Today we’d like to introduce you to Veronica Deats and Lynsey Purl.
Veronica and Lynsey, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
After working in design separately, we met on the board of a non-profit organization and realized quickly that we had so many things in common, it’s almost a little scary. We have the same wedding anniversary, overlapping birthdays, firstborn kids have the same name, are both from small towns, knew each others’ friends in college, etc. The more we hung out and got to know each other, we knew that our talents would be even better combined. As a result, Max & Lou Home was born over a quick lunch of burgers and beer!
Our company name honors our amazing grandmothers, Maxine and Jimmie Lou. They were a couple of funny, strong, smart, and resourceful ladies who are the inspiration behind what we do every day. These women instilled a sense of home in us and taught us that filling your house with what you love makes it beautiful and gives it personality….no matter what your style or budget. They passed along a love of traveling, antiquing, gathering in the kitchen, digging through other people’s junk, and they were into repurposing long before it was considered cool. They knew how to bring their families together over a meal, and showed us that you don’t have to have a fancy formal dining room, or even matching dishes, to enjoy the company of friends. In a world where we can sometimes feel bombarded by images of online perfection, they are our reminders home is a feeling, not a magazine spread.
Our hope every time we finish a project with a client is that we’ve been able to create that sense of home, and have given them space where they want their friends and family gather. Somewhere they can pour a drink, listen to their favorite music, ignore the dishes in the sink, and enjoy each other’s company. This business wouldn’t exist without the beautiful lessons these women taught us, and we’re so thankful we get to do what we love every day!
Has it been a smooth road?
While it’s been a mostly smooth and fun road, we have had to figure out how to deal with the road bumps. Sometimes that means saying no to a project we really won’t take on, trying to create a work-home balance with seven kids between the 2 of us, shuffling each other’ kids around or having husbands do all of the school drops off or pick ups on a crazy day. We joke that we are constantly running this business through trial and error. We’ve been lucky, though, that some of the scariest things have had the best outcomes. Giving up our day jobs to start this business full-time together, finding wonderful mommas to work alongside of us, etc. Putting ourselves out there has been terrifying, but so worth it. We’ve struggled with trying to put a value on our time as designers, versus our time as moms, community supporters, philanthropists, volunteers, etc. We’ve never been shy about asking advice when needed, bouncing ideas off each other, and being willing to sit down and share any helpful knowledge we can with other moms who are in different phases of starting their businesses.
Tell us more about the business.
We are an interior decorating business specializing in residential design, but also work in commercial areas. Our sweet spot is creating spaces for families that are both beautiful and functional. We also love working in ground-up designs for spec homes, businesses, etc. As a company, we are proud to offer services that are accessible to people just like us. So much of our work is done in homes with clients who are on a budget but want their home to feel inviting and welcoming, and something they can be proud of. We have seven kids between our two families, and we know what it’s like to have small kids at home, and want to create a space that will grow with our clients’ family needs while making smart design choices. A huge piece of our work that sets us apart from other design companies is our effort to partner with other community small businesses and mompreneurs to include them in our design process. We work with local artists to create affordable custom artwork, local seamstresses for custom textiles, moms who have created organizational and plant-styling businesses, etc. We love having this group of incredible women and businesses to cull from, and it has been so inspiring to watch their businesses grow alongside ours.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The design has such a broad reach and is constantly evolving. There are always trends that will come and go, but we’ve always believed that interior design, in general, is heading into a direction that makes it accessible to more people. We love that! Our services are modeled to fit our individual clients’ needs so that we may work differently with one client vs. the next. We do not work off a “one size fits all” design model, and that keeps everything we do feeling personal and fulfilling.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.maxlouhome.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @maxandlouhome
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1828799084056138&ref=content_filter
Image Credit:
Morgan English, Veronica Deats
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