Larissa Anderson 00:00:00  I’ve always loved design. That’s just something that I always have done as a hobby, between refinishing furniture and thrifting clothes and then sewing them into other clothes. It’s just kind of always been something that it’s like my heartbeat. But as a college student, it didn’t feel practical enough based on how I grew up. And thank God I have a husband and some friends who definitely were like, why aren’t you doing this? You love it, why aren’t you doing this? And eventually I got to a point where I was ready to do it. And so I did. And so here I am.

Katy Ripp 00:00:39  Hey there, fellow rebels, welcome to #ActuallyICan, the podcast where we say a hearty hell yes to designing life on our own terms. I’m Katy Ripp, a lifestyle coach, business mentor and serial entrepreneur here to guide you through the wild ride, defying what society expects of us and embracing our authenticity. On this show, we dive deep into taboo topics like death, money, spirituality, entrepreneurship, unapologetic self-care, and personal development, all while swearing and laughing along the way.

Katy Ripp 00:01:10  Expect down and dirty conversations, plenty of humor, and a whole lot of exploration, leaving you feeling empowered to be your truest self. Whether you’re craving a good laugh, seeking unconventional self-care tips, or simply looking for some camaraderie, you’ve come to the right place. We only get this one short life, so buckle up and let’s design yours on our own terms. Ready to dive in? Let’s go. Hey guys, and welcome back to another episode of #ActuallyICan, I’m your host, Katy Ripp. And as always, I’m here to share some stories about actually we can do the shit that we want to do. And today is sort of my own, actually, I can. So I have my lovely friends who bonuses as my interior designer, Larissa Anderson from Haven Design. And we are talking today about our new project. My husband and Dale and I have a new plan to start a big build on our eight acres just outside of Madison, Wisconsin. We have lived in this house for just about ten years.

Katy Ripp 00:02:21  It’s an old farmhouse. It was taken down to the studs in 2000, but it was originally built in 1900. We have gone back and forth and back and forth about whether or not we’re going to tear it down or we are going to remodel it. But after our builder, who happens to be Dale’s very talented cousin, Scott, came over and looked at it, he was in the let’s just remodel camp. And then he came and looked at it and he was like, oh, you have to tear this fucker down. So anyway, Larissa and I met, I don’t know, like a year and a half ago in March, right at the Maggie’s Biggest event.

Larissa Anderson 00:02:58  Yeah. Was that the first one?

Katy Ripp 00:03:00  Yes, the very first one. Yeah.

Larissa Anderson 00:03:02  So whatever that date is. Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:03:04  March of whatever that was.

Larissa Anderson 00:03:06  Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:03:06  But Larissa and I hit it off and she has helped me in a couple of projects, the biggest one being my office. And if you have followed along on Instagram, you know, I’ve tagged her in lots of my office space hosts.

Katy Ripp 00:03:20  I love this office so much. Her and Dale basically brought it to life for me. But the big project, we’re calling it The Build. If you would like to follow Dale and myself and Larissa along on the ride of this, it’s at Katie and Dale on Instagram. We have just started it. We started a blog Katie and dale.com. Part of it is I want this to get so big that my house gets paid for.

Larissa Anderson 00:03:44  Yes.

Katy Ripp 00:03:46  Right. So crossed. That’s it. Yes, crossed. We get so big that like Koehler comes to us and says we’re going to take care of all of your bathroom fixtures and all furniture is going to come from someone else. Is going to help with this.

Larissa Anderson 00:04:02  Who else can we speak into existence?

Katy Ripp 00:04:06  we’ll make a list of all those things, but we are starting first with a carriage house or barn dominion. We haven’t quite figured out what we’re calling it. lots of remodel and or design industry terms have changed over the years, especially since I started pinning shit on Pinterest.

Katy Ripp 00:04:27  So the reason we’re starting with a pool shed, plus living quarters is because when we eventually tear down our house, we are going to have to live somewhere.

Larissa Anderson 00:04:38  That’s an important factor.

Katy Ripp 00:04:39  It is to.

Larissa Anderson 00:04:40  Consider. Yeah, we don’t.

Katy Ripp 00:04:41  Have anywhere else to live if we don’t have a house. So Dale also needs a space for all of his tools. And of course he gets first thing right.

Larissa Anderson 00:04:49  Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:04:49  Anyway, welcome, Larissa. That was a thank you long intro, but I am going to let you just sort of introduce yourself. Tell us what you do, how you got here. What do you love most about interior design? You have a lot of talents. You also like to refinish furniture and you’re very rusty and all the things, I think is probably why we get along so well. So. Yes.

Larissa Anderson 00:05:13  Yes, yes.

