Elizabeth Lawrence on Decoration: How to Train Your Eye and Create a Home That Feels Like You

Talk Shop with Ariel Okin: A Fenimore Lane Production

Host Arielle Okan welcomes Elizabeth Lawrence to discuss the launch of her new book, 'Decoration,' co-authored with Bunny Williams. The epis

Key takeaways

• The book 'Decoration' is structured as a collection of favorite elements rather than by specific projects.
• Elizabeth Lawrence emphasizes that developing an eye for design requires observing nature, museums, and even flea markets.

Main topics

• Book launch of 'Decoration'
• Mentorship and professional partnership

Notable quotes

It's like a giant Pinterest board for us in some aspects.

Conclusion

The episode serves as an inspiring masterclass for both professionals

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) We didn't want this book to be like any other book that Bunny Speaker 1 (0:02) had put out. And we wanted it to be different so it's not arranged by project, which Speaker 2 (0:07) made it easier to just kind of say, what are our favorite photos, right? You know, it's like a giant Pinterest board for us in some aspects because we got to pick our favorite things and our favorite elements of projects and the design process. Speaker 1 (0:24) Welcome to Talk Shop. I'm Arielle Okan, a New York-based interior designer, writer, and editor looking to bring a little bit of magic into our homes every day. After years as a writer and editor in the interiors world, I founded my own editorial site, Fenimore Lane, in 2020, and the Talk Shop interview series was born. Each week, I delve into the personal experiences of the top interior designers and tastemakers Speaker 2 (0:47) around the globe. Speaker 1 (0:49) We're continuing our little run of bonus episodes ahead of season six, which will be coming your way this fall. And today, I get to welcome another returning guest back to the show, my friend Elizabeth Lawrence. Elizabeth is a partner at Williams Lawrence and has spent her career working alongside the legendary Bunny Williams, designing homes across the country from Manhattan to Palm Beach to Los Angeles. Her work has been featured everywhere from Architectural Digest and Elle Decor to Veranda, Gallery, and House Beautiful. When Elizabeth last joined me, we talked about her incredible journey from intern to partner, the mentorship and friendship that she's built with Bunny, and how she's developed her own voice while helping to carry one of the most celebrated names in American design into its next chapter. Today, there's another major milestone to celebrate. Elizabeth and Bunny have written a book together. Decoration, their new book from Rizzoli, is officially on sale now. It feels especially fitting because so much of what Elizabeth and I talked about last time was the importance of really looking. Traveling, exploring, studying great rooms, and slowly figuring out what speaks to you. Decoration takes that idea even further, exploring how we develop our eye, create rooms that feel personal and collected, and design homes that tell the stories of the people who actually live in them. So we're picking up right where we left off, talking about the book. Elizabeth's evolving partnership with Bunny and what she's learned about trusting her own eye and plenty of decorating advice along the way. Please join me in welcoming the fabulously talented Elizabeth Lawrence back to Talk Shop. Speaker 1 (2:29) Elizabeth, welcome back to the show. I'm so happy to have you here. Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to Speaker 2 (2:34) be here. I love the podcast and it's just so fun to chat with you, your friend now. I know. I Speaker 1 (2:42) love getting a chance to see you and catch up and a lot has happened since you were last year, but most importantly, you and Bunny have now written a book together, which is your first book and congratulations on Decoration. It's incredible. Thank you. Yes. Speaker 2 (2:57) I mean, you know how it is. It's, you know, you work so hard on something and then it's time for it to be put out in the world and you say, okay, I hope everyone likes this. And you're so close to it that it's hard to, you know, kind of get back from it. And so, yeah, so this is the defining Speaker 1 (3:15) moment now to see what people think. It's fantastic. I'll tell you what I think. I've had it for a couple of weeks and I have been, I told you, I've been reading it at night before bed. And It's really big. And my husband is always like, what is this like massive book that you're bringing into bed? But it's so, so good. And I can't wait to get into detail about it. I really think it's like a classic book of our time that will go on forever and ever. Well, thank you. Last time we spoke, we started by asking you to describe your style in three words or less, which we ask everyone who comes on. And you said. classic, thoughtful, and varied. So, which I totally agree with. Do you think that's still true? Has anything changed? Speaker 2 (4:01) No, I think that nothing has, nothing has changed in regard to, I mean, lots of things have changed, but not in regards to those three words, you know, because I, I kind of hadn't really remembered what I said and then you said