read this post, you know one of our goals for this year is to be more intentional with our design choices and truly focus on staying true to our own design aesthetic. One of the things we have learned in the few years of being in this home design community is you cannot try and fit your unique design aesthetic into one definitive design style. Don’t get me wrong, it helps to really hone in on what it is you are drawn to within different designs, to help you create some sort of cohesion throughout your home- but what I mean is you can love different design styles and make them work together as a whole.

Don’t be so caught up on trying to fit your overall design aesthetic into one category- Mid Century Modern, Farmhouse, Traditional, Modern, Scandinavian, Boho, Modern Contemporary, Industrial, Rustic, and so on. You can love more than one design type and trying to fit your aesthetic into one category will only frustrate you and that isn’t the goal- the goal is to create a cohesive aesthetic that you will LOVE to live in.

One question we are frequently asked is how would we describe our own design aesthetic and truth is, we have thought a lot about it and cannot fit our aesthetic with one or even two categories… our definition? Natural Modern Traditional with Industrial and European Farmhouse influences. Now, is that a “technical design description”? probably not, but we have dissected what it is we really love about the different design categories and have tried to reflect on our findings and create our own aesthetic based on those.

natural |ˈnaCH(ə)rəl| adjective : caused by nature; relaxed; having a color characteristic of the unbleached and undyed state; off-white.

I distinctly remember when we started @laineandlayne, and we were quickly recognized for our neutral, natural, and light aesthetic… in fact, not too long after our launch we were mentioned in an issue of Country Living Magazine which described our Instagram account as “endless styling ideas for a neutral home”. If you remember this post, where we stained our raw Cedar beam black, it was short lived because I was instantly needing something less dramatic, less bold, more calming, more neutral. In our vintage-Christmas inspired post, we also incorporated vintage-inspired art and again, while we did love what we created at the time, we had no personal connection to that artwork and we were both looking for something that was missing- a feeling.

You see, instead of trying to mold your unique aesthetic into one definitive style- try focusing on creating an overall feeling. How do you want your home to feel?

We began to reimagine our mantel, (which then spiraled into our living and dining rooms and we are excited to share with you the other changes we are making soon) and how we wanted it to reflect us- so Justin made a new mantel (tutorial coming soon), and we worked on creating a craft paint stain to give it a natural look. We decided to add some of our own artwork of photographs we have taken and a beautiful handmade one of a kind vase filled with earthy dried florals. The best part about investing in dried florals is they will last as long as you have them. Another element that really brought this space alive was bringing our real Fiddle Leaf Fig tree indoors and planting it inside this beautiful natural planter.

Bloomist is one of our favorite places to find one of a kind pieces for your home. Their collection of nature will allow you to create a natural home with a unique aesthetic you will love, as we did in ours.

Tip : When your bundle of dried Amaranthus arrives wrapped in kraft paper, there may be some loose pieces that fell off due to the fragile state of dried florals, don’t toss them, place the loose florals in a small bowl as a decorative element on your coffee or side table.