Katy Ripp 00:05:14  Introduce yourself. Welcome, Larissa.

Larissa Anderson 00:05:16  Oh, I’m so glad to be here. I’m Larissa Anderson, and I am the founder of Haven Design Studio.

Larissa Anderson 00:05:23  We are a full service, mostly residential, but a little bit of commercial interior design studio. And we have been around since 2019 when I quit my full time corporate job in communications. Well, actually there was a six month overlap where I did Haven first to see if I could make it go and still have money coming in, and within that time it just really took off. And today I’m the lead designer, but I also have an associate designer and a drafter. So we’re a small but mighty team and we do many, many projects each year, kind of each, you know, adding our own different skills and abilities. I did start out I’ve always loved design. I’ve always loved color and shapes and visuals, and that’s just something that I always have done as a hobby, between refinishing furniture and thrifting clothes and then sewing them into other clothes. And it’s just kind of always been something that it’s like my heartbeat. But as a college student, it didn’t feel practical enough based on how I grew up.

Larissa Anderson 00:06:36  And so thank God I have a husband and some friends who definitely were like, why aren’t you doing this? You love it, why aren’t you doing this? And eventually I got to a point where I was ready to do it. And so I did. And so here I am.

Katy Ripp 00:06:53  I’m curious to. What do you think made you, aside from the support which we all need, right. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I think made you say, actually, I fucking can do this. Why am I not?

Larissa Anderson 00:07:04  I think it so the practicality of like doing business and marketing, I always did really well in school. So that felt like, oh, I can use my kind of like academic knowledge. But communications is also sort of creative. So I felt like it was sort of this, I don’t know, balance between being able to do stuff that was creative, but also something that was like, oh, it’s kind of like a sure thing. It’s this very practical feeling career. But in that career, as anybody in marketing or communications knows, it just never stops.

Larissa Anderson 00:07:38  Right. And like for the job that I was in, they just kept needing more and more hours. I was a director of communications at that point and they just kept needing more. We have three kiddos and we were just at a place where I was like, I cannot give them more. So I was just feeling this. I just was not settled inside anymore. And it just felt like, you know, I was oh, I was 38. And it was just kind of feeling like my kids are getting a little older. I wasn’t in that super physically intensive parenting phase of life, and we had not yet gotten to the super emotionally intensive phase of teenage life, which we’re in now. So fun. Yeah, but I just I knew I needed something different, and thankfully I was able to do it in that way. Where I started Haven, I started doing small jobs for friends and saying, hey, I want to do this for you. If I can take photos of it, like at the end.

Larissa Anderson 00:08:41  And I mean, I was lucky enough to just kind of have some good, you know, good connections and got some good photos And just felt very. I think the other thing that kind of pushed me over the edge is that we built our own house. Yeah, yeah. In 2018. Okay. So I went through that process and it was just funny because it’s like the whole time everyone’s like, oh, building it sounds exhausting. It sounds terrifying, like so many decisions. And I was just like, oh, I love this so much. We built a parade home and the home ended up winning awards in the parade that year. And it just it felt like kind of the last piece of affirmation that I needed that like, yes, you can do this. Stop doubting yourself. You can do this. And so that’s what I did. Yeah, yes I can.

Katy Ripp 00:09:35  Entrepreneurial itch at some point, rather than just like going into interior design and deciding that you want to go work for somebody else, you jumped straight into my own business.

Katy Ripp 00:09:47  Yeah. What was that like?

Larissa Anderson 00:09:49  Oh, it’s such a steep learning curve. Purple. We’re all.

Katy Ripp 00:09:52  Still learning.

Larissa Anderson 00:09:53  Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I feel like I tend to be like you in that I am a doer. So I’m like, my husband is a researcher and a planner and a like, let’s figure out all the potential outcomes that could happen here. And I’m like, I can do this. I can figure it out, and I will have to figure it out as I go. So I was just ready to like, do it. I like having control of my own life, obviously, but I think this has just felt like a really good fit most of the time, right? Yeah, being an entrepreneur is hard, but I do think it felt like a really good fit to be able to create something that worked. How I chose for it to work, instead of jumping back into a new system that I had to learn, and other people who really ultimately had control over my life and my schedule and tasks and everything that I did.

Larissa Anderson 00:10:52  So definitely your.

Katy Ripp 00:10:53  Money.

Larissa Anderson 00:10:53  Yeah, exactly. Yep, that’s exactly right. At least.

Katy Ripp 00:10:58  You know, you might have security, but they also get control over how much they pay you. Yes. All the value, all those things one 100%.

