Meet a Mom, Featuring Lauren Beavers with Hand Makes Home & Lauren B. Photography
Happy Meet A Mom Monday, Katy Mamas! Today we’re thrilled to introduce you to Lauren, someone we’ve followed along with for quite awhile due to her drool worthy DIY home projects and her impressive self-taught photography skills!
Lauren is a native Houstonian and has called Katy home for the last three years, choosing this community to raise her two sweet little boys.
She’s a mama first, but has an eye for home design and the skills to do most of it herself, going room by room in her house giving it flare and character and all on a budget!
Her blog, Hand Makes Home, as well as her Instagram feed will leave you inspired and encouraged that you too can make your house a home that feels authentic and unique. It’s often hard when you build a brand new house to add charm and character, but Lauren’s done just that and takes you step by step on how she did some of her favorite home projects.
She’s also a super talented natural light photographer, starting Lauren B. Photography thinking just family and friends would enjoy. What she soon found was a following across Katy that wanted to take advantage of her talent and capture some of their most precious moments.
Lauren’s as kind as she is creative and we got to chat with her about her passions in motherhood, home decor & DIY, photography, and her favorite things about Katy!
Where are you from originally and how long have you lived in Katy?
I was born in Houston and have lived in the Bellaire and Katy areas almost my entire life. My husband is originally from Cypress and together we moved out to Katy almost 3 years ago right after we had our first son.
How many kiddos do you have, what are their names, and how old are they?
We have two boys: Jackson will be 3 in March and Jett will be 1 at the end of this month!
Greatest gift about being a mother?
That’s hard to answer but just the amount of love I feel for my kids is the most indescribable thing. People tell you about it beforehand but until you have kids I don’t think it’s possible to fully comprehend just how much you’re capable of loving someone.
Favorite local things to do in Katy?
Taking the boys to all the fun play places. Some of our current favorites are Stomping Grounds, Hooray, and Giggles and Fun!
What’s your favorite thing about raising a family in Katy?
I love how much safer I feel taking the kids anywhere as opposed to when we’re in Houston, and as much as I miss the constantly changing/new restaurants, I love that no matter where you go there are ALWAYS kids there so I don’t feel as uncomfortable when we have a public meltdown!
Do you have a favorite family friendly restaurant in the area?
My family’s absolute favorite is Anthonie’s which is in Simonton.
What is your go-to activity for yourself for pampering or for fun?
These days about the only ‘pampering’ I do is getting my eyelashes done and working out sans kids!
Funniest shortcut/routine for helping you through parenthood?
Skipping pages during bedtime stories, reminding myself that everything is JUST a phase and plenty of wine.
Best mom hack that makes your life easier?
It’s only recently been possible because of horrible sleep schedules, but waking up before the kids makes my days go SO much more smoothly. And even if it’s only 10 minutes it makes me so much more mentally ready for the day.
Tell us a little bit about your blog, Hand Makes Home, and what people can find on your platform!
So my husband and I have moved a few times and we’ve both enjoyed decorating and designing our homes. Our current home is the first one we’ve built from scratch and we put a LOT of thought into it. I love building/creating things and that along with being a photographer is how I just kind of fell into the blogging world. I share how I’ve decorated my home and how you can affordably create spaces you will love along with fun DIY projects!
You are one of our favorite DIY’ers to follow and we love your eye for design! Were you always this creative and when did you discover your love for home decor and decorating?
My mom is BEYOND crafty so I grew up watching all the cool things she did. I guess I’ve always been crafty because of her and when I got a little older I became interested in woodworking and DIY because of the sense of accomplishment it brought me seeing and being able to use something I built myself.
Who inspires you most in the home design space?
Like every other woman in the world, I think Joanna Gaines is such an inspiration and I also look up to what an incredible mother/wife/human being she is. I also love Julia Marcum from ChrisLovesJulia and Ana White for her incredible tutorials for DIY-ers.
For anyone intimidated by DIY and on a budget, what’s your best advice?
Don’t be shy about borrowing tools from a neighbor or friend! I’d say start off small with projects but some may require a tool you don’t have and don’t want to pay for at the time so just ask to borrow them if you can. Also pick your battles: decide what’s worth saving some money by attempting to do it yourself versus what’s worth paying a professional to do.
Best advice for anyone wanting to add character to their home? And do you suggest going room by room or all at once?
I definitely suggest going room by room and the first thing I’ve done to each home is paint the entire thing! Paint is such a quick and relatively inexpensive way to transform a space. We’ve painted each of our last 3 homes “Perfect Greige” by Sherwin Williams and it makes it feel like ‘home’ to me. My number 1 rule when buying things for my home is it either has to be useful/have a purpose or I have to love it. I have MANY empty spaces/rooms in our current home but I’d prefer that over looking at anything I don’t like every day.
Name your favorite project you’ve recently completed in your home.
The project I’m most proud of right now is probably our cabana bathroom. I faux shiplapped the entire thing by myself and put in new fixtures. I walk past it MANY times a day and it makes me proud to know I accomplished something new to me.
Do you have plans to help others in their home? (hint hint, come to our house!)
I actually get a lot of people sending me photos of spaces in their homes and asking for my advice. It may take me a while to respond but I’m happy to help however I can! My parents also bought a fixer upper in Fulshear and I’ve done trim work/baseboards so far but am excited to do so much more this year!
You’re also a talented photographer, tell us a little bit about your business and what makes you unique in the space!
I started my photography business thinking I may get a few friends interested here and there and feel so lucky that it’s turned into what it has. I really do love capturing the connections within my client’s families and making mamas feel beautiful so it’s been fun! I started out in 2017 and 2018 was definitely a year of big growth so I’ve learned how much I can take on while staying at home with the boys. This year I plan to work on balancing it all!
Best advice for moms who experience the inevitable and dreaded MOM GUILT?
Just remember there’s no one in this world your kids love more than you and nothing you’ve done today will change that for tomorrow. Take it day by day and don’t expect perfection from yourself. I’ve accepted that I’m the best mom version of myself when I’m taking care of me and allowing myself to ask for help.
Who has most influenced you to be the mom you are today?
Definitely my mom. She’s become my best friend and is a phenomenal ‘Lulu’ to her grand babies too.
When parenting gets hard, what’s something you tell yourself that gets you through?
It’s JUST a phase!
Name one thing you hope your kids look back and remember about their childhood and you as their mama?
That they laughed and played and we all loved each other a whole lot.
What would you tell the old “You” before you had kids?
Enjoy your life now but you can’t possibly imagine how much better it’s going to get.
To follow along with what Lauren’s up to, visit her blog & photography websites, sign up for her newsletter, and check out her Instagram pages!
Website: Handmakeshome.com and Laurenbphotog.com
Social Handles: instagram.com/handmakeshome and instagram.com/laurenb.photog
