A New Chapter for Lord Design

This is a big one. Have a seat, grab a drink…I know I need one. I have been circling around how to write this, because there is no perfect way to say something that is both deeply sad and very, very right. The perfect word is: bittersweet…sadness mixed with emotional rightness. At the end of this month, I will be retiring and closing this chapter of Lord Design as a full-service interior design studio.

I am not going to say I am disappearing, because that is not true. I am also not going to make any dramatic declarations about never designing again, because who the hell knows what I’ll get up to once I have had a nap, a cry, and maybe an entire day where nobody texts me with an urgent need before I have coffee. 

But this version of the work is coming to a close.

After 16 years of Lord Design, it is time for me to step away from the business of design and make room for whatever comes next. I keep coming back to the word rewilding. That feels right to me.

I have been so focused for so long on running the business, managing the details, taking care of clients, taking care of the team, and looking ahead to the next thing that I need time to remember who Arlene is when she is not working. I need to meet her. Hopefully she is not a pain in the ass.

What I know for sure is that I need time. Time to rest. Time to process. Time to grieve. Time to be with Jeff. Time to be with my family. Time to get physically better. Time to make things with my hands. Time to look around my own home and life and ask what needs tending now.

There is a little note I have kept close that says: Build a life that feels like home.

That is what I want this next phase to be about. For me.

When I look back across all of this, what I am proudest of is not one project. It is the relationships.

The clients who became friends. The builders, makers, tradespeople, vendors, artists, installers, photographers, and creative weirdos who shaped the work right alongside us. We have done really beautiful things together. We have also sorted out really hard things together.

And honestly, the thing I am left with is the people.

It’s the part of this work that has always mattered most to me. You do not just choose tile and furniture. You walk beside people through actual life. Babies, grief, downsizing, new beginnings, grown kids, aging parents, forever homes. Houses that need to become softer, safer, warmer, and more theirs.

To my clients, thank you for trusting me with your homes, your families, your transitions, your nerves, your dogs, your art, your weird rooms, your big dreams, and your tiny details.

To the Portland design, trade and build community, thank you for being such a generous, talented, open-hearted place to work and learn. This city has given me a deep bench of craftspeople, artisans, builders, makers, and designers who grew my eye and made the work better. You have become friends and my admiration and respect for each of you runs immeasurably deep.  

To Prassede and the Numinous team, thank you for being such thoughtful partners in this chapter. You helped me tell the story of Lord Design in a way that felt like me, imperfect, heartfelt, a little irreverent, and deeply human. You listened, translated my ramblings into something coherent, and helped me share the work and the heart behind it. I am so grateful for the care you brought to this business and to me.

And to Anita and Kim, there are not enough words. You have been inside every bit of this with me. You have carried the chaos, the care, the spreadsheets, the stupidly heavy rugs, the deadlines, the laughter, the problem-solving, the impossible requests, the beautiful moments, and the occasional “what in the actual hell is happening” day. I love you both dearly. Thank you for who you are and for everything you do. I couldn’t have done any of this without you…and wouldn’t have wanted to.

Anita. My sweet, sarcastic, hardworking, loyal as all hell, Anita. She has been with me since before Lord Design. She has seen all sides of me and still calls me friend. This is big for both of us. Not the biggest thing we’ve been through together, but it’s big and while change is good it’s also admittedly kinda weird when it’s been such a damn good thing for so many years. She hasn’t quite decided what to do with her new found free time but she knows for sure that she hates to sit still. We’ll spend some of our new found free time sipping wine and figuring it out. We think best under the influence. ;-)

And speaking of Kim.

Kimberly is beginning her own next chapter with House of Irene. I am so very proud of her and so excited to see what she builds! She has been such an integral part of Lord Design, and if you have worked with her, you already know her talent, her eye, her calm, and her deep care and attention to detail. Kim and I have worked side by side for 13 years. I threw her into the pool and screamed “SWIM!” and swim she did. Not some wimpy dog paddle. She swam with the elegant, deliberate freestyle strokes of an Olympic swimmer. We have laughed at things that simply cannot be shared here and we have cried over things that also cannot be shared here. We have created things together and that is a special relationship. It has its own language. Much of it is unspoken. She is going on to create her own language now and I, for one, will be watching with a certain amount of pride and I’m sure, awe.

If you are looking for interior design support going forward, you can reach Kim here:

House of Irene

Website: https://www.houseofirenedesign.com/

Email: Kim@houseofirene.com

Phone: +1 (503) 381-0579

Instagram: @Houseofirenedesign

As for me, I am not entirely sure what the next incarnation will be yet. There may be some version of Lord Design at Home. There will almost certainly be some house things, shop things, remodel things, “look what I found” things, and creative things that have been resting inside of me for a very long time and are now clamoring to get out. I want to show the process more honestly. I want to make things. I want to play. I want to be rewilded. I’ll keep you posted through this newsletter…it may not be as consistent but I love writing this thing!

But, for now, I am going to take a breath.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for reading these ramblings all these years. Thank you for hiring us, referring us, cheering us on, forgiving our typos, laughing with us, crying with us, and letting us into your homes and lives.

What a privilege it has been.Truly. 

‘Til next time, in whatever form that takes…I’m not crying! I’m not!

Arlene