Here to help you live a more artful life, every day
Launched in 2008 as a blog by founder Brittany Watson Jepsen, The House That Lars Built has become an award-winning lifestyle brand and design company that includes various licensed product lines, sponsored content with brands, and daily editorial content with a focus on colorful design, decor, crafting, and joyful moments from everyday life.
Brittany Watson Jepsen here. I grew up teething on the seaweed of Southern California, though I preferred creating in the great indoors. I even started my own club when I was ten called Crafts for Holidays (I was a cool kid ;). My mom’s favorite quote was “a creative mess is better than tidy idleness” and so my childhood was spent creating art work, music, and yes, lots of messes.
After college I was haunted by those creative messes and enrolled in permanent “creative mess status” otherwise known as a master’s in interior design at the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, DC (now a part of George Washington University). I graduated in 2010 after spending summers working for Jonathan Adler and Celerie Kemble in NYC. There I designed products for Tiffany and Co., Schumacher and got to assist on photoshoots in addition to helping to create beautiful interiors for fancy schmancy penthouses.
The summer of 2009 I studied textile design in Copenhagen, Denmark and wrote a column for design*sponge (RIP) where I interviewed designers around Scandinavia. I wrote my graduate thesis on social media in design though my favorite class was about the history of the Bauhaus.
I married Paul in September of 2010 and moved to Copenhagen, where much of my inspiration comes from. We have since moved back to the US where we have lived in Provo, Utah since 2013 (how?!) and have two boys, Jasper and Felix.
I wrote a book called Craft the Rainbow, my ode to color, and have partnered with wonderful companies over the years. I can currently be found crafting up a storm and renovating our home.
Thanks for being here! Glad to have you!
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We believe in creating beautiful things.
It is our mission to inspire you to make things with your hands, because when you make things with your hands you get in touch with your soul. When you get in touch with your soul, you make a life worth living.
There is a project for every body and every time frame (and if it includes watching Derry Girls at the same time, we’re all in!). We aim to:
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Everyone has an aesthetic living inside of them whether they know it or not. We’re here to help you draw it out!
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Using easy to understand tutorials and beautiful photography, we are determined to share only projects that we think are THE most worthwhile. And if it’s easy, even better! We’re all busy people!
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When life gets stale, we are here to show you how to try something new or think about something in a new way. Let’s shake things up and invigorate the soul!
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Maybe you haven’t found your color-loving, pattern-mixing tribe yet IRL. Well, welcome, you’re in the right place.
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2008
Started a Blog!
Brittany started a blog for a house she designed in an interior design class. She created a fictitious family to live in the house and named the dad Lars as a nod to her real dad (well, his name is Bob. It’s a long story. Read more about it here). It took on a life of its own after that!
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2010
Got married!
Brittany’s DIY wedding went bananas on a new platform called Pinterest because of these infamous paper flowers. She hasn’t stopped making paper flowers and has promised to go to the grave with crepe paper and scissors in her hands.
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2011
Attended the Royal Wedding
After realizing she wasn’t going to marry Prince William, Brittany designed souvenirs in honor of his wedding. She flew to London for the wedding and sold her products on Portobello Road. While sporting a huge paper flower on her head, she was featured on Vogue, CNN, Le Monde and on many news outlets around the world.
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2013
Moved back to the US
After living in Denmark, Brittany and Paul decided to move to Provo, Utah to grow The House That Lars Built and be closer to friends and family.
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2015
Moved into a studio
After working out of her home for two years, Brittany moved The House That Lars Built into a large studio space on a cow farm overlooking a horse pasture. It was as smelly as you would think it would be, but allowed Lars to flourish! Some of Lars’ best hits are from this time period.
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2018
Craft The Rainbow
After a successful hashtag called #CrafttheRainbow, Brittany published a book featuring craft projects in every shade of the rainbow with Abrams along with a guided journal called My Life in Color and series of notebooks.
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2021
New partnerships & adventures
This year was marked with several new ventures. We became a member of the Nest advisory board, launched our phone case collaboration with Casetify and hosted the #LarsCraftAlong to raise money for Nest.
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2022
Fiskars Scissors Launch
A dream come true for Brittany (a bonafide scissors lover), the Fiskars x Lars scissors were sold in Michael’s, Joann, our shop, all over!
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2023
Home renovation show
Brittany and Paul tracked the renovations of their gutted house on an episode of In With the Old on Magnolia Network. You can see more here.