House Tour-Johnny & Stacie

Name: Johnny & Stacie
Location: Tilsner Artist Cooperative, Saint Paul, MN
Square Footage: 1300
Years Lived in: 2.5
Rent or own: rent
Describe your style: eclectic with modern and mid-century influences
Blog/Website: www.johnnyandstacie.com

What's your favorite free/found item?
A set of four, pink, little tulip chairs we inherited from a college roommate


What's your favorite purchased item?
The Eames rocker that Johnny got for me (Stacie) for my birthday. He found it at a thrift store for a mere $30 and uncovered it, refinished it, and bought the rocker base online. I LOVE it.

What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?
We rent and are able to make any changes to the place that can be changed back to the original state when we move out, i.e. paint and some construction. So our biggest obstacle is that we are unable to make a really significant changes to appliances, countertops, ect. and we do not want to invest a lot of money on changes because we are renters.


Is your design style organic or planned?
We think it is a little bit of both. Sometimes we come across great pieces of furniture, art, and accessories that we know we love and have find a way to incorporate into our space and other times we set out with specific goals and purchases in mind.

What is your favorite spot in the house?
Johnny's favorite spot is on the vintage reclining Eames knock-off and Stacie's favorite spot is the bedroom because it's cozy, has a large pink dinosaur painting, and gets great morning light.


How has your style changed in the past 5 years?
Our style has changed pretty significantly. Five years ago we were in college and living off of Ramen noodles. While our places have always had an artistic touch, both being artists, we have really grown our collection of furniture, art, and vintage accessories in the past five years. Most of this can be attributed to our move to the twin cities and the artist co-op where craig's list, thrift stores, and modern furniture stores are more abundant.

What is your favorite resource or store?
We love the "free pile" in our artist cooperative. This is an area where people living in the co-op place things that they no longer want or need. We have scored some great items there! We also like the Blu Dot yearly factory sale that happens in Minneapolis--that is where we got our dining table, console table, and coffee table for an incredibly low price.


What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?
fake flowers and anything with papyrus font on it.

What has been your favorite design trend?
We like that etsy and many of our favorite design blogs are highlighting vintage and we espeically enjoy the trend of mixing vintage with more modern/new pieces together.


What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
Color, our love for furniture design, and our passion for art and design are the most significant influences on our style and design choices.

What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?
I think the the tall ceilings, wood floors, wide-open floor plan, and exposed beams in our space all play a large role in the way we design and style our home.


What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?
Our neutral, modern, and comfy couch from Room and Board has really been a staple in our furniture collection. It has been our priciest purchase, but it gets a lot of use and is comfortable, clean, and not to overpowering in the space.