DORMAN AVENUE | MINNEAPOLIS
We love to meet our clients in person and really get the lay of the land when we begin working on an interior design project. There’s so much we learn from these face-to-face interactions. However, working remotely can have successful results as well when we have an amazing architect and client as collaborators.
Jody McGuire, AIA and LEED AP was designing a private residence for a client who was deeply interested in mid-century design and exploring textures in his new home (he is a weaver). The objective was to embrace natural light, warm wood tones, and incorporate bold color in a sophisticated way, without the palette becoming “Copenhagen Kindergarten,” as Jody calls it. Jody is a principal at Minneapolis-based SALA Architects and an old friend of Amy’s from their days studying architecture together in Denmark. When Jody realized that whichever interior designer she brought into the design process in 2020 was going to have to work remotely because of health protocols, she figured that working with a design firm in Philadelphia was no less advantageous than working with a firm in Minneapolis, and it was a glorious chance for two old friends to collaborate professionally.
One of the things we pride ourselves on here at down2earth interior design is being the conduit for the homeowner’s style, rather than imposing a style of our own on the client. This was a great chance for us to explore mid-century and Scandinavian style, but without going overboard or getting too literal. In the process we discovered some great options for convertible sleeper sofas for the den and coffee tables that cleverly rotate to reveal storage space. A giant vintage map that belonged to the homeowner got mounted directly to the wall in the den using wallpaper paste and we had tons of fun customizing the living room rug to pull out the exact colors we wanted to emphasize (in part inspired by the map’s colors). The ultimate goal was to balance the homeowner’s existing art and classic furniture pieces with the new additions so it all looks like it belongs together, and we’re immensely proud of how the spaces seem to flow seamlessly into one another.
Photos by Corey Gaffer
