Into the Unknown
If you tuned in yesterday on Instagram you heard the big fat juicy news that… drumroll please…BlackHouse Seven would now stand on its own two feet. I find myself incessantly using these body part analogies and currently we have two arms (of the same body) with each having their own two feet? What started as a social media outlet for me to let my hair down and just be, has evolved into a brand all its own. I have set off down the rabbit hole to satisfy my own curiosity but also realized that what I was learning and uncovering was a brand, whose voice is needed in the spaces of preservation and design. I was, with delicate precision, uncovering the unspoken words, the whispered stories held in the dark corners of the historic architecture of America, the BlackHouse. It is my sincere belief that we owe our future the telling of these parts and in namesake of my daughter BlackHouse Seven was born.
I have penned this blog throughout my time as Principal Designer at LTD as a way to document what I knew would be a crazy ride. I always chuckle when people ask about my blog. I am either preparing to become the next industry shifting NY Times best seller or just keeping a detailed account of my whereabouts for the CIA to put in my file or anything in between I suppose. If you’re curious and want to read the page turning content you can find an archive of previous post here. Sometimes this was consistent, sometimes not, I try not to speak unless I actually have something worth saying but I’m currently knee deep in a challenge to write a post in 25 minutes first thing in the morning every day before work. Now if you have been reading along you’ll know that “first thing” is relative because hey, my mornings are almost never orderly, but a girls gotta have a dream right? The point is that it would be a “this is what I’m thinking right here right now” kind of therapeutic brain dump.
I feel like I have the best job in the world but after two and half years I have also discovered that there is a lot that people think I do that I don’t, and lots of things that people would have no idea I do during a typical day. Like how on Monday I surprised my client’s dog and dog walker when I was doing a site visit with a painter, and had to literally bark at said dog to avoid an attack! Credit to the dog, I was in her space, credit to me… “If you ever see me in the forest fighting with a grizzly bear… help the bear!” iykyk. First thing in the morning seemed like an appropriate time as any to share the utter randomness of it all. Owning and operating a new business amid unprecedented times no less and being a single momma is always serving up a healthy dose of unknown. I find that embracing the journey of the unknown, navigating the pitfalls and triumphs and sharing them authentically, is the truth I will insist on always sharing.
So, as my Pomodoro timer is ticking down I’ll give you the brief rundown of what life looks like right now.
I own and operate Leslie Tyler Design, predominantly a one woman show, I will admit I am busting at the seems when it comes to capacity and hope to add at least one team member soon. I also just launched BlackHouse Seven and have a whole slew of passion projects under this umbrella one that happens to be spread out nationally, but hey, no biggie. I also own a 1908 Tudor Revival whose kitchen I just gutted that I am set on doing as much of it myself. I’d credit this to being hyper independent, but also my creative process likes being left alone to “play” such as the mosaic pattern in our mud room that is taking 1000x as long as I thought, but is equally worth it. And last but certainly not least, the star of it all is my sweet four year old daughter, Seven. She is my muse, my inspiration, also my biggest critic, my gift that saved me in more ways than I could tell.
That’s the rundown in short, I am off to grab a quick shower before the aforementioned Seven wakes up for her second snow day this week! I hope to have a bit more of a productive day and finally lay this darn mosaic… stay tuned!