Larissa Anderson 00:11:05  So yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:11:06  And I to your point, I think both of us were just born with that. I think there’s an extra bone or an extra gene or an extra stuff, like we just figure shit out. I think I can figure anything out. Yes. I just don’t have any fear that I can’t figure it out. I think that there’s an endless amount of information. Right?

Larissa Anderson 00:11:26  I agree with that.

Katy Ripp 00:11:27  It shouldn’t be one out here now 100%. Yes, I have that. Yes, yes. Well, thank you for that intro. I think even though I can figure everything out and I think right then and I also have a pretty good handle on design and I know what I like and I think I know what I want. However, my parents built lots of houses when we were kids, right? And we always drag a whole bunch of baggage into our 40s with us when from when we were kids, right? And it was always fucking years ago, but I still got a bunch of baggage.

Katy Ripp 00:11:59  And my parents both houses super stressful on everybody. And we built two houses back to back, big houses back to back. And of course, at the time my mom was home and I don’t remember a lot of that design process, but it did feel like at one point or another, it was too much and it created a lot of stress. And I’ve always been a person that likes to have something to then change. So remodeling has always been really easy for me because I start with something and then I can change it. But the foundation is sort of there. Even with words on a page. I have a hard time starting with a blank page, but I can change words in order to make them completely my own.

Larissa Anderson 00:12:43  Totally.

Katy Ripp 00:12:44  I think I can do this on my own, but I want to do it right, I just. Probably are forever home. We have just about eight acres outside of Dane County. We paid not very much money for it ten years ago. We would never be able to find the property that we have again for the money that we paid for it, right? Probably find it, but not for what we paid for it.

Katy Ripp 00:13:06  And you know, we have alpacas, we have goats, we have dogs and cats and apple trees and flowers and all the things that really like bring me joy in my life. So we love this space. But I know that if I’m going to build a forever house, especially with my husband, right? Who can do so much? Yeah, and is in the trades so sees a lot. I know I need help. Yeah. And my goal in the last few years has been outsourcing. Really figuring out what I’m good at, what I’m not good at, where I can really capitalize on some of my strengths but make them even better. and I have figured out that I do that with other people. Totally. So. This is where you come in. So again, I’ve been sort of this larissa’s style for a couple of years now. I followed along pretty much everything she’s got I am following along with, and I am really interested in hopefully sharing this story as we go through it.

Katy Ripp 00:14:11  This is probably a 2 or 3 year project. We still have all the financing, all the licensing, all the permitting and everything to go through, but we are at least starting with some plans and some conversations. So we’re hoping to get some of this, like down on paper. I need a plan. I’m not hey, let’s follow this thing to a tee. But I do like to know how much this shit’s going to cost me so I know what to ask the universe for more. Yeah, but. So I’m interested in knowing, like, what your process is. I know it a little bit, but we actually haven’t dove super deep into your process and what you would. I mean, obviously we’re friends, but I am a client and I will. I expect that we’ll go through a process, but I’m interested. Like if somebody comes to you and says, I want to build a house where you start, can you tell our listeners that would be like, hey, if this is like a dream of yours, if it’s an actual thing that you want to do, this is not a someday thing.

Katy Ripp 00:15:12  And for me, it’s always been some big thing and I’m like, fuck this, I am 46 years old. Yeah, enjoy this. Even if we had to get a 30 year mortgage on it, it’s probably, you know, I’m going to be 76 by the time that thing’s paid off. Yeah, like I want to get going. I don’t want to have. Yeah, I’m 56 or whatever, you know, whatever that was. Right. We have always is a couple, I guess. Or as our family has always, just like when we want to redo a bathroom, we just do it like we start on Friday night tearing shit out and stuff. Sunday. Right. Like we have the ability to do that because that’s what my husband does, right? Like we just tear out countertops and all of a sudden, six days later, there’s brand new quartz countertops in. Yeah, but that is not exactly how this goes. We’re depending on so many other people. Yeah. So interested in hey, we want to build a house.

Katy Ripp 00:16:05  We need an interior designer. What does that look like for you? Yeah.

Larissa Anderson 00:16:09  One of the very first things to consider is your builder having a builder that you trust, that is good at communicating, that has done projects that you have seen and have heard from the people that they’ve worked with on the past, that it was a good experience is huge. The number of people who build and get to the end of their build and just have had a horrible time and feel like there’s contention with their builder and feel like they didn’t actually get what they wanted is huge, so I think that is really tricky. I think for you guys, you know, because you’re using a family member, you know him, someone who you trust it, someone you know his work. So that is a really beautiful part of what you already have kind of set up there.

Katy Ripp 00:16:59  Yeah. One of the things that when you’re talking about that is obviously I talk a lot about, like finding your voice and being very authentic and that kind of thing.

