Places We Live: I Love Linen Founder Lauren Roe

In celebration of I Love Linen's 10th Birthday, the latest edition of our Places We Live series shines a spotlight on a place close to the brands roots. Our Founder, Lauren Roe, takes us on a special tour of her family home and birth place of the brand we know and love. A mix of bush modernism and modern eclectic, Lauren's home nestled in the Hinterland of Bundjalung Country still plays a pivotal role in the business like it did when it was the base of operations, now serving as inspiration for her work as the brand's Product Designer.

Q: Can you tell us about your I Love Linen journey?

Lauren: "During my maternity leave with my daughter, Olive, I decided to have another hobby that would give me an outlet beyond changing nappies. I say that rather tongue in cheek because Olive was my first child and I didn't realise how much my life would change once I became a mum let alone deciding to start a business!"

"In hindsight launching an e-commerce business is not really a hobby I'd suggest to anyone else but it's certainly been a wonderful journey for me. I recall launching the site around midnight at my kitchen table and my designer was in the UK. That first year, I ran the business from my laptop and shipped orders from my lounge room. "

"Eventually, I decided to throw my full focus into I Love Linen and found a warehouse in Melbourne. Then about a year later we decided to head north and moved the entire business to Queensland where we are still based to this day."

Q: What does I Love Linen represent for you?

Lauren: " In the early days it was very much a lifestyle business, with a lot more flying by the seat of my pants. Now we have quite a large team and so I'm aware of more responsibility and opportunity!"

"Now as an established brand and employer, we need to be much more focused on our execution. It's always a surprise and a strange feeling when I meet someone for the first time and they say they know the brand."

Q: Who / What is your interior inspiration?

Lauren: "I love interior design but given I have 2 young kids I'm saving my big purchases to when they're a bit older and things don't get as worn. But I always look to Sarah Ellison, Pop and Scott, Pampa, Rachel Donath, Rikki Day, Neighbourhood Studios, Studio of the Sun and Worn Store as some inspirational brands."

Lauren styles the bedroom with the French Linen Fitted & Flat Sheet in Ochre, Quilt Cover Set in Sage Stripe and Pillowcases in Sage.

Q: How do you separate your personal style from building a versatile range to suit every aesthetic?

Lauren: "I design our colours with a customer in mind. I visualise their bedroom style, their interior style and other furniture and access pieces that would work together."

"I think it's important to obviously love what you design but to not be limited to only creating colours you'd use in your bedroom. Our range sits around 24 colours and can pretty much be mixed and matched with everything!"

Q: Explain what a day in your life looks like.

Lauren: "It's certainly busy! The kids wake up and in between making coffee and breakfast I'll scan my inbox. Then it's going on the school run and heading to the office. Then my day could involve various meetings with our team or me planning and finding sources of inspiration for a new collection. A quick scroll in our Instagram account to see what images are engaging to our community and then leaving to pick up my daughter, and home to do the bath and bed run with the kids."

"On a weekend though I absolutely love staying at our home and cooking, gardening and reading and of course enjoying a nice glass of wine!"