Inspirations

Before & After: A 1920s Minneapolis Craftsman, Moody Makeover Edition

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Anne McDonald is the interior designer to call for refreshing old homes. She spent nearly a decade working with her father on the building side of the industry, so she pays special attention to the architectural details that need to be maintained or restored—and she knows what colors and materials to introduce that will make the historical features sing.

Anne recently worked her magic on a 1920s Craftsman bungalow that was lackluster and cluttered, using its original dark-stained red oak trim and millwork as the inspiration for a moody palette of rich browns and ambers. Then she balanced the warmth with dusty blues and deep greens that highlight the leafy views through the windows.

Botanical motifs and earthy textures can be found throughout, nodding to the homeowner’s affinity for nature. “They have this beautiful cabin where they spend a lot of time in the woods in Wisconsin, so they really wanted to have this connection to something natural and grounded in their city home, too,” says Anne.

Let’s take a tour (and scroll down for a look at the place before).

Photography by Taylor Hall O’Brien.

After

the front porch was once overflowing with sports equipment and other odds and e 14
Above: The front porch was once overflowing with sports equipment and other odds and ends. Anne transformed it into a functional sitting room that links outside and in with natural pieces like vintage wicker chairs, bamboo shades, and a modern travertine coffee table. “To the left of the sofa, there’s a big dresser to put mittens and hats, so it does serve as a mud room, too,” Anne says. “But the homeowners really wanted to be able to play board games on summer nights or have their coffee and read the paper during the winter.”

anne upgraded the porch by ripping out the old vinyl tiles and replacing them w 15
Above: Anne upgraded the porch by ripping out the old vinyl tiles and replacing them with wood planks that she painted a muted turquoise.

in the living room, anne played up the original molding and brick fireplace wit 16
Above: In the living room, Anne played up the original molding and brick fireplace with a structured, tufted sofa and offset the sharp angles with a pair of rounded Nickey Kehoe chairs and linen Rose Tarlow Otello Ferro drapes. “Having more curves and softer silhouettes allows those things to almost recede into the architecture so the ‘masculine’ part of the room can be the focal point,” Anne says.

an antique rug mingles with an embroidered footstool and a glass topped magazin 17
Above: An antique rug mingles with an embroidered footstool and a glass-topped magazine rack.

behind a federico leather wingback chair from cisco home, anne fitted built in  18
Above: Behind a Federico leather wingback chair from Cisco Home, Anne fitted built-in bookshelves with glass doors that are meant to look original. “I was really particular with exactly how those doors were made,” she says. “They have the prairie grid to match the window grids elsewhere in the house, and we matched the stain.”

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