Katy Ripp 00:17:07  And I know that in my people pleasing life, if I hadn’t done all of this sort of deep work, I think it’s probably one of the things that has kept me from building, because I would have a fear that I was going to people please myself out of the house I wanted, oh.

Larissa Anderson 00:17:25  Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:17:25  Somebody says, well, you can’t have that roof line. It’s too expensive to have that roof line. Or why would you want a beverage area or whatever those things are called.

Larissa Anderson 00:17:36  Totally.

Katy Ripp 00:17:37  Why would you want that? And I would be like, oh, well, yeah, you’re right, that’s practical or yeah, you’re right. That’s even though it is in our budget. We should spend it here instead, because that’s what the builder says. Or that’s what my husband says or whatever it is like. I literally was scared that I would people please myself out of the house.

Larissa Anderson 00:17:56  I want oh yeah, that’s super common to I’m not going to be on a total soapbox, but I think one of the things that’s really hard for, especially women when they’re building a house is that it is typically a male dominated trade.

Larissa Anderson 00:18:10  And so when you have a 65 year old builder who is not up on the latest trends, who doesn’t understand why you would want, I don’t know, heated floors or a brass rail on your shelving or any of the little details. I think it can feel really bad, like they are just looking down on you like you’re an idiot. And that definitely can cause people to be like, oh, okay, you know, best. And then you do lose sight of the things that you actually want. So I think one of the things that I actually love about my job is that I know enough and I’m comfortable enough, I guess, to be able to push back when we get some of those things where it’s like, you know, a here’s why it’s useful or even be who cares if it’s useful if this is something that the client has wanted for ten years, that will make a difference in their life. And that’s ultimately the point of good design, is that it makes your life better.

Katy Ripp 00:19:13  You’d be called an interior advocate instead of an interior designer, right? Because that’s sort of how totally I look at you as like, I this sounds horrible, but if we’re going to be up against Dale and Scott, I know this sounds horrible, but like, I’m just a team member, I’m gonna be somebody that’s like, actually, no, we do want a pot filler.

Larissa Anderson 00:19:33  Oh, yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:19:34  Right. Yes. You need a dog wash or. Totally. We are starting some of these like, tools that I’m trying to build. like, what do we actually value in our house? What we’re looking for in our environment, what are we like? Our kids are very likely going to be gone. We’re also not building a huge house. I don’t want a big house. And I think people could talk you into being like, if you’re going to spend this much money, you want more square footage?

Larissa Anderson 00:20:00  Oh gosh. Yes. Oh yes.

Katy Ripp 00:20:02  Sir. On eight acres you have so much room, why wouldn’t you build a 4000 square foot house or, you know, a plethora of things? Yes, people could say that. Like, oh, shit, maybe they do know about her or yeah, I don’t need this or I do want this, but I can’t really trust myself. It’s frivolous or it’s an elective or this is the first thing to go, or you don’t need to spend $1,000 on a light fixture, even though that’s the entire look of the house and, yeah, everything around it or whatever.

Larissa Anderson 00:20:37  So and I think, I mean, Katie, I think one of the things that you mentioned that is so important is that you knowing yourself and trusting your own instincts and desires and needs, that is the starting point to actually getting what you want. If you start this process and you really don’t even know what you want, you’re not going to get what you want. So I think, you know, that’s kind of a different paradigm. But it’s like starting really almost like internally with your values. And that can absolutely help you end up in a home that is exactly what you want and provides the environment. It provides the functionality, it provides the vibe that you need to live a better, happier, healthier, more functional life.

Katy Ripp 00:21:35  One of my values, and I have discovered this in the last 2 or 3 years, is my space. I value my environment and my space so much I like. I didn’t really realize how much I actually valued that piece of my life. Yeah, where I love my space.

Katy Ripp 00:21:52  The more I can get done, the more productive I am. The more I feel at peace, the more I mean just yes.

Larissa Anderson 00:22:00  Preach it. Yes. Right.

Katy Ripp 00:22:02  One of my my other one of my big core five values is comfort and pleasure.

Larissa Anderson 00:22:08  Oh yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:22:09  I, I didn’t even know that could be a value, to be honest. Like we’ve been told all our life. It’s like health, wealth, family, you know, whatever. Like you’re telling me I can be like comfort and pleasure can be one of the things that I make my decisions against. Yeah. And that is what I’m hoping to now. I mean, it would be great if it was like, all velvet and cushiony everywhere, but that’s not really what I’m talking about, except that I know I want like, a meditation space. I know I want a sauna because I need to be warm all winter long. I know that I want high ceilings, I know I want wide doorways, these kind of things that I have done all of this research.

