Beauty and wellness entrepreneur Alyson Lord’s townhouse in East Los Angeles mixes minimal modernism with California cool and eclectic. We sat down with the co-founder of Blip on her new Leru Rug to discover her approach to style when it comes to home, travel, business, and pleasure.
Your home in Los Angeles is so airy and inviting. Where do you get your interior inspiration from?
This is my first home in Los Angeles (having spent 10+ years in New York), so I've slipped into something softer and more comfortable for this era. (The black leather, mirrored and metal couch and Philippe Starck chairs were a bit aggressive).
My major muses were Jacquemus’ Paris office and Dan Bishop’s set designs for Mad Men and A Single Man. There are lots of different textured neutrals, (nothing novel, I know) and touches of vintage pieces with a slight nod to Mid Century.
I’m way more nostalgic than I am futuristic.
My parents weren’t ones for conventional living. Our first home my family built along the Perkiomen River in Pennsylvania. I spent my childhood running through the woods and canoeing to waterfalls. Another home was a 1959 Mid Century on a pretty piece of land with quirky features like a shuffleboard on the basement floor, a Vitamix that popped out of the countertop, and a drinking fountain at the pool. I’ll always be on the hunt for things that remind me of these special spots.
Our artisans draw from nature when designing Enkay’s handmade rugs. With that said, let’s talk about interiors. When styling a room in your home, what do you keep in mind? Any advice for our readers when choosing a rug, a new piece of furniture, or creating a style of their own?
I actually studied architecture and worked at an interior design firm in college. Admittedly, that meant a lot of time either in front of a computer or searching for an impossible fabric swatch for hours at the D&D building. So, I’ve had a decent amount of practice trying to visualize objects or patterns in a space that doesn’t exist. It’s hard. Especially with rugs. If you have time, take it. Get swatches. Copy and paste a piece or object into a photo of your room. Feel out the space and see if what you want is what the space can handle.
But also, if it’s something super special, and you like it, buy it. Most of my house is intuition (a vintage Murano chandelier, an 800 lbs green marble dining table), while some key elements (curtains, couch, ENKAY rug) were slower and more thoughtful.
When I first moved into this place in 2020, touching and feeling things to buy them wasn’t an option. I spent a lot of time lying on the floor watching the light and feeling the breeze. The natural light in every part of the house is quite pretty, so I knew I wanted to complement it, not compete with it.
There’s an image of a curtain flowing out the window of Jacquemus’ office that got me obsessed with making curtains that would soften the space and bring visual movement to the epic living room cross breeze. It was cool to take a vision and make it in my home.
What colors, textures, or homewares are you most drawn to at the moment?
I’m a hunter. I will get an idea in my head and spend weeks looking for the perfect thing- vintage Playboys, silver dumbbells I saw in a movie, a Saul Steinberg New York Times poster, gold alligator salt & pepper shakers (yes, all things I own)…
I’ll be in Portugal soon and certainly taking back as many textiles as I can from A Vida Portuguesa.
Beyond interiors, what are some of your rituals when at home?
I spend a lot of time lying on the ground. Thank god I’ve finally given myself a luxurious rug to do it on. I have a love affair with my Higher Dose sauna blanket - sweat out the day’s demons. I also love sitting on the floor on my new rug playing poker and drinking tequila.
As the co-founder of Blip a Nicotine Replacement Therapy brand and a long-time beauty expert, how have these industries shaped your world outside of work?
Owning a company that helps people quit vaping + smoking and having worked in beauty for so long, I am constantly evaluating habits and routines and how products fit into them. Good products are so powerful (even if they aren’t good for you).
Aside from self-care, what are some of your other passions?
I’ve got a passion for the environment and how it relates to making things and making money. I’ve made a lot of things working with Blip and in beauty. I like the idea of always trying to make them better.
Also, tennis. Also, naps. I’m passionate about naps.
You travel a lot with your career, and Enkay is inspired by the elements. What experiences abroad have resonated with you the most?
Moments with wind and water always stick with me.
As we enter a new season, what things are you most looking forward to?
Allergy season. I get a bit lost in the time of year in Los Angeles, sans major weather shifts, but I love Spring because all of the blooms are so textbook California (poppies, desert lilies, desert bells).