Let's Meet Paige Ledom

Hello friends I’m pleased to introduce Paige Ledom of Paige Ledom Studio to you. I have a piece of Paige’s art and I really love sharing brilliant creators - you will absolutely want to add a piece to your home as well!

Hi Paige welcome to the Chalet - please share a bit about yourself: Hello and thank you for welcoming me to your Chalet! My name is Paige Ledom. I’m 27, and I live in a suburb outside of Kansas City with my husband Max and our beloved dog Obi. I grew up here and have never lived anywhere else. Funnily enough, as a teenager I thought I needed to move somewhere that was more obviously exciting to live an interesting life. As I matured, I learned to appreciate and in return, love the Midwest. I enjoy traveling but nothing gives me that comforting feeling of home like this place does. I don’t think that feeling occurs by happenstance, but by actively choosing to create that feeling.

My husband Max, who may have the most fitting name in the history of fitting names, has always been a maximalist. I’ve always known him to have interesting little tchotchkes and curiosities. When Max introduced me to his parents for the first time, I remember going to his family’s home and being in complete awe with what I was seeing and then immediately understood the origins of his maximalist ways. I had never seen a home like it before in person. It was cozy, layered and looked like I had stepped into the pages of a decorating book. I needed to know more. His mother Lynne introduced me to the wonderful world of vintage and thrifting. I feel like I became her little apprentice absorbing as much of her knowledge as I could and then applying it in my own way.

Since then, it has been an integral part of my decorating viewpoint and I have never looked back. Meryl when we spoke last I told you I was going vintage shopping with Max and his family. There’s this store we absolutely love and it’s only open once a month; so we go there and then get dinner after. Its always a great time.

Paige please share about your family and growing up: I grew up the oldest child of two. I often enjoyed playing by myself and retreating to my imagination. I don’t remember feeling bored often as there was always something I wanted to create. I would draw a billion people and dogs, write stories, design rooms and outfits. There was always some kind of output for this creative buzzing I felt inside.

I have two hard working parents, Jerry and Kendra. Jerry was in bands during his younger years, so it was common to hear the guitar being strummed somewhere in the background. Kendra told me she always enjoyed art classes while she was in school. She was the mom that would save every shred and scrap I made. I feel grateful that my parents always supported and encouraged my creativity.

Where and What you went to school for. What’s your 9 to 5 gig: I studied Visual Arts Education at the University of Kansas. Which is what I describe to people as a fine arts AND education degree, so I have a license to teach what I’m most passionate about. We were required to choose an area of emphasis and mine was drawing and painting. I remember being inspired by canvases thickly opaque with layers of texture and color.

Another interesting component to this is that I am the first in my family to pursue higher education. When making this decision, I knew I wanted to be making and be surrounded by art every single day. My path to obtain this degree was not as straightforward as it is for some. I didn’t have parents that shelled out cash to live on campus and have “the college experience”, like a lot of my peers. I worked the entire time I was a student and commuted close to an hour to get to my classes. Not attempting to give myself a major self-congratulatory pat on the back here, but my studies do feel whole-heartedly earned. I am currently teaching art to elementary aged students. I work on Paige Ledom Studio nights and weekends.

How did you decide on your name: Think of how a home can begin with one vine lazily dangling on its exterior and, over time, it becomes completely encapsulated in a beautiful way. This is the maximalist approach I take in my home, it’s overgrown with gallery walls, unusual finds, and color. When you purchase a piece of art or vintage from me, I am sharing a little clipping of my overgrown vine with you.

Now, I know your business is still evolving but, I must ask what made you take that leap and start Paige Ledom Studio (originally The Overgrown Home): The Overgrown Home started as a creative project for me to share my own interior decorating and connect with others while we were all spending most of our time at home during the pandemic. I was feeling “stuck” with the art I was creating and needed to shift my creative focus elsewhere for a bit. Through that, I realized how much I enjoyed this work and wanted to continue navigating this path. That “stuck” feeling was self-generated because I wasn’t allowing myself to venture into new territory but still expecting different results. It doesn’t work that way! Opening my creativity up beyond my paintings, unlatched new doors for me. Next thing I knew I was sifting through junk in my art studio and began playing with a basket of paint swatches and making collages.

People began asking about decorating services and inquiring about purchasing art and I realized I should take the next step by converting The Overgrown Home from a creative side project, to a business. My current focus is running my online shop by selling my art, vintage finds and gradually expanding my client work.