it and I had already started thinking those words again. So I thought, oh, okay, I'm consistent. Which, you know, that's the That's the basis. So that's good. Yes. Speaker 1 (4:22) And the consistency in your practice, I feel like is so much of what you talk about in decoration too, in terms of the way you guys approach how you think about decorating. And we'll get into that, obviously. And another thing you said the last time you were on really stuck with me because the way you guys have structured the firm and, you know, obviously the succession plan and so much of that is so inspiring to so many designers. And something that you said last time was, you know, that you hoped that it would go on beyond you and that other people eventually will do the same at the firm and that it stays going like that forever. And you were talking about creating a path for people to grow within design firms. That's just, I found that so inspiring. And how do you guys feel like you're actively, you know, fostering a next generation? Because I think you guys do that better than anyone in the industry, really. Speaker 2 (5:14) Well, you know, it's not. always easy, but I think we really try to make the time to do it. And it's really important. It's something I talk about at the beginning of the book in my kind of the little essay about me is that's just so important to me. And because I had it, you know, and I have been so lucky. And so I also think we're all better for it if we're trading ideas and we're sharing our experiences. And, you know, it's I think the other thing is that I was talking to someone recently that I didn't know that this was necessarily an option for a career. Yeah. Right. I mean, and, you know, I was like, and now I see the huge options and the huge potential that a career in interior design has. Yeah. Speaker 1 (6:03) And so I want people to know that I Speaker 2 (6:04) want, you know, young people coming up to know that they can do this. You know, they don't just have to be good at science or, you know, if there's things that. they aren't finding themselves thriving. There are Speaker 1 (6:14) other options. Totally. And you are such an advocate, I feel like, with your mentorship at NYSED. And you're just such a voice for people to lean on who are coming up in the industry. And I think it's something that I really admire about you. Speaker 2 (6:29) Well, thank you. Speaker 1 (6:30) Hand in hand with that, I know Speaker 2 (6:31) you've, in the Speaker 1 (6:32) last episode, you've talked about Bunny as sort of like your design mother, which I love, and how much, you know, her approach has become part of you. And as the partnership has evolved, where do you now see the places where your approaches may be different or something that might not have been there before? You know, you guys have been partnered for a while now. So how has that sort of evolved over time? Speaker 2 (6:55) You know, it continues to evolve. Just it's nice to have that support. I think she, I think she feels supported by, I know she feels supported by me. She tells me. And so that's really great because I think for so long in my career, when I was younger, you know, I felt supported by her in, in that she would, you know, give me that reinforcement that I was doing the things that the, you know, things looked great. And I was interacting with the clients the way I should. And so now I, it's really nice to give her that support and allow her to, you know, be in the country more and with her husband, John. And, you Speaker 1 (7:30) know, Speaker 2 (7:31) and that's really important to me because I also hope someone will do that for me someday. Don't we all want, don't we all want that? And so, you know, we have a, we have a mutual support and respect for each other, but I do see a real big part of, you know, my career right now in. allowing her to have those opportunities to travel. You know, she was, she, I mean, you can't stop Bunny. She has more energy than anyone I know. Speaker 1 (7:56) She moves faster than anyone I've ever met in my life. It's so inspiring. Yeah. I Speaker 2 (8:02) want her to feel like she can, you know, slow down and be in the country or take a trip or, you know, do the things she wants to do. And so, you know, we're going on this book tour. There are things, places we're going together. There are places I'm going alone. And I'm glad that I'm able to, you know, carry the full weight of it and go do some things so that she doesn't have to go everywhere because that is exhausting. It is, yeah. Yeah, and then it's really nice. We can go places together and support each other. So it's Speaker 1 (8:32) really beautiful. The relationship that you guys have is just, it's beautiful. So let's talk about the book. It is so... beyond like an instant classic the second i opened it i was like oh this is you know this is going down in the history books when did you and bunny first start talking seriously about creating a book together and i know this is bunny's ninth book which is wild but it's your first so what was it like entering a process that she knows so well right Speaker 2 (9:01) well so the interesting thing was bunny had told me she wasn't going to do another book and Speaker 1 (9:07) I said, okay. And