Teamwork Makes the Dream House Work

By Bruno Povejsil, studiobstyle guest blogger

Last week, I detailed some of studiobstyle’s efforts to stay busy during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly our work on a Lake Minnetonka home to get it ready for the market. This week, I want to share more about that house and get into the mindset of an interior designer. I interviewed Barbara Schmidt, the mastermind behind the makeover (and studiobstyle itself) to learn more about the behind-the-scenes work of transforming a space, including vendor partners who helped the project come together.

“Our design philosophy in the living room is ‘high-low,’” says Barbara, “and that means that you can use one or two high-price items as a focal point and low-price items to round out a space. The same principle applies in fashion, where if you wear a nice jacket, you can get away with buying your slacks from a discounter.” The “high” pieces here are the leather chairs, which retail around $2000 each, though Barb managed to snag them for $80 from a local discounter. The table was another discount find from Craigslist, and the green velvet couch was from an online retailer. The doors face Lake Minnetonka and allow plenty of natural light, so new furniture was an easy update to an already beautiful space.

(drop-in sink by #Ruvatistyle, Sto faucet by #Moen, Classic Statuario Brick tile by #JeffreyCourtImpressions )

(Nori kitchen faucets by #Moen , Classic Statuario Herringbone tile by #JeffreyCourtImpressions)

The house has a kitchen on the main floor and a downstairs wet bar, and we replaced the tile in both areas featuring our vendor partner Jeffrey Court Tile. Both spaces were in need of new backsplashes, and Jeffrey Court’s marble tiling added clean, modern accents to a house with 70’s style in its bones.

(Undermount sink by #ruvatistyle, Sto faucet by #Moen)

One of the most significant changes was to replace several of the countertops. Midwest Manufacturing fabricated the quartz countertops we used for two bathrooms and the laundry room, and a Wilsonart™ laminate countertop for the wet bar downstairs.

“We had a wonderful experience with Midwest Manufacturing,” Barb told me. “They sent us a template for their countertops that we could use to double-check our measurements and see what they would look like prior to installment. That is an amazing resource for designers that I haven’t seen other manufacturers offer. It was very easy, even considering the delays from the pandemic. It was a matter of finding countertops I liked, ordering them from Menards, and having our building crew pick them up and install them.”

(#Avanity Messina faucets, #Photon Clarke lights)

Midwest Manufacturing is the manufacturing arm of Menards, and Menards was the retailer where we shopped a good number of other fixtures for the house bathrooms, kitchen, exterior, and wet bar. Barbara had nothing but praise to offer: “In general, Menards is incredibly shoppable and has a wide selection of high quality goods with excellent pricing. They’re a great design resource. I had multiple contractors ask where we sourced our materials, and they were surprised when I told them. I was thrilled to have them as a partner for this project, and we will be shopping them again.”

Interior designers like Barb may have the connections and expertise to make a major makeover like this happen, but anyone can access the resources and ideas we used for their own DIY projects. Always keep an eye out for high-end goods at a discount, and helpful services like the templates offered by Midwest Manufacturing, and you can save a lot of time and money while still getting incredible results.