Introducing…our new studio and our team! I haven’t properly introduced you to everyone and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do so. The move happened rather suddenly, but here we are in a late 1800s historic home in Spanish Fork, Utah! We’ve been here for about a month now and are still adjusting to the changes and trying to figure out how everything will work, but for the most part, really enjoying the change.
Let me take you through the space and make the proper introductions!
The background
Our previous landlord told us about a year ago that he was looking for buyers for our previous building so we knew a change was on the horizon at some point, we just didn’t know when. We looked into buying our building and the land around it, but after exploring the many options, realized it wasn’t the right fit. We then began looking at buying buildings around the Provo area. We almost bought another historic home in Provo, which is sooo pretty, but as much as we tried to make it work, it wasn’t a smart investment nor was it large enough starting out. SO…we stayed put until someone for sure was going to buy the place. 
Well, that someone came, which meant that we had to move FAST! Jane, our photographer, spotted this house in a listing, we went to see it the next day, and that was it! Ha! That’s all it took! We loved the house. It was a little farther south than we were wanting…but the real estate in our area is insane right now–there’s nothing available and if there is, it’s snatched up FAST and WAY more expensive than Provo, Utah should be. So, we are paying about 3 times we were paying at our previous studio (waaaa!), which means we are hustling to make it all work!
Now, the pros of being here…More office spaces! Our previous studio had 3 smaller offices, one large work space, and plenty of basement storage, no kitchen. It was awesome for many many reasons. Here, we have more offices spaces, a kitchen!, a garage for storage, a large yard for who knows what yet, and a shoot space. Because of the pitches of the historic room, many of the rooms don’t have straight up and down walls, but lowered ceilings. It makes for tricky shooting, which is what we’re still trying to figure out.
Downstairs
Here’s the downstairs. It consists of two living spaces, a kitchen, and kitchen nook. Here’s how it was styled when we first toured it: 
We have turned the downstairs into our crafting area and conference area. Imagine plain office desks instead of living space.
Kitchen
We are STOKED to have a kitchen because we didn’t have one in our old space. We had a water cooler, a microwave, a tiny fridge, and a little box for storing food so critters wouldn’t get into it. The dining nook that you see on the end above is currently hosting our inventory for our shop. Because we’re classy like that!
The House is on a rather large area of land and comes with twin dogs next door that pop up whenever we go to the garage. In our dreams, we’re turning our garden area into a luscious space for flowers. It would be unreal.
Upstairs
Now, for the upstairs, there are 4 rooms, 1 for my office, 1 for Mary, 1 for our shoot studio, 1 for Jane, Kassie, and Sammy.
The hallway to the rooms is rather wide with a fan…which kind of makes us nervous as to what is in store for summer….please don’t let it be a sign of unbearable conditions.
The rooms look a bit like this: 
Mary’s office comes complete with a Jasper-sized door. 
And, of course, who doesn’t need a soak in the tub when you’ve had a stressful day?! 
She’s a beige beauty full of full of potential and, of course, we had tons of plans of what we’d love to do with the space. Our dream priority list goes like this:
- paint the walls
- remove the carpet and put in hardwood flooring
- switch out the lighting
So far we’ve painted the studio room so that it has a nice canvas of white walls. It’s got the dreamiest lighting.
Now, onto the team!
The Lars Team
Let’s start left to right:
Jane has been with us for about a year and a half and we love her! She came on as a contracted photographer and came on full-time this year as our studio manager and photographer/videographer. In addition to the loveliest photos, she is organized, a real team player, and loves to help everyone.
- Likes: interior design, photography, a good chick-flick
- Dislikes: arrogant people, bad drivers, grasshoppers
- Favorite place on earth: 17 mile drive in Northern California
Sammy is our content editor and designer who came on earlier this year. She has a background in fine arts and adds her artistic flair in everything she does.
- Likes: eating in her bed, reading, canceling plans and staying home
- Dislikes: being cold, cleaning her room, bills
- Favorite place on earth: Mexico City
Hailey is our social media intern this semester. We’ve had an internship for many years now complete with trainings and an alumni network. We love our interns! She can flip any caption into gold!
- Likes: ice cream, DI finds, art
- Dislikes: strawberries, bugs, winter
- Favorite place on earth: my bed
Caitlin is our product designer. She’s also my sister. I might love her the most, but that’s to be determined still…
- Likes: historical places, road trips, baby animals
- Dislikes: rye bread, a football game, running
- Favorite place on earth: Big Sur, California
Lydia is our graphic design intern this summer. She’s already done a great job with our up and coming website (shhh!)
- Likes: greek yogurt, French music, skateboarding, iris flowers
- Dislikes: pants, splinters, box elder bugs
- Favorite place on earth: Tate Modern, London
Brittany. Me!
- Likes: treats, surprises, a good home and garden tour
- Dislikes: adulting, the IRS, Utah interstate 1-15
- Favorite place on earth: Georgetown, Washington, DC
You’ve already seen quite a bit of Mary and her new house and garden this year, but I never made proper introductions and it’s been 4 years! Mary and I met at a dinner party a number of years ago, when she was visiting from Boston. On a whim, she contacted me and I was secretly hoping that it was because she wanted to become my business partner. Sure enough, it was. Answered prayer! She worked from Boston when she wasn’t working at her full-time job, and then moved to Utah after a year to come work here full-time. Her strengths are…anything I’m not good at! Spreadsheets and instruction manuals are her love language. I never knew that was a thing! Also, she’s single and would make an amazing wife if you’ve got a straight, honest, man in mind.
- Likes: weeding in the lavender cause it smells so good, soft ginger cookies, foot rubs
- Dislikes: bad smells, bad parking jobs, slime
- Favorite place on earth: A stunning hotel with gorgeous linens and no cell reception
Hannah is our studio assistant who started earlier this year. She helps keep our studio running smoothly. She also steps in when we need crafting help.
- Likes: skiing, skydiving, dancing
- Dislikes: repetitive noises, fake people, when people call me “lady” or ma’am”
- Favorite place on earth: mountains
Kassie is our project manager who also started earlier this year. She keeps our long client list and many projects on beat. Heavens knows we need her!
- Likes: Diet Coke, 50s music and movies, travel
- Dislikes: breakfast food, traffic in a hot car, inefficiency [see why we hired her?!]
- Favorite place on earth: Abroad–London, states–Charleston, South Carolina
I don’t know what we are doing here, but thought I’d throw it in because no team shot is complete without a lame outtake.
Ok! That’s it! Hop on over to stories today where I’ll be sharing more of each team member!