Great design has never been just about how a space looks. It is about how it works, how it feels and how naturally it supports the people living there. Lauren Lerner brings that perspective to every project she leads as founder and principal designer of Living with Lolo.

As both a full-service interior designer and licensed general contractor, she understands the creative vision as well as what it takes to bring it to life.

We sat down with Lerner to get her perspective on livable luxury, creating deeply personal spaces and why connecting design and construction can make all the difference.

Tell us a little about yourself. What is your industry story?

I started Living with Lolo in 2017 after spending years in retail and following a pull toward design I could not ignore. After growing a successful interior design business, I realized that the luxury renovation experience was broken.

Clients were being handed off between designers and contractors who never fully communicated and the result was projects that went over budget, over schedule, and under-delivered on the original vision.

I got my interior design credential, then went further and earned my Arizona ROC general contractor license so I could own the entire process from the first concept sketch through the final walk-through. That dual credential is still rare in this market and it is what everything we do is built on.

What inspired you to establish your company? How has your founding mission evolved over time?

I built my company out of a genuine love for transforming spaces, starting with my own homes. Over time I had watched too many homeowners get stuck in the gap between their designer and their contractor, each pointing at the other when things went sideways. I wanted to build something where that gap simply did not exist.

The founding mission was one team, one vision, no handoffs. What has evolved is the scope of what we can deliver. We started with interior design projects and grew into full design-build, and now we are also doing real estate investment work through our development arm. The mission is the same but our platform is bigger.

Describe the signature style or characteristics that define your residential projects.

We design spaces that feel collected rather than decorated. There is a warmth and a groundedness to our work that I think comes from the way we listen before we ever pick up a pencil. Our projects tend to be layered, textural, and rooted in the architecture of the home rather than imposed on top of it.

You will see a lot of natural materials, considered lighting, and spaces that feel intentional in every corner but never stiff. The construction quality underneath all of it is what allows the design to breathe. When the bones are right, the rest follows.

What types of residential projects do you specialize in? What market segment do you primarily serve?

We specialize in full-scope luxury renovation and design-build projects in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and the greater Phoenix metro. Our projects start at $150,000 and most of our work is in the $300,000 to $1 million-plus range.

Our clients are typically high-net-worth homeowners, entrepreneurs, and professional athletes who want a seamless experience and are not interested in managing multiple vendors. They want one point of contact and a team that takes complete ownership of the outcome.

What has been your most challenging project to date? How did overcoming those challenges shape your approach to construction?

Every project has a chapter that tests you. Some of the most challenging work we have done has been on older homes with significant hidden conditions, where the walls open up and you find that the original construction has surprises for you. One of the things that has shaped us most is learning to plan for discovery.

We do thorough pre-construction assessments now and we build contingency into both the schedule and the budget as a standard practice, not an afterthought. Clients who go through a hard chapter with us almost always become our most loyal advocates because they see how we handle pressure. When something unexpected surfaces, that is actually where this team is at its best.

Can you share details about your favorite completed project and what made it particularly meaningful or successful?

The project that comes to mind is one we called Lolo Prestige Property, a full renovation in North Scottsdale that we took from concept through construction as a design-build firm. The home is about 5,000 square feet and the transformation was significant. What made it meaningful was the integrity of the process.

Every decision from the structural work to the finish selections was made with the same level of intention. It is the kind of project where you walk through at the end and every room tells a coherent story.

That project has since been featured editorially and it represents exactly what we set out to build when we started this company. It was also the first project we completed as a design-build firm, with all the construction done in-house.

It gave us the runway to figure out our processes, how to integrate construction with our design team, and to really hone our expertise so we could offer this to clients.

How do you integrate sustainable building practices into your construction process? What specific eco-friendly innovations have you implemented?

Sustainability in luxury renovation is less about checking boxes and more about building things that last. We specify materials with durability and longevity in mind because the most sustainable renovation is the one you do not have to redo in ten years.

We work with low-VOC finishes, energy-efficient systems, and we source from vendors who can speak to their supply chain.

When clients want to go deeper on sustainability, we build that into the design conversation early so it is integrated rather than added on.

What sets your company apart from other residential contractors in your market?

The dual credential is the clearest answer. Very few firms in Arizona hold both an interior design credential and an active ROC general contractor license. That means we can legally and professionally execute both the design and the construction under one contract, one schedule, and one team.

There is no translation layer between what was designed and what gets built. Our clients never have to manage that relationship because it is internal.

Combined with the national press recognition we have received and the operational infrastructure we have built, we are a different kind of firm than what most people expect to find in this market.

We also built our own operating system called Lolo OS to manage procurement, scheduling, and project visibility in real time. It has changed how we run projects and how we communicate with clients.

