The 10th Avenue Bridge and the beautiful Minneapolis skyline
Minneapolis, best known for frigid winters and friendly residents, is a perfect blend of natural beauty and urban activity. With over 22 lakes in the metropolitan area alone, the terrain encourages people to be outdoors – kayaking in the summer and cross-country skiing in the winter. However, the cold climate makes being indoors equally important and that is where Blended Blue comes in.
Marcy Russ, owner of Blended Blue Showroom
We decided to chat with Marcy Russ, owner of Blended Blue to find out how the largest of the Twin Cities is building a reputation for design and style that is unique to this beautiful part of the country.
Tell us about Blended Blue. What is your goal as a Showroom?
Marcy – Blended Blue keeps its eye out for inventive new lines, and our favorite task is spreading the love for the remarkable products we represent. If we’re not inspired, chances are, our clients won’t be either, so we’re really lucky to rep such design-driven companies. Every new collection, whether furniture, fabric, wallcovering etc. takes us somewhere we’ve never quite been, and gives us a chance to create newness. The showroom is constantly evolving, and you can feel that the minute you step into Blended Blue.
What design trend or aesthetic movement is going strong in Minneapolis?
Marcy – I’m not sure I’d call it a trend, but I see a real, overarching movement towards thoughtful lifestyle design. In a way, the increasingly global design conversation makes designers and architects that much more valuable. They act as listeners, and then curators and agents. What is meaningful? What do you really desire? What sets your senses free? The answers help us shape a lifestyle of authenticity and breathing, with a home that fits us. One architect recently confided that his new clients had a surprisingly singular design criteria: “We want the kind of house where you linger for a long time, over a delicious dinner and interesting conversations with friends.” Isn’t that lovely? They gave him that descriptor, and a budget, and went off to visit the site – acreage just east of the city, with rows of neatly planted 80-year-old pines for as far as you can see.
Would you say Minneapolis has a specific style? How would you describe it?
Marcy – Minneapolis has a rich arts scene, matched with a thriving restaurant culture (it’s all those cold winter nights; we like to eat well). These things along with the Minnesotan lust for travel generates a degree of sophistication. However, we value warmth as much! There are many varieties of taste here, but I think we’re quite pragmatic about how we live. We know we’re eventually putting our feet up, so we plan the fabrics accordingly.
What Place Textiles pattern or color is most popular in your region? What has been your favorite way you have seen Place used?
Marcy –Many are beloved, but I would have to say Killarney is a perennial favorite, in any color. The amount of visual comfort in one glance is enough to say you’re home, but when you feel it – it’s bliss. Recently, we had a designer do two lounge chairs for a client’s living room in that fabric, and the photographs alone make you want to cozy up and stay the night.
Minnesota Designer, Lilu uses Killarney on a cozy sidechair
What is special/ different about the design community in Minneapolis?
Marcy – While we may gather our design understanding through travel, publications, and the like, we also take notes from our own beautiful landscapes as well. We risk frostbite to our fingers, for the most haunting shots of the winter sun dropping behind a thicket of trees, with the wide white lake in the foreground. That sort of visceral experience of cold and beauty is powerful. You can’t live here as a designer and not notice that; not be affected by that.
If a visitor to Minneapolis has ONE DAY to get the right impression, what would that day look like?
Marcy –Breakfast at Barbette – a quirky, delicious Minneapolis mainstay, with local/organic focus, French bohemian interiors and perfect coffee.
Morning at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts – they have one of the most beautiful and extensive Asian art collections in the world, along with many other impressive exhibitions.
Lunch at Spoonriver – which is fitting as the food there is practically art – for the palate and the eyes.
Next door to Spoonriver is the Guthrie theater by John Nouvel, with it’s staggering 100 ft. cantilevered observation deck overlooking the locks, stone arch bridge, and rushing Mississippi.
A stroll along the historic stone arch bridge where you can feel the Spray from below.
A quick trip to the International Market Square Design Center, of course, to see Blended Blue!
Dinner at Marin downtown, which is filled with fabrics from our showroom, and you can dine in the lower-level, paneled and glowing candle-lit library.
The Blended Blue Showroom in Minneapolis, MN
What’s next for Minneapolis? What are you seeing change about the design community or the city as a whole?
Marcy –My husband and I live 3 minutes (literally) from downtown, and see it daily. We actually go there for grocery shopping, as it’s our closest Whole Foods. From the perspective of our industry, watching all the luxury apartments and high-end condo towers going up, does the heart good. The infrastructure is really there now – the shopping, the restaurants, more grocery stores, etc., making downtown living a true easy-access and vibrant experience. In north loop, there are dogs everywhere, and condo towers catering to dog-owners. In the theater district, there’s Gold Medal Park, with it’s modern winding landscape overlooking the river, there’s even a luxury condo, all-glass high-rise going in on the edge of downtown, making a new point of light on our skyline. Minneapolis is definitely becoming more urban, as is our sister city, downtown St. Paul. With this we see an exciting future for Blended Blue.