Fast forward to 2024 and Paige has rebranded to Paige Ledom Studio

Now, I understand you’re not an interior designer but, with your artistic eye you have created an amazing home and are now working with clients. So tell us about the genus of your work: Something I struggled with for years was feeling like I needed to make myself fit in a little neatly packaged box so I could be easily digested and understood. I needed to pick one title of what I was and stick with it. Was I a painter? Decorator? Educator? Photographer? Writer? That didn’t work out for me so well. It wasn’t until I embraced all the things that I was - that I started feeling happy and confident in my work. I noticed it didn’t matter if I was working in interiors or on paper, I was interested in creating physical layers. I curate and collect objects over time, filling my home with gallery walls, unusual vintage finds, art and color.

In my art on paper, I work in the same fashion. Gathering materials to make layered collages. Piece by piece and intricately arranged. Currently, I’ve been creating collages composed entirely of cut-up paint swatches from a rainbow mural I used to have hanging in my classroom. I had no idea at the time that I would be using these 5 years later as the primary material for my art. This is why I view everything as a potential source. Not only thrift stores and vintage shops but a piece of furniture discarded on the side of the road, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay and yes, salvaged scraps. My biggest piece of advice: never overlook something that has potential!

I consider myself an artist and interior stylist who has a knack for layering patterns, color, and texture. I work with clients who want that “collected over time” look in their home but, need help executing it. Every job I take on involves sourcing unique secondhand finds that represent my client.

I also accept a limited number of collage commissions each month for those looking for something specific. My rates are:

5”x7” $150
8”x10” $225
11”x14” $300
Plus $5.50 shipping. A deposit of 50% of the total prior to beginning the piece. I’m booking for January 2023 and beyond!

Commissioned Pieces

I plan to offer drops in my shop of “new” vintage and art. I will offer more print choices in the future and am in the process of deciding which pieces should be converted to prints next. I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to the final result of the print and I always want to ensure they are as faithful to the original pieces as possible, which I feel is represented well in my current selection. My goal is to have several new print options available before the holidays but, I will continue to be selective not, every original will be offered in print form.

“I am first and foremost, an artist. I express that in the decorating of my home and on my works on paper. ”

— Paige Ledom

I always ask - Did you decorate your bedroom while growing up: Absolutely! Growing up HGTV was often on our TV. I felt inclined to grab the first tattered notebook I could find and start drawing out imagined room layout and designs. I had pink walls, which later evolved to blue, and then taupe. I remember seeing pottery barn catalogs and cutting out scraps to create collages of spaces, or I guess now I would call them the original moodboards. There was this computer game called The Sims, which I mainly used just so I could design further “dream houses'' in the game.

a piece of art Paige was inspired to paint after seeing fellow artist and Muralist Racheal Jackson’s work.

How was your recent fantastic trip to NYC! What did you see and what inspired you: Our days were packed full in NYC! Do I take an “overgrown” approach to traveling too?? The museums were fantastic. We went to The Met and MOMA. All the architectural details, like those in The New York Public Library always draw me in as well. We stopped by the Chelsea Flea Market where there were some interesting finds but, I regretfully didn’t bring a bag big enough to lug any home.

I was most inspired by seeing the contemporary collide into the historic and how they can exist together all at once. How a story can begin being written long ago and it shifts and changes by what we cut and patch into it.

Paige and her husband Max during a recent trip to New York City on the roof of the Met Museum.

Tell us how Social Media assisted you with your business: Social media has been how I have gotten this thing off the ground. I have met so many amazing, like-minded people who have encouraged and inspired me. It has given me the space to just be who I am and have that be okay. It has allowed me to reach and connect with great folks I never would have met otherwise.

Plans for 2023: I am looking forward to the opportunities a new year brings. My goal for 2023 is to seek out in-person opportunities in my own community, such as art fairs or pop-up events to be involved in. I LOVE my online community but I also think it’s important to find ways to be involved locally too.

I am eager to work with more clients too, whether that is in their homes or creating more custom art pieces.

Goldfinch print I purchased from Paige sitting in the diningroom of the Chalet.

Paige thank you so much for saying Yes, when I asked you! I’m a huge fan of your work and I’m blown away with the Goldfinch print I’m so lucky to own. I can’t wait to see where you take Paige Ledom Studio.

I appreciate this opportunity and you being so gracious to host me on your blog. It means the world to me! I am so glad we got to connect through IG. Thank you, thank you, thank YOU again!

You can find Paige on Instagram & her Website.

Til next time friends be well!