This Curator is Well-Versed in “Finishing Touches”

In the living room of Lauren Sands’ Park Slope remodel, a female form in the corner presides over the room. Fittingly dubbed Lady on the Pedestal, the sculpture was passed down from Sands’ grandmother. Upstairs, the doors to her bedroom feature handles custom-made by artist Evamarie Pappas more akin to art than hardware. Smaller scale works and design books rotate through every spare shelf in the home. “My style is always evolving, which makes doing long-term renovations challenging,” says Sands. “That’s why I love the final touches to a home because you get to do those more in your current state—where you're at right now.” Sands is the founder of LES Collection, a new concept gallery exhibiting a range of contemporary and vintage art and design from around the world. Essentially, those finishing touches—"what's on your shelves and what's next to your bed, all of that”—are the foundation of her business. Her home is evidence of that.

Sands honed in on Park Slope as her ideal neighborhood, purchasing a smaller brownstone in a state of disrepair a few years back. As her family grew, they then purchased the brownstone next door and tore down the walls in between to create a single unified space to house her family of four (five if you count the photogenic 14-year-old dog, Althea). To offset her specific expertise, Sands called in designer Margit Jacobson of Jacobson Home. “While I do love to source and cure the final touches, the art, the objects on the shelves, all of that, the furniture and creating the architectural details was really led by my designer,” she says. The result is a modern space rooted in natural elements that now functions as an extension of the brand; it is both a rotating showroom and, at times, an office space (her team is at her house “all the time”).

The curator likes to “live with art,” so it’s no surprise that a Pedro Friedburg hand chair rests in her living room, beckoning for guests to perch on the ergonomic palm. “That was one of the first pieces of really functional art my husband and I bought together,” she explains. “I love a little bit of surrealism.” There are many pieces that bridge the gap between fashion and function, in a similar manner. In her dining area sits a large-scale table by Hommes Studio. Its architectural base doubles as a sound foundation and a sculpture in a manner Sands describes as, “bringing art into the furniture itself.” In her bedroom, a Brancusi-like bed frame, done by Sands’ cousin Fitzhugh Karol, is the attention-stealing centerpiece of the room.

Most of Sands’ finds are loud in nature, tame in hue. She’s tempered glossy blacks and stark whites with soft creams, natural woods, and dusty roses (her daughter’s pink de Gournay wallpaper is a highlight of the home). “I like less of a contrast than I used to,” the owner explains of her gravitational pull towards creams and tans in lieu of harsher whites. “I love black and brown. I love black and wood.” And natural materials like her favored copacabana stone countertops rival patinated lacquers and metals—combinations make a statement subtly.

“I'm a maximalist who needs to be reeled back,” she says. “A lot.” Despite the grounded palette, Sands still managed to sprinkle her charm into the folds of the space. The entryway hosts a terra cotta vessel by artist Clementine Keith-Roach held up by hands that emerge from a flat surface. “I have loved her work for years and years,” explains Sands of this addition to her collection, “and she creates so little of it that it took a really long time to be able to acquire one.” Too big for most pedestals, the prized work now greets guests from a table upon entry. But not every piece is purely high brow. In the living room, you’ll find a creamy, almost wookiee-like piece of art by Spencer Hansen. (The Sands are big sci-fi fans). “It's a way to bring in a fantastical element without it being too out there,” she explains. “We like a little weirdness.” Discover more of her modern yet fantasy-inducing home below.