then she Speaker 2 (9:09) did the book on her garden. And so I said, oh, okay. I think we have an opening here. And we started looking at everything we had been photographing over the years and the things that we had not photographed yet. Speaker 1 (9:23) And Speaker 2 (9:24) we realized there's just a huge amount of work there. It's been almost 10 years since the firm had put out a book on our work. Wow. Yeah. And I think, you know, I mean, Bunny loves a project. She loves a challenge. And so it was, it was like, I Speaker 1 (9:42) didn't need to convince her, but I do think it's funny. She was like, I'm done doing books. Speaker 2 (9:46) So she was like, let's do it. And so the interesting thing was, as we started to put it all together, you know, we were, we were looking at the projects and then we were looking at what else we needed to photograph. And she looked at me one day and she said, well, you know, I write all my books. So. I will be writing. And I was like, yeah, Speaker 1 (10:06) I remember you telling me this. So I am going Speaker 2 (10:08) to write my sections as well, you know, and, and someone kind of on our team said, well, you know, you can get a writer. And I said, no, no. I said, I've, I've got to write. I've got to write. So. Speaker 1 (10:20) Sounds like you, though, which is really the special thing. Like your intro essay really does sound so much like you and your voice carries through across all of the sections. And I think there's something really special about that because sometimes the voice can get lost a bit and you can really tell that both of you wrote it. Speaker 2 (10:36) Well, thank you. That means a lot because that was something really new for me. Yeah. And it was, you know, it was kind of fun to do. And we were writing separately on different topics. And then, you know, we'd upload it and we'd see what the other one had written. Oh, I Speaker 1 (10:52) love that. Yeah, I didn't want to, I Speaker 2 (10:54) didn't really want to see what she was writing while I was writing because that's, you know, there's an intimidation there and there's a, you know, oh, you know, making sure, oh, are we covering the same thing? So it was nice that we both kind of wrote and then we read what the other had written. Speaker 1 (11:10) I love that. And I'm sure just personally to see, you know, both of your names together on the cover. I mean, that's such a big moment. Speaker 2 (11:18) Definitely. Definitely. That was that was a huge moment. It still is when I pass the book sitting on a table. It's Speaker 1 (11:24) crazy. It's like the crazy I'm still not over it. It's like the craziest thing. It's so it's so special. And I would imagine such a pinnacle moment for both of you in so many ways. And the book opens with. Really beautiful reflections from both of you on your earliest design inspirations. What did you learn about each other? Was there anything that you didn't know about each other through that process? Because I thought the way you kind of both go back to the beginning was really lovely. Speaker 2 (11:57) Well, thank you. I think, I don't know that there was anything I really learned because I've just been together so long. You know, it's kind of funny. I always say, like with my husband you know you when you're married you go out and you go to a dinner party and your husband tells a story that you've heard 20 times and you tell it right and and you could finish that story for that person and sometimes i think bunny and i are that way for each other yeah Speaker 1 (12:23) no you guys are like we're married for sure 100 yeah Speaker 2 (12:27) i mean we were speaking this week at an event and she started saying she said well you know elizabeth you know she started out this way and this was very important and i was like yeah tell it bunny like she knows yeah so i Speaker 1 (12:39) love that and i love that you guys know you know for both of you like each of each other's stories because it's it's so obvious how woven together the two of you are how did you decide because 10 years of work is really like so much work How did you decide which projects belonged in the book and which stories you wanted those projects to tell? Speaker 2 (13:00) Well, you know, it was, it was, of course, we didn't want this book to be like any other book that Bunny had put out and we wanted it to be different. So it's not arranged by project. Speaker 1 (13:10) Yeah. It really feels very different. Yeah. I mean, which, which made it easier to Speaker 2 (13:15) just kind of say, what are our favorite photos? Right. Speaker 1 (13:18) Yeah. And Speaker 2 (13:19) in a way. you know, it's like a giant Pinterest board for us in some aspects because we got to pick our favorite things and our favorite elements of projects and the design process. And I Speaker 1 (13:31) loved that you approached it that way because it's so different from how typical, you know, how a typical design book is laid out. And it lets you go more in depth on particular topics that I feel like you don't get in other books. Speaker 2 (13:43) Yeah. I mean, that was, you know, The Bunny's book point of view was very much a how-to, you know, about window treatments and floor plans. And we wanted to touch on those things, but