Katy Ripp 00:22:56  But part of what you said before about trusting yourself, it took me so long to get here. Oh yeah, there’s lots of people that don’t build forever homes, right? Yeah, totally. People have to move all the time and they build a house and then they realize, I mean, my sister is one of them, right? Like they’ve built a number of houses and because of her husband’s job, they have to move. Yeah. She has learned so many lessons about this is what you want. This is what you don’t want. This is, like, totally. If I build again, I’ll do this. But she’s also sort of let go of like, this is my forever house and I’m going to make one decision. And this is the decision forever.

Larissa Anderson 00:23:30  Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:23:32  I had a fear of that. I was like making the wrong decision. And then I’ve spent all this money and we’re sitting in this forever home. And now I’ve made this wrong decision, and I can’t ever change it.

Larissa Anderson 00:23:43  That’s super common, to be fair. But again, I think the more you know yourself and the more you trust your own decision making, the easier it is to say, yeah, this is what I want. Yeah, I know that because I know myself.

Katy Ripp 00:23:57  Yeah. Tell me about money. I want the money around. I don’t know if it’s necessarily around design, but like when you are working with people with budgets or when you are working with people that maybe don’t have a budget or don’t have any idea what something like this costs, or the latest number we’ve heard is 370, well, $325 a square foot to build the new house. They all told me you, me, we, him and I should more count on $375 a square foot because of the finishes we probably want to put in. because some of the things that, you know, we know we want that are going, you know, we’ll probably put on a steel roof while, you know, 85 might be a shingled roof or we know we’re going to want nicer windows for longevity, maybe 325 is mediocre windows, but we’re going to go higher end on some of the bigger things.

Katy Ripp 00:24:56  Yep. Garage doors, you know, flooring, that kind of thing. Yes. Now I hear $375 a square foot. And now I sound like my parents that are like, we bought our first house or dude, you know, $22,000, whatever it is.

Larissa Anderson 00:25:12  Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:25:12  I mean, we bought our first house for 200, right? Yeah. We’re talking about $375 a square foot. If you’re talking about a 2000 square foot house, that’s 750,000. Yeah. So that to me, makes me like, oh, my God, I’m never going to be able to do this in my whole entire life. Even if Kohler pays for my fixtures.

Larissa Anderson 00:25:33  Yeah, I hear that in reality.

Katy Ripp 00:25:36  Tell me about what people are. Do you think most people are, like, too scared to even ask?

Larissa Anderson 00:25:43  You know, that has actually been an interesting kind of realization, I think, over the past, however many years, is that a majority of people who want to work with a designer or work with Haven, at least, you know, we always ask about budget.

Larissa Anderson 00:26:00  What’s your budget for this project? Timeline, budget, all of those things. Very few people have any idea how to budget for it. And I think that is one of the reasons that at Haven we start out with obviously, kind of once we do all the dreaming and the collecting of inspiration and talking through all of the details, we do, you know, the bulk of the design and then we we always get quotes and we get quotes from 2 to 3 different people. So if you’re building, I even recommend that is saying we know that we’re going to want this level of even like tile, this level of flooring, we are going to want a metal roof, you know, we’re going to want XYZ. Because truly quotes can vary wildly, and what you have in your head is almost never accurate. And so I always just recommend getting we’ll get at least two, if not three to give ourselves a range and say, okay, maybe this one contractor is like way, way, way, way low.

Larissa Anderson 00:27:16  Why is that? And we always look for past projects and previous clients just to help have that feedback, to help make that decision in a way that feels safe and doesn’t feel like we’re going to be unhappy in the end.

Katy Ripp 00:27:30  Basically, how about the people that feel like they can’t afford a designer? Yes, it’s an elective. Kind of right. Like it’s kind of a luxury. But if you’re going to invest this kind of money, what can a designer do? Like what.

Larissa Anderson 00:27:45  Value do we add to make it worth.

Katy Ripp 00:27:47  That? I know what value you add, but for me, it’s like I invest in someone to do my laundry, right? Because I don’t want to do it. And it frees up time for me to do other things. Yes. And then I can stay in my zone of genius so I can pay for the house. Right? Like that. That’s where I’m talking about. But yeah, there are like sort of these hidden tasks that, yeah, nobody tells you about when you build a house or when you know, or whatever, that I feel like someone like you or your team take over, that you wouldn’t necessarily know how much time it takes.

Katy Ripp 00:28:23  Does that make sense?

