For Lauren, painting and interior design philosophies go hand in hand.

Here are her top five ways for styling the spaces in her home.

1. RELY ON ARTIST’S PRINCIPLES. “Artists develop an eye for composition, for scale and for using color theory in everyday life,” Lauren says. Approaching your designs with composition, scale and color theory in mind is a recipe for success.

2. IT’S A BALANCING ACT. “I approach rooms and styling the same way that I would a painting,” Lauren says, “by keeping things balanced.”

3. MIX NEUTRALS WITH COMPLEMENTARY COLORS. Lauren uses neutrals and complementary colors in her paintings as well as in her home. “I use lots of white and creams and grays in marble and glass, with blues and greens thrown in as textiles,” she says.

4. WHEN TEXTURE MEETS WARMTH. “I rely on wood for warmth,” she says. It can be seen throughout her interiors, and it brings a cozy feel.

5. GET BOOKED. Other elements can bring dimension and color. Lauren often uses books! “I have a giant book collection,” she explains. “That adds pops of color to any room.”

ART AT HOME

Lauren’s approach to her studio is functional but also encourages creativity. In her painting area, she has a stylish metal table to combine paints and store a lot of her supplies. Several cabinets house back stock, while she keeps her daily materials easily accessible on her mixing table. She follows the dictates of her muse as she paints and doesn’t think about where the painting will be hung.

When it comes to styling her interiors, the same muse guides her. Lauren says, “I approach rooms and styling the same way that I would a painting. I keep things balanced and let the eye move freely through the space.” She loves layering art into a room, saying, “for me, it’s something to live with, not just look at. Art is hanging on our walls, and it’s also on our bookshelves, tables and nightstands.” Her rooms are as fluid and compositionally pleasing as her artwork. The spaces are elegant, subtly colorful, and play with textures and finishes to their utmost potential.

“I approach rooms and styling the same way that I would a painting. I keep things balanced and let the eye move freely

through the space .”

When the cottage was her designated gallery and studio, it featured only her artwork. But now as she and her husband transition it into their living space, they welcome other artists’ pieces onto their walls. “Our love of the arts is too big to only have my work in the house!” Lauren says. Also, when Lauren uses her art in their cottage, her husband becomes attached to the different pieces and is sad when they sell and leave for their new homes. There are several pieces of Lauren’s that were available for purchase but the couple ended up keeping.

Lauren’s cottage is like one of her canvases—she’s brought it alive with the creative paintbrush of intentional design and an intuitive understanding of composition and balance. Her studio and display areas show just how powerful art is and how many facets it has, from paintings to interior styling.

“I’m very inspired by the human form, nature and dance.”

|BELOW| STRIKE A BALANCE. Lauren likes to achieve balance with all her designs. “If I really love a statement item for a room, I’ll typically use a more mellow piece of art to complement it,” she explains. Other times, she uses art as the statement piece, like this glorious, sizable artwork positioned on the fireplace mantel. |OPPOSITE| FULL OF CHARM. The cottage had so much charm when the couple first moved in that they didn’t need to immediately do much aside from refinish the floors and switch out lighting fixtures. The kitchen has a crisp cottage charm, embodied in fresh white cabinets and a useful built-in cabinet opposite the sink.

|RIGHT| UNINHIBITED BEGINNINGS. Other than sometimes being influenced in her color palette or size, Lauren approaches each canvas without its final resting place in mind. “When I’m working through a new piece, I like to focus on the paint and the inspiration and not where it will be hung,” she says. |OPPOSITE| PRACTICAL YET PROLIFIC. Lauren’s studio proves that you don’t have to go high end to get an elegant and functional look. Her mixing table is from IKEA, and she got the chairs secondhand. “Prolific” is an apt word for her process, as she usually works on several art pieces at a time. “I often rest them vertically in between layers unless for some reason the layer needs to dry flat,” she says. The in-progress works add their own sense of inspiration, style and color to the studio.

|ABOVE LEFT| UNIQUE TABLEAU. Walls aren’t the only places to display art! Lauren’s cottage demonstrates the exciting possibilities of placing art in a variety of places, from bookshelves to consoles. Here, a small piece sits atop a cabinet. A clear glass lamp base, a vase and the artwork create a compelling tableau. |ABOVE RIGHT| LESSONS LEARNED. For Lauren, each painting is a lesson. “I try to take something away from each painting and series … into the next as far as technique goes,” she says. “However, once a series is completed, I do like to start fresh with new inspiration.” |OPPOSITE| AIRY ARCHES. An arched, high ceiling in the bedroom gives an airiness to the space, while Lauren’s artwork pops against cool, tonal walls.