8 Years of REVIVAL ceramics

Casa Slipper, finished. Read about the journey here →

Every September, we take time to reflect on the year behind us, and the years before that. Eight years is a long time to keep doing anything, and the word that keeps surfacing for us this year is patience.

Beautiful products take time, and so do great businesses. We started this company two years before a pandemic kept people indoors, looking for ways to bring joy and life into their homes. For many, that was a plant and a beautiful vessel to put it in. Demand surged past anything we'd planned for, for better and worse. When it settled, we had to relearn what proper growth looks like. Every challenge since has pushed us to refine our products, strengthen our relationships, and become better operators. We've learned that consistency always wins over chasing quick growth.

The Cylinder, 2nd Generation, in white. Shop The Cylinder →

This year, that patience took shape with the release of The Cylinder, 2nd Generation, a refinement of our original design from 2018. Alongside it, we went back to our own roots. REVIVAL ceramics was actually the name we launched under, all the way back at our very first trade show booth, before most people came to know us as LBE Design. This year, we simplified. We went back to it.

Revival was always the right word for what we were trying to do: bring back the kind of honest, well-made ceramics that used to define a whole era of American design, before those studios closed and all that was left was expensive vintage or hollow reproductions. That's true of every planter we make, not just The Cylinder. We didn't set out to copy what those makers did. We set out to continue what they believed.

Casa Slipper has come a long way this year. The structure is really starting to come together, and every decision along the way has been intentional: preserving its character, adding the kind of details that make it feel like home. Rather than buying furniture, we designed nearly every piece ourselves. Jon worked alongside a carpenter apprentice to build most of it by hand, which has made the place feel even more personal.

It hasn't always been graceful. At one point during roof construction, rain came pouring in during an uncharacteristic storm, and we spent an afternoon watching it dump straight into the kitchen, buckets out, towels down, laughing because there wasn't much else to do. It's been a much bigger undertaking than we anticipated, but seeing it come together has made every part of it worth it.

Casa Slipper, in renovation. Read more letters from Jon + Veronica →

The dust has finally settled. Power tools down, for the most part. The hummingbirds are back. The waterfall is finished. There's a reading nook in the windows. Small things, but they're the ones that make it feel like the retreat we always pictured.

What's always set this apart isn't the ceramics. It's the people who took a chance on them. Starting this company meant stepping away from certainty and betting on ourselves, without a large collection, a showroom, or a big team. When we launched, we had one planter: The Cylinder, in two colors, white and black. We used to joke that people could choose any color they wanted, as long as it was one of those two.

Our very first trade show booth. Read our Shop Spotlights →	One of our first meals with our partners in China. Read what makes us, us →

We loaded up our car, walked into retailers with our planters, and introduced ourselves one store at a time. We heard plenty of no's. We're forever grateful to the people who gave us the time of day anyway.

Eight years later, so much has changed, but that feeling hasn't. We still approach the business with the same appreciation for every customer, every order, and every opportunity. Thank you for eight years of it. We're excited for what the next chapter holds.

With appreciation,
Jon and Veronica Denne
LBE Design Co-Founders