Larissa Anderson 00:28:24  Oh, yeah, for sure. That is absolutely true. I think talking about like the different hats we wear, really, like you mentioned earlier, one of the first things that I think people don’t necessarily understand that they need is a mediator. So it’s like if there are essentially no two people who agree on everything, design or otherwise, and it can be very helpful to have kind of the impartial third party that A knows the process. B can kind of provide that cushion between I want this and I want this. And, you know, how do we get to a middle ground where both people can be happy? That’s kind of the first thing. But in addition to that, picking up samples, one of the things that I hear so often from clients is they told me to go to this showroom, and I walked in and I just got totally overwhelmed, like I didn’t even know where to start. And I think, you know, one of the things that I do frequently is I will narrow things down to like, okay, so we’ve got to pick flaws.

Larissa Anderson 00:29:34  I’ll narrow it down to three of flooring options that maybe give you a little variation, but all three of those would work. And then you guys kind of especially if you know what you like, you can look at just three and say, yes, that saves a ton of time versus walking into a showroom and seeing, okay, there are literally 432 flooring options in here. And I’m supposed to go through these?

Katy Ripp 00:30:00  Yeah.

Larissa Anderson 00:30:01  Like how do I know? Right. So I think that is that’s pretty valuable. Also, just the wealth of knowledge that we have about products can be really helpful. You know, saying, why would I want LVP? Why would I want wood? Why would I want a laminate flooring? What are the differences. So we always try to bring that. There are also a lot of scenarios where we will be working with a builder or a contractor, and I’ll drop in as the build phase is happening and I’ll notice something, I’ll be like, hey, actually that we were going to use three quarter inch whatever.

Larissa Anderson 00:30:41  I’m noticing that that’s not it. And I think for a lot of clients, that takes pressure off of them because there’s that Midwest nice thing again, where it’s like, oh, I’m sure I can just live with it.

Katy Ripp 00:30:54  Oh, 100%.

Larissa Anderson 00:30:55  Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:30:56  And especially when the builder is like halfway done with the project that they fucked up somehow. Yes. And you’re like, well, I guess it’s fine.

Larissa Anderson 00:31:03  No, I don’t want it to make it harder on him. But in reality, yeah, yeah. This goes.

Katy Ripp 00:31:09  Into so I think this is such a metaphor for so many things building all.

Larissa Anderson 00:31:17  Of life.

Katy Ripp 00:31:18  All right. Like, actually, no, you’re paying that guy or woman that is doing whatever they’re doing, painting or laying floor or whatever If it’s wrong, it should be corrected. A you’re paying for it, and b you deserve what you want.

Larissa Anderson 00:31:37  Yeah. And what you paid for. Yes.

Katy Ripp 00:31:39  Yeah, yeah.

Larissa Anderson 00:31:40  Exactly.

Katy Ripp 00:31:41  Like this is the plan. I don’t care what you thought it should be.

Katy Ripp 00:31:44  This is what the plan said. And you didn’t fall in so totally.

Larissa Anderson 00:31:48  And I think, I mean, similarly, there are just all of these little technical things that I have my eye on, that my drafter has her eye on, that the average person just doesn’t know because they have not gone through a build process before. So instead of buying three pendant lights for over the island, you know, I know how many you can have based on how wide the island is. And so I think there are a lot of little examples like that where it’s like we also save money for clients by not having them make mistakes that they maybe would have otherwise. So there are a lot of little areas that it feels like we can stop accidents before they happen, but also we can catch things when they do happen. And ultimately, we are where the advocate for our client and the builder, as much as you, you know, love your builder, very rarely is the builder your advocate. The builder is the builders advocate.

Katy Ripp 00:32:52  Yeah, that’s so interesting too, that I wonder if you can tell me, like an experience you’ve had where the builder and you and the homeowner have all had like the most amazing experience? Because I’m sure you have. I hope so. And tell me what made that great, I will.

Larissa Anderson 00:33:11  Say, I mean, overall it has been harder than easier. Okay. And I think some of that I’m noticing is like shifting generationally. Oh, I think that’s kind of a beautiful thing actually, about having younger contractors and subs. They actually understand some of the aesthetic value that designers often bring. But also, I think there is less of the kind of gender specific clash that I’ve definitely experienced. So I really like that. I think one of my favorite projects of all time is a house that we built in Sun Prairie. It’s kind of like a modern Scandi farmhouse. The builder that we worked with had very similar values in terms of, you know, really high quality. They kept track of details in a way that a lot of builders don’t.

Larissa Anderson 00:34:10  They cared about kind of making green choices, which I highly value. The client cared a ton about the loft plan and about the trees that were on that lot plan, and caring for the trees that were there. And the builder was just we had the same core values and that made that process a lot easier. Communication was also good, which makes everything better all of life. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. And I think too, sometimes when you ask for a change or when you notice a mistake, a builder can make you feel like an asshole for changing your mind or for pointing something out that should have been done right the first time. And that was not the case with this builder. If those things came up with, they inevitably do during a whole build. Things obviously come up, but there was just like a willingness to be like, okay, let’s figure it out. And that is what I probably value the most in builders in really, most everybody in my life really.

