Happy Hunting 5.25.2023

Welcome to another edition of Happy Hunting where we show you all the hidden gems we’ve discovered lately. We love sharing items we love with you! We share home decor, lighting, clothing, accessories and more! We hope you enjoy this month’s colorful edition of fun finds. Enjoy!

Lately we’ve been inspired by colorful natural stone, burnished brass, vintage linen, and raw clay. All of these pieces look stunning alone or brilliant in a group. They are items that you can easily add into your existing space or create an entirely new look out of. It’s up to you! What does your space need right now? A little spring refresh? A pop of color? Some warmth? What do you like the best? What draws your eye in? I love finding unique curious pieces that could be a great conversation starter when people see it. I also love knowing the back story behind the artist and the materials used.

We hope you love all these colorfully refreshing pieces that can add vibrant life into any space. Being playful is the fun part of life. Adding a little color and an organic form to a space can easily infuse a little playfulness. It could be a small stone vessel or a large wood console table. Click on the images above to be transported to their websites for additional details & purchasing. We do not use any commission plug-ins on this blog, so you’ll notice you go directly to the vendor’s website. We don’t use r.style.me or ltk or any other third party linking source, which means we do not get commissions from our “happy hunting” blog posts. We simply want to share some of the favorite things we’ve found lately. We hope you enjoy!

In the Shop with Pax Lighting

Pax Lighting is a lighting design studio founded by Jeff and Teegan Nordhues located just outside of Riverdale, Nebraska . They design and fabricate their own high quality light fixtures. They specialize in ceramics and brass and their forte is letting materials speak for themselves. Pax lighting is known for the honesty of their materials and the excellence of their products.

Photo courtesy of PaxLighting.com

Pax Lighting began in 2015 and has been producing high quality custom light fixtures ever since. The Nordhues sell these fixtures in the trade market throughout the Midwest to designers, architects and builders.  Their products have raised a few eyebrows outside of the Midwest as well. They have caught the attention of Interior Design Magazine, Architectural Digest and more! They’ve presented their products at the Love the Local’s event in Lincoln, Bench in Omaha and they will show their work at the Architectural Design Show in New York City in the ‘MADE’ section this March! Impressive! You can also find some of their high quality fixtures installed locally at Zipline Brewing Co, and Mercury in Omaha. Their exquisite light fixtures are also in many residences throughout the Midwest.

How did a refined lighting company end up in Nebraska? Great question! After studying at the Art Institute in Denver, designing luxury lighting at Dessin Fournir Companies in Kansas, and getting a master’s degree in product design from the Rhode Island School of Design, Jeff decided to move back home to Nebraska and start Pax Lighting with his wife. Teegan is an expert in marketing and public relations and also worked at Dessin Fournir Companies in the public relations department. Jeff also has the title of ‘Professor’ on his resume as he developed curriculum and taught industrial design at UNK for seven years.

Jeff starts with hand sketches and then transfers his designs into AutoCAD. Within the entire production process, he controls the variables and optimizes his system by implementing a manual relief system. It takes approximately 12-14 weeks to produced a custom light fixture. They have custom glass developed in Omaha, custom colors and custom forms designed. They either create their own components in-house, or have them machined in Lincoln. The last step is having their metal finished in Omaha. Not only did the Nordhues choose to to base their business in Nebraska, they also keep it local and patronize other local businesses throughout their creative process. I love that!

Courtesy of Pax Lighting’s Instagram.

Photo courtesy of Pax Lighting’s Instagram.

It’s rare to find such outstanding designs created in the middle of a cornfield. Nebraska is home to so many outstanding craftsmen and artists. But I have to say, Pax Lighting is extraordinarily exquisite. Please consider using this talented team to meet your lighting needs, especially if you are an architect, builder or a fellow designer. They should be at the top of our “go-to” selection list because we want to celebrate and keep this local brand thriving. It is my personal goal to utilize their fixtures in my future interior design projects. I can’t wait to see how far Pax Lighting goes and all the beautiful applications their fixtures will be installed in! I know their reach already goes far, far beyond the Cornhusker state and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Image courtesy of Pax Lighting’s Instagram.

Image courtesy of Pax Lighting’s Instagram.

