WELCOME TO LOCALHAUS
Welcome to our new blog. We’ve been in uncharted waters for the past few years, inventing our dream life. As homeowners, entrepreneurs, creatives, consumers, parents… we have a lot to talk about. We look forward to sharing our adventures with you!
It’s hard to believe Localhaus is turning two. To celebrate our first year anniversary we launched #hausobessessed, a collaborative photographic pop-up featuring our favorite local NYC makers and artists. Now that we’re a year older and wiser (yeah, right), we’re starting a blog. Let’s just hope we’re not 20 years too late for this. Right.
Our story began 3 years back when we moved our family into a “charming” 4 story pre-war townhouse with great bones that needed lots of work. It was our first renovation project and we had no idea what we were getting into. We didn’t have enough time or money to launch a full gut renovation, so we began renovating little by little, floor by floor while living in the house. It was crazy and stressful but we made it work and even had some fun along the way.
Pushed to find creative ways to fund home repairs we rolled with the punches and were rewarded with too many blessings to count. Our home is now more than a home. It’s our creative home base, a source of income, a place that we get to share daily with others.
From welcoming overnight guests from across the world, to hosting photo shoots with brands big and small, to collaborations with local makers we admire, we’ve had the time of our life learning on the job and making our dream life up as we go along.
After two years of riding the waves and crafting a life less ordinary, we are ready to embrace what we’ve learned and turn it into a resource for others. We’re also ready to focus our energies and passion for all things home onto larger goals for creative collaboration – we have a lot of fun projects in the works with partners we adore that we can’t wait to share with you.
But because life is more than just cozy interiors (though just barely), we’d like to use this digital space to re-discover and share our first loves. Our professional backgrounds are in graphic design and hairstyling, so naturally we love all things pretty. So we’ll be sharing our go to shops, favorites we can’t live without, and all of the beautiful things we covet.
We also know a thing our two about furnishing-cleaning-maintaining a home that can withstand use by overnight guests, photography crews, and hyper-active children. We’ve acquired a tome of helpful advice and strategies for selecting just about anything you purchase for your home (and how to care for it).
Plus we are learning on the job how to raise two boys with special needs while balancing our needs as humans in a city that is notorious for leaving very little in the way of extra time or money to do anything. So we have plenty on our minds that we’d love to share. Here’s to starting a conversation, sharing resources, and new beginnings!
xoxo,
Lauren & Ben