Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Shanks.
Hi Lauren, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My path to interior design wasn’t exactly a straight line. Before launching Brass & Brine Interior Design, I spent more than two decades in corporate project management, building a career around bringing complex ideas to life, managing competing priorities, solving problems, and keeping people and projects moving forward. At the same time, design had always been a creative thread running through my life. I was the person constantly reimagining spaces, rearranging rooms, tackling projects in my own homes, and helping friends and family think through theirs.
Eventually, I realized the two sides of my brain weren’t as unrelated as they seemed. Great design requires creativity and a strong point of view, but actually getting from an idea to a finished space requires organization, communication, decision-making, and an ability to see both the big picture and all the details underneath it. Those were skills I had spent my entire career developing.
Brass & Brine grew from that intersection.
I started the business with a desire to create spaces that feel polished and intentional without feeling overly precious or formulaic. I’m drawn to interiors with personality—mixing old and new, incorporating unexpected details, and designing around how people actually live, work, gather, or experience a space.
What began primarily with residential design has continued to evolve. Today, I work with homeowners as well as businesses, and I’ve become especially interested in commercial and hospitality spaces, where design has the opportunity to influence not only how a space looks, but how someone feels when they walk through the door.
I’m still very much building Brass & Brine, and I think that’s one of the most exciting parts of the story. Each project has helped clarify what I want the business to become, the clients I most enjoy serving, and the kind of work I want to put into the world. I’m bringing the experience of my first career with me while creating something that feels entirely my own—and I’m incredibly excited about where that combination is taking me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely not—and I’m not sure building a business is supposed to be.
One of the biggest adjustments has been going from a career where I had decades of experience and knew how to navigate the landscape to becoming a beginner again in many ways. I brought a tremendous amount of transferable experience with me, but I still had to learn an entirely new industry while simultaneously figuring out how to run a business within it.
And those are two very different things. Being a good designer doesn’t automatically teach you how to price your services, write a contract, develop vendor relationships, market yourself, manage cash flow, or decide which opportunities are actually right for your business. In the beginning, there’s also no established playbook—you’re building the plane while flying it.
Probably the biggest challenge for me has been learning to trust my own judgment. There is an enormous amount of advice available to entrepreneurs about what you “should” do, and the design industry has plenty of established ways of doing things. I’ve had to learn from all of that while also recognizing when something simply doesn’t fit the business I’m trying to build.
There have certainly been moments of self-doubt, projects that taught me what I would do differently next time, and opportunities I wanted that didn’t materialize. But each of those experiences has made the business more defined. I’ve become clearer about my value, more thoughtful about the clients and projects I take on, and much more comfortable saying, “This is how Brass & Brine works.”
I’m still learning, but I’ve come to see that as part of entrepreneurship rather than evidence that I’m doing it wrong. The goal isn’t to have everything figured out—it’s to keep getting better at knowing what deserves a yes, what deserves a no, and what’s worth figuring out along the way.
We’ve been impressed with Brass & Brine Interior Design, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Brass & Brine Interior Design is a residential and commercial interior design studio serving Maryland and Delaware’s Eastern Shore. At its core, the business is about creating spaces that are beautiful, functional, and distinctly personal—whether that means reimagining a home, helping a business better reflect its brand, or designing a hospitality space around the experience you want guests to have.
I don’t believe great design should feel like a formula. I love mixing new pieces with vintage, custom, or found elements; introducing color, pattern, wallpaper, art, and unexpected details; and creating rooms that feel collected rather than simply purchased. The goal isn’t for someone to walk into a space and immediately recognize a particular design trend. I want it to feel like it belongs to the people who live there or the business that operates there.
I also bring a somewhat different perspective to the work because of my background in project management. I naturally think beyond the individual selections to how all of the pieces connect—function, budget, sequencing, communication, contractors, decisions, and ultimately implementation. Clients are hiring me for an aesthetic point of view, but they’re also hiring me to help make a complicated process feel more manageable.
That approach carries into both sides of the business. Residentially, I offer everything from focused design direction for homeowners who want professional guidance but are comfortable implementing themselves, to more involved design and renovation support. On the commercial side, I work with businesses to think about their spaces from both an operational and customer-experience perspective. I’m particularly excited about continuing to grow Brass & Brine’s work in hospitality, where thoughtful design can become part of what people remember about a place.
Brand-wise, I’m probably most proud that Brass & Brine is beginning to feel very much like its own thing. It’s polished without being stuffy, coastal without being cliché, and sophisticated while still leaving room for personality and a little whimsy. I want clients to feel comfortable making bold choices and creating spaces that say something about who they are.
Ultimately, I want people to know that good design isn’t simply about making a space look better. It can make a home work better, make a business more memorable, make decisions easier, and completely change the way people experience a place. That intersection of beauty, function, and experience is where I think Brass & Brine does its best work.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The best way to work with Brass & Brine is simply to reach out and start a conversation. I work with homeowners at several different levels—from focused design direction and individual-room projects to larger renovations—as well as businesses looking to create spaces that better reflect their brand, function more effectively, or improve the experience they provide their customers and guests.
I’m always especially interested in connecting with business owners, hospitality professionals, builders, contractors, architects, real estate professionals, and other creatives who see an opportunity to collaborate. Some of the best projects and professional relationships begin with a simple introduction or referral.
And, of course, supporting a small creative business doesn’t always mean hiring us. Following along, sharing our work, recommending Brass & Brine to someone who might be a good fit, or introducing me to another great local business or professional all make a meaningful difference.
You can learn more about Brass & Brine Interior Design at www.brassandbrine.com or follow along on Instagram at @brassandbrinedesign.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.brassandbrine.com
- Instagram: @brassandbrinedesign
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-shanks-brassandbrine/
