lifeSTYLED work+shop

lifeSTYLED work+shop, founded in 2018, combines an interior design studio with a retail storefront on North Ross Street in downtown Auburn. Co-owned by lead designer Sarah Brown, the business was built around the idea of pairing professional design services, residential design, commercial design, real estate staging, and furniture sourcing, with a physical shop where customers can browse and buy home goods without booking a consultation first. That hybrid model is uncommon in a college town retail district dominated by apparel and gift shops, and it gives lifeSTYLED a distinct role among Auburn’s independent retailers, functioning as both a place to shop and a place to plan a larger home project with a professional guiding the process from start to finish.

On the retail side, the shop stocks home furnishings, décor, furniture, candles, and gift items chosen with the same eye the design team brings to client projects, meaning the merchandise tends to skew toward pieces with a cohesive, styled look rather than a broad discount selection. Shoppers can pick up smaller decor accents and gifts on a casual visit, while homeowners taking on a larger renovation or a full room refresh can work directly with the design team for sourcing and staging services. The shop’s stated mission, helping people “feel inspired and happier in the spaces where they live and work,” runs through both sides of the business, whether that means picking out a set of candles for a gift or working through fabric and furniture selections for an entire home renovation.

The shop is located at 238 North Ross Street, a short distance from the main College Street and Magnolia Avenue shopping corridor, with retail hours Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Because the design side of the business often works by appointment for consultations and project walkthroughs, visitors planning a longer design conversation may want to call ahead, while walk-in shoppers can browse the retail floor freely during posted hours.

Since opening in 2018, lifeSTYLED work+shop has built its business around a slower, more considered approach to home shopping than a typical big-box home goods trip. Rather than stocking deep quantities of a few mass-market items, the shop’s design team curates a smaller, more cohesive selection that reflects the styling principles it applies to client projects, from real estate staging assignments to full residential remodels. That approach means the merchandise on the sales floor tends to change alongside current design trends and seasonal projects, giving regular visitors a reason to check back rather than assuming the shelves will look the same from one visit to the next.

For Auburn shoppers looking for home decor and gifts with a more curated, design-forward point of view than a typical gift shop, lifeSTYLED work+shop offers both a retail experience and access to full interior design services under one locally owned roof. It stands out among Auburn’s Gifts and Home retailers as the rare shop where the person who styled the store window can also help style a customer’s living room. That combination of retail and professional design work under one roof gives the North Ross Street address a purpose that goes beyond a typical storefront, functioning as much as a design studio open to the public as a conventional shop, and giving downtown Auburn a home-goods option built around professional design expertise rather than simple retail volume. That distinction matters to shoppers who want more than a transaction, people looking for someone who can explain why a certain fabric, finish, or layout works for a particular room rather than simply ringing up a sale and moving on to the next customer.