Laura Coleman never set out to create rooms that look good but feel untouchable. Her work is rooted in reality — kids, dogs, everyday messes, and the kind of comfort that makes people want to stay awhile.
“I don’t have any formal spaces,” says Laura, who is in the middle of refreshing her own home in Smithville. “I like everything to feel like you can come and sit down. My dog sits on all the furniture.”
As the founder of LC Interiors, Laura has built a business around that philosophy, designing homes that feel approachable, layered, and personal. Her projects span everything from one-room transformations to full basement finishes and whole-home renovations, but the goal is always the same — spaces that work for the people living in them.
Many of Laura’s clients come to her feeling stuck. Some have lived with the same furniture since college. Others know their home no longer fits their family, but they don’t know where to begin. Laura sees her role as part designer, part guide — helping clients articulate what they want, and just as importantly, what they don’t.
“We always ask clients to go through our social media and send us things they like and things they don’t like,” she says. “Honestly, you get more out of people when you ask them what they don’t like.”
That early clarity helps shape a process that’s tailored to each client. Some want to be deeply involved, shopping and reviewing samples. Others prefer to hand over the reins and trust the professionals. Laura is comfortable with both approaches, as long as expectations are clear from the start.
One thing she emphasizes early on is timing. “Timeline is always the first thing,” she says. “Lead times for buying stock furniture are vastly different from buying custom furniture. A kitchen remodel is different and more invasive than a basement finish. A typical basement finish is 10-12 weeks.”
Budget conversations are just as important. Laura is quick to note that home renovation television shows don’t always reflect reality.
“Home improvement shows have done us no favors when it comes to item costs, labor costs and timelines,” she says. “A lot of times [on TV], the materials are purchased at a discount or gifted from vendors. Subcontractors are dedicated to the project for filming, and video is edited for speed.”
Over time, LC Interiors has grown to meet the needs of clients who want more than design alone. In 2024, Laura expanded the business to include a construction branch, allowing her team to offer a more seamless, turnkey experience — from initial concept through construction and final installation.
“We decided to bring everything in-house,” she says. “Now we can do it all, from initial consult through design concept to construction, and then the final finished product.”
That shift has taken pressure off homeowners, who are often overwhelmed by technical decisions. “There are just so many things behind the scenes that people don’t know of,” Laura says. “They don’t have to get in the middle of some of these nitty-gritty questions.”
The team behind LC Interiors includes Laura’s husband, Keath, who handles much of the business management, along with a superintendent, skilled tradespeople, and junior designer Emma. Together, they manage projects across a wide range of sizes and scopes.
One recent project that captures Laura’s approach is a design refresh at Lone Summit Ranch in Lee’s Summit. The property has multiple buildings that serve as an event and wedding venue, but Laura worked on the main residence, a sprawling farmhouse-style home.
Rather than a full remodel, the project focused on a cosmetic update of the main level. “I’m not really calling it a remodel,” Laura says. “I’m calling it a refresh.”
The house already had strong architectural elements, including exposed beams and custom details, but the interiors felt dated. “The house felt too heavy and dark for our client's current design aesthetic,” Laura says, explaining that the previous palette leaned heavily into black, white, and red.
The client wanted a shift toward a light and airy, Southern, traditional feel. Laura responded with a very layered look, even with a simple color palette. “We did a lot of mix of blues and white,” she says. “We really added in the textures, and did a lot of pattern on pattern to achieve that Southern charm feel.”
Lighting played a key role as well. “We glammed up the lighting,” Laura says, adding brass and gold tones to bring warmth and contrast. Fabric choices helped soften the space. “Everything up to that point felt more masculine,” she says. “We really needed to soften it up.”
The result is a home that feels calm and inviting — proof that thoughtful cosmetic changes can dramatically alter how a space feels. “It feels like a breath of fresh air,” Laura says. “It feels good.”
Trust was a defining factor in the project’s success. “She was so sweet and so trusting,” Laura says of the homeowner. “She just 110 percent let us run with it.”
That kind of relationship is what Laura values most. “When you get a good fit between the client and the designer and the client trusts you, and you have a mutual vision, it just shows how it can turn out at the end,” she says.
Ultimately, Laura believes good design should make life easier, more comfortable, and more enjoyable. “We want a space that feels like them,” she says. “That they can be proud of and show off to their friends and family.”
But once clients experience that shift, Laura warns, it often leads to more calls to come back to design more spaces. “It’s a slippery slope,” Laura says. “As soon as you start, it always keeps going.”
If you’re interested in working with LC Interiors, you can find Laura and her team at lcinteriorsllc.com or on Instagram at @lcinteriorsllc.
“We want a space that feels like them — that they can be proud of and show off to their friends and family.”