Lauren Coburn
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Lauren Coburn grew up with an artist for a mom and a racecar driver/ophthalmologist for a dad. She has always had a great love for design. She was the kind of girl who redecorated her room every week and was known in the neighborhood as the “fabric lady”. Lauren found her passion early on, believing that the one thing she could do better than anyone else was redesigning homes. After attending Cranbrook Academy and graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a degree in interior architecture, the designer was formally trained by Chicago’s renowned Tigerman McCurry Architects. We have the pleasure of sharing with you an exclusive interview with this top interior designer.
What Lauren loves the most about her work is the fact that it is stylistically versatile, and through getting to know her clients, she makes sure she listens and understands their needs, understands how they live, gets to know imagery that excites them, and execute their dream home. To understand better Lauren’s path through interior design and architecture, we asked her what was the most challenging time in her career. By the age of 17, she risked it all and opened Lauren Coburn, LLC, she interviewed everybody she could to find out what their dream working relationship would be with a designer. She didn’t want to be a designer that loses clients, rather one that could keep a great relationship long term. “As a result, I decided to remove all of the smoke and mirrors and develop a completely smoke and mirror-free working relationship- total transparency and an emphasis on great value and exceptional customer service.” – she explained.
Lauren’s biggest dream is continuing to build her expertise, more travel, and having amazing experiences with her family. Professionally what fulfills her the most is to be proud of the work she does, and simultaneously the client’s compliments about the working experience. “Lots of designers can create a beautiful picture, but few can run a business and keep high-end clients happy.” – she proudly said.
PROJECTS
To communicate with her audience she mainly tries to keep her website updated, enter awards, advertise accomplishments on social media and website, and recently she started posting brand videos that help clients to understand who she is and how she works. At the moment she is building 3 homes ground up with 3 very different families and 3 very different styles. She is collaborating with a team of architects, builders to make sure that the entire home is being considered from start to finish, and make sure the architectural details blend seamlessly with her furniture plans, materials, bath designs, etc.
Creatively speaking about the design trends nowadays, Lauren pointed to exclusivity as a big trend. People want to feel unique and aim to create their own shelf of comfort and privacy. “My clients are building homes while thinking about every square inch and how their new home can work most efficiently for their family specifically.” – said Lauren Coburn. The designer doesn’t have a proper type of clients, she loves a diverse mix of personalities, but most importantly she loves when they are excited about the process.
TO FINALISE
“I think people are moving towards good quality versus overpaying for mass-produced, poorly made furniture that will not last. Also, people are moving towards more natural materials again versus synthetics based on environmental concerns and more durability. I hope there will be further appreciation for great quality, custom pieces, also natural materials and sustainability in high-end residential design.”
– Lauren Coburn
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