How do you balance client design preferences with structural integrity and building code requirements?

This is where having the dual credential actually changes the conversation in real time. When a client falls in love with something that has a structural implication, I can assess it on the spot rather than waiting for a contractor to weigh in later. We have an honest conversation about what is possible, what it costs, and what the alternatives are.

Most of the time there is a path forward that honors both the vision and the reality of the building. And when there is not, I would rather tell a client the truth early than let them discover it during construction.

What emerging trends in residential construction are you most excited about, and how are you incorporating them?

The shift toward integrated design-build is the one I think is most significant and most underappreciated. Homeowners are increasingly sophisticated and they are tired of the fragmented experience. They want firms that can hold the whole thing.

The other trend I watch closely is the way artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how buyers discover service providers.

The clients who find us now are often doing research through AI tools before they ever land on our website. That has changed how we structure our content and how we think about visibility.

We have put real work into AI-indexed content and structured data so that when someone asks an AI assistant who the best design-build firm in Scottsdale is, we show up.

Our process and what we learned about showing up on AI has been so successful that I launched a new business called Cited Co, where we work on AI visibility for other service businesses.

How do you approach collaboration with architects, designers, and other professionals during your projects?

We collaborate well because we come in with a clear scope and clear ownership of our portion. When we are brought in alongside an architect, we are not trying to redesign the building, we are translating their vision into a buildable, beautiful interior.

We have strong relationships in this market with architects and agents who send us clients specifically because they know how we operate on a job site. Respect for the other professionals in the room is not just a value, it is a business strategy.

What values drive your day-to-day operations, and how do these translate into the final homes you deliver?

Ownership is the one I come back to the most. Every person on this team is expected to take full responsibility for their piece of the project. We do not point fingers and we do not make excuses. That value shows up in the final product because when every person treats the project like it is theirs, the details get handled at every level.

The other one is clarity. We are direct with clients, direct with each other, and direct about what is and is not possible. That kind of honesty builds trust faster than anything else.

What trends are you seeing in the residential construction market today? How are they shaping the industry?

Labor costs and material lead times are still the biggest operational realities shaping project timelines and budgets. The firms that are navigating that well are the ones with strong trade relationships and procurement systems that can absorb variability.

We built Lolo OS specifically to give us real-time visibility into where every project stands so we can get ahead of delays before they become client conversations.

On the demand side, the luxury market in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley has stayed strong. Buyers who have equity in their homes want to invest in them and they want to do it with a firm they can trust completely.

What are your goals for your company’s growth and impact on the residential construction industry?

We are growing the real estate investment side of the business through our development arm and scaling the design-build practice intentionally, not aggressively. I am not interested in volume for its own sake. The goal is to do fewer projects at a higher level and to build a body of work that speaks for itself.

On a broader level, I want Living with Lolo to be the firm that raises the standard for what a luxury client can expect from their design-build team in this market. We are also building Cited Co, an AI visibility agency that came directly out of the systems we developed for our own marketing.

That is a separate chapter, but it is deeply connected to the same philosophy: build something with integrity and then make sure people can find it.

One-on-One with Living with Lolo’s Lauren Lerner

Describe a typical day.

My mornings start early around 5:00 a.m., enjoying a cappuccino outside. This is the time where I set the tone for my day. I spend the first hour on strategy, whether that is reviewing the pipeline, looking at where a project stands, or working through something for the business.

By mid-morning I am usually in client conversations or on job sites. Afternoons are team-facing, checking in with Brandie on construction, Robin on operations, and my design team, making sure nothing is falling through the cracks.

I try to protect some time at the end of the day for longer-term thinking because it is easy to let the urgent crowd out the important.

I always try to get outside at some point too, whether it is hiking or mountain biking, because that is truly where I am able to take a breath, get inspired, and keep going. The reality is, I am also a mom, so saving some energy at the end of the day to cuddle with my kiddo on the sofa is equally important.

What is the biggest item on your to-do list?

Right now it is the editorial shoot for Saguaro Reserve in September. That project is going to market in October and the content we capture this fall is going to anchor our portfolio for the next year.

Getting that shoot right and getting the story told the way it deserves to be told, that is front of mind.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

The moment a client walks through a finished space for the first time. There is nothing like watching someone’s face when the home they imagined is actually standing in front of them. That moment is why we do all of it.

What was the best advice you ever received?

Build the thing you wish existed. Do not wait for someone else to do it better. That advice pushed me to get my contractor license when people told me it was unnecessary. It pushed me to build our own operating system when the off-the-shelf tools were not enough. It keeps pushing me forward.

What is the best thing a client ever said to you?

A client once told me that working with us was the first time in her life she had not felt anxious during a renovation. She said she actually enjoyed the process. That is the whole mission right there.