Katy Ripp 00:35:25  Let me just be like, yeah, this seems like a problem, but I can find a solution.

Larissa Anderson 00:35:31  Yeah. Yeah. So I think that kind of the ideal is when you and the builder are on very similar pages, values wise, and they know how to communicate. Well I think, and I mean just like you can typically tell with people and you know are they good people. Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:35:53  Generally in life again yeah.

Larissa Anderson 00:35:56  I know I think that’s one of the things when I meet with clients, we always do an initial conversation and I say, you know, part of the goal of that conversation is to feel out our chemistry. And that word feels weird, I think, to some people. But that is absolutely vital to me.

Katy Ripp 00:36:18  Well, really, if you are truly an advocate for somebody to build their Home where they hopefully will spend more than half their life, right? Like I spend probably 80% of my life in my house. Yeah. And you are going to be talking about where a toilet goes, where your primary bed goes. Yeah. Why you want your bed in a certain place, right? Like you can’t really get more intimate about how people live their lives inside their home if there’s not a chemistry.

Katy Ripp 00:36:56  I don’t really want you talking about my stuff. I totally want that kind of relationship that was really jive and with my builder. Right? Like he’s also going to know, like, why do you want your toilet inside a room? Well, for various reasons.

Larissa Anderson 00:37:15  Yeah, exactly.

Katy Ripp 00:37:16  Talking about that stuff like why do you want your doorways wider? Well, if I’m in a wheelchair someday, I want to be able to get through. That’s a pretty if you really think about it, that’s a pretty intimate way to get to know somebody is it is one of your fears is that you may not be mobile one day.

Larissa Anderson 00:37:36  And yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:37:37  Huge for a lot of people. I think sometimes building a house, it, you know, it seems like one of these very kind of high level luxury things to do in life, right? Or, you know, a house, but it’s sort of like a baby, right? Like the baby isn’t about like, what color you’re going to paint their nursery.

Katy Ripp 00:37:56  You’re bringing another human being into the world.

Larissa Anderson 00:37:59  Yes.

Katy Ripp 00:38:00  Kind of like that to me. And I know it sounds really loaded, but I have waited a very long time to do a project like this because a I’ve been fearful of. Yeah, the decisions I might make. And also I have been very fearful that I would be pushed, like putting baby in the corner, like shut up for better.

Larissa Anderson 00:38:21  Totally.

Katy Ripp 00:38:22  I mean, I’ve gotten confident enough now I think that I can be like, no, no, no, actually, I’m working for this. This is my money too. I’m making this decision and I’m paying for it. And you don’t have to worry about it. Yeah, but also, as we’ve been married almost 20 years, we’ve started to get to a place where we know each other pretty well. And if we’re going to live the next 20 or 40 years in this home, we have to know that it’s going to be good for both of us.

Larissa Anderson 00:38:53  Absolutely. Yeah, I totally agree with that.

Katy Ripp 00:38:56  So yeah, thank you for coming on today.

Larissa Anderson 00:38:58  Oh yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:38:59  The last time we’re going to be talking to you.

Larissa Anderson 00:39:01  Oh I’m so excited.

Katy Ripp 00:39:03  Somebody wants to use you. Yeah. Their primary designer, their leads. Where would they find you? How could they get in touch with you? Are you teaching clients all the things? Yes.

Larissa Anderson 00:39:14  We are taking clients for 25. Probably more like fall of 25 right now for big projects I am at at Haven Design, MSN on Instagram or our website is Haven Design MSN.com.

Katy Ripp 00:39:32  Amazing. We will definitely put all of that in the show notes before you leave us. Yeah, if you can give maybe 1 or 2 pieces of advice to anybody, like thinking about looking for a style that they’re interested in, you know, if they’re building. Obviously right now we’re seeing lots of like that board and batten, you know, farmhouse look black and white, right. Like styles, trends, that kind of thing. Yeah. I feel like there’s lots of words out there that I didn’t like.

Katy Ripp 00:40:03  I didn’t know what California Farmhouse was.

Larissa Anderson 00:40:05  Until we chatted. Yes.

Katy Ripp 00:40:08  You know, like any style to look up on Pinterest if somebody is looking for, gosh, what do I want if I’m looking?

