Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Name: Lisa Fine
Instagram: @quiettownhome
Occupation: Co-founder of Quiet Town
Hometown: Miami, FL.
Studio Location: San Anselmo, CA
Describe what you make:We make thoughtfully designed, responsibly manufactured bathroom accessories.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: The Sun Shower curtain
Describe the problem your work solves: We started Quiet Town because we were tired of buying things for our bathroom that we needed but didn’t love. Back in 2011 when the idea of [creating] shower curtains first popped into my head, there were two styles available for your bathroom: hotel white, or kitschy. We wanted something thoughtful, elevated, and super-casual. We wanted to use materials we loved, like sun-faded canvas, and textures like hand-woven kilim rugs. Because designing for this space was such an afterthought and a commodity, no one was doing it.
Describe the project you are working on now:
Right now, in this very moment, I’m looking at samples we just got from our factory for front door and kitchen rugs. I want these to be super-fun and easy, but incredibly durable.
We’re also about to launch a Sun Shower circularity project that has been in the works since 2023. We had to start from scratch since there was no recycling infrastructure in place for shower curtain liners. We started collecting post-consumer Sun Shower curtains for R&D. We connected with an incredible steampunk “plastic pirate” in the Bronx through an international program called Precious Plastics. His name is Gary, and Gary took our curtains and put them through all kinds of plastic metamorphoses: compression molding, slab molding, injection molding…it was amazing. Once we understood what could be done with the material we connected with plastic experts in Vermont who took an interest in our project and helped us out—for free—for months, mixing our recycled EVA with other recycled plastic to get the right consistency. Then we found another rad partner in Massachusetts who was willing to figure out how to cut up our curtains into small little bits. It’s been a ride! Now we’re waiting for our final mold and then we’re going to be ready to roll with our very first circular Sun Shower product!
A new or forthcoming project we should know about:
I’m from Miami and have always been obsessed with Art Deco. South Beach was like a movie set and all of my teenage memories are laced with terrazzo, breeze blocks, pastel colors, and strong shapes. So our next Sun Shower launch, coming in June, will pull from all of that.
What you absolutely have to have in your studio:
Music, water, incense, and high-value dog treats. Our dog is poorly trained and jumps on people and we can’t have meetings unless we properly bribe him.
What you do when you’re not working:
I’m always working! But I also go on lots of hikes, I love to thrift in San Francisco or the East Bay, we go to the beach pretty often, and I’m outside any chance I can get. We explore a lot! We live somewhere relatively new so there’s always something new to check out.
Sources of creative envy (dead or alive): Jeanne-Claude & Christo, Mark Borthwick, Joni Mitchell, Andy Goldsworthy, Richard Avedon.
The distraction you want to eliminate: The news. But that’s not going anywhere. Instagram. I don’t love it but I still get sucked in.
Concrete or marble? Concrete
High-Rise Or Townhouse? Townhouse
Remember Or Forget? Forget
Aliens Or Ghosts? Aliens
Dark Or Light? Light
All images courtesy of Quiet Town