Larissa Anderson 00:40:15  Yeah. I mean, I think so. Like you said, California Farmhouse is kind of our, you know, we’re thinking about that vibe, another kind of current trend that is becoming very popular. And it feels like it’s kind of maybe eclipsing the farmhouse thing that has been around for a few years now is just Scandinavian, modern Scandinavian. And then another one that I love is called organic modern. So incorporating kind of more organic shapes, curves, things that are reminiscent of nature. So that to me there’s that combo of stone and wood, things that bring the outside in a little bit. Yeah. It’s like.

Katy Ripp 00:40:58  Stay away from.

Larissa Anderson 00:40:59  Anything to stay away from. No, no, no, anything can be done.

Katy Ripp 00:41:04  Well just be you.

Larissa Anderson 00:41:05  Anything can be done. Well, yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:41:08  Anything can be done.

Katy Ripp 00:41:09  Well I love that. Yeah. If you are listening right now and need some inspiration. Larissa’s Haven Design MSN. Her Instagram is amazing. all of her photos, her stories. You do a lot of links to things that you really love, some things that you can get on Amazon super cheap and that still look really great. I know one of the things you always share is the frame TV.

Larissa Anderson 00:41:34  Every chance I get. Yes it’s amazing. Yeah. We have.

Katy Ripp 00:41:38  Let’s see. We have two framed TVs because of you in our coffee shop and one in my office here. And yeah, imagine how many compliments we get on it. Or the people that are like, I love that photo. Or like, I love that painting. Where did you get it? And I’m like, oh no, it’s our.

Larissa Anderson 00:41:54  TV, it’s a TV. And those things I will say every time that they go on sale. So anytime there’s like Black Friday or, you know, Presidents Day or whatever, they go on sale, usually I’ll link it at those times just because I, I will never stop singing its praises.

Larissa Anderson 00:42:11  Basically, if you like TV, but you don’t want it to look like a black hole in your room, they’re amazing.

Katy Ripp 00:42:17  I highly recommend I actually I just posted my office because it finally got put back together. And hey, I love that photo of the Highland cows. And I’m like, Not a photo.

Larissa Anderson 00:42:28  Magical.

Katy Ripp 00:42:29  Yeah, magical. It’s magic. So anyway, things like that with Larissa two. So we’re going to have you back on. As we get further down the road. We’re hopefully across our fingers going to get some plans back for our carriage house slash barn. Oh so.

Larissa Anderson 00:42:44  Excited.

Katy Ripp 00:42:45  Talk about the barn just for like 30s. Yeah, I’m all over Facebook and Instagram all the time and all I’m seeing is like, hashtag Barn Dominion. Except they’re fucking houses.

Larissa Anderson 00:42:56  They are houses. That’s what it means.

Katy Ripp 00:42:58  I don’t really understand, like, it used to be that it was a pool shed and you, like, had concrete floors and like through a sink and some kitchen stuff in there and a couch.

Larissa Anderson 00:43:08  Yeah.

Katy Ripp 00:43:09  Now it’s like a full on two story home with a covered porch all the way around with, like. Yeah, exciting and steel roofing. And it’s a barn dominion. I’m like, No. Yeah. Not with style.

Larissa Anderson 00:43:26  No. I mean, I think with the proliferation of Instagram world, like, people see something, they grab on to it, and then the original meaning of it sometimes gets lost. Really? it’s never happened.

Larissa Anderson 00:43:40  Yeah. Yeah. Which doesn’t mean you have to do that.

Katy Ripp 00:43:45  It’s just insane. Every time I look at what I. I very often I’ll text Larissa and I’ll be like, do people not know that these are just houses? Why are we calling it the minimum?

Larissa Anderson 00:43:54  Because it’s a splashy hashtag, man. That’s why.

Katy Ripp 00:43:58  Well, I just used it, so.

Larissa Anderson 00:44:00  There you go. There we go. Well, yes.

Larissa Anderson 00:44:03  Thanks so much for having me. Looking forward to the next one.

Katy Ripp 00:44:08  And that’s a wrap on today’s episode. I hope you enjoyed diving deep into the world of living authentically with me.

Katy Ripp 00:44:14  Before you go, don’t forget to connect with me on Instagram. Shoot me a message at Katy Ripp. I’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s episode and connect with you further. And remember, if you want more details on today’s episode, or just want to explore more about designing your life unapologetically, head on over to my website at Katy Ripp dot com. There you’ll find all the juicy details and resources you need to keep the inspiration flowing. Lastly, if you’d like to join me on the show, whether it’s to tell about your experience of designing your own life, to share your expertise, or if you’d like to participate in lifestyle coaching live on air, don’t hesitate to reach out. Your story could inspire countless others on their own path to living authentically. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, keep living boldly designing your life. And remember #ActuallyICan.