Before and After: Roots Collective Hair Salon

It was early April and Addis Browne was taking a leap of faith by opening her own hair salon. She wasn’t just opening a salon in an existing salon building. This wasn’t some change of ownership ordeal. No. She was going to open her hair salon in an empty space on the second story of an old building in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska. I immediately fell in love with that goal.

This bold pursuit energized me and I reached out to Addis in order to offer her my interior design expertise. I wanted to be a part of this neat salon coming to downtown Lincoln. I worked on many renovation projects in the past where I helped give new life to old spaces so I knew it could be accomplished. I also knew that Addis had a knack for bold and colorful looks, so I wanted to help materialize her style into the interior design of the salon.

All professional photos taken by Nicolette Wagner with Life Unbound Photography.

Before. April 2018.

Before. April 2018.

After.

When I first met with Addis, I wanted to know all about her vision for the space. I loved listening to her describe her dream salon. I asked questions about her favorite colors, the clientele, timeline, budget and more. After gathering enough critical information, visiting the site, and gathering all necessary dimensions, I got to work designing a beautiful and functional space for Addis’s hair salon.

I began my first design approach by giving Addis everything she specifically asked for in a salon. It included the exposed brick, bright white walls, and the typical ‘coffee-shop-style’ interior design that we see so much of. She immediately loved it! I was pleased, but told her I had a couple of tricks up my sleeve. I asked her to bear with me and explore another design option that I created based off of the information I gathered about her personal style and her target clientele.

“I asked her to bear with me and explore another design option that I created based off of the information I gathered about her personal style and her target clientele.” - Tara Miller

This is when I let my talent shine through. This is when I delivered her with an interior design direction that took her wants and needs and elevated them to the next level. That is what an interior designer’s job is. It is my goal take the client’s wants and needs and turn it into an even more fabulous space than the client could have ever imagined on their own. It is my job as an interior designer to do that, and make sure that the space meets building code for life and human safety, fire and egress codes. (Basically- rest assured that your building will be safe.)

I showed her a design direction I created based on her vision for the salon but I added some specific things to make it stand apart from the rest. I suggested things like bright colored orange chairs, a large-scale bold wallpaper print for a statement wall right off the entry, I switched up her lighting with a knockout chandelier she hadn’t seen before, and I made the suggestion to keep the orange laminated ceiling beams ORANGE instead of cover up their raw beauty with white ceiling paint.

When Addis saw the elevated design that I created based on her other likes and interests, she loved it! I was over the moon excited because when my client’s are excited, I know that I have done the first part of my job well. From there we moved on to the second part of my job: Project Management. I helped Addis by providing a detailed list of where different lighting, furniture and accessory pieces could be purchased.

During the construction phase I draw floor plans, reflected ceiling plans, elevations and 3D renderings of the space. These drawings precisely communicate the client’s desires to the contractor and electrician. These detailed drawings leave little room for misinterpretation. I made finish specifications, furniture selections, lighting selections and so much more. We made it our goal to follow her budget and source as many local pieces as possible. Her salon features of mix of items found at Home and Closet Vintage, Craigslist and new products sourced both online and in store.

“We made it our goal to follow her budget and source as many local pieces as possible.” - Tara Miller

---

Heartland Home: Bright and White

The midwest is full of inspiring people and places. "Heartland Home" is one of the topics I'll be exploring in order to highlight some of the amazing homes throughout our central region. The homes in this area are just as inspiring and beautiful as the people who call the heartland home. 

All photos by Nicolette Wagner with Life Unbound Photography

Our very first home of the series is nestled in the capitol city of Lincoln, Nebraska. I'd like to thank Erin and Dusty Stanczyk for opening up their house and being featured as our very first "Heartland Home." You may recognize Erin and Dusty from their awesome social media presence titled "EAT MOVE REST." But did you also know that they have a knockout home?! YES! It's true! They put their very heart and soul into their house and have created a wonderful space. I couldn't think of a better way to start off this series than to show you this amazing home.

Their handsome dog Beau rests in his favorite spot in the house.

Loving this stylish drop zone right off the entry.

While their Instagram is plum full of vibrant colors, their home sets the stage as the perfect neutral space to eat, move and rest in. Dusty and Erin moved into their home during Thanksgiving weekend in 2015. They fell in love with the white kitchen cabinets right off the bat. The windows had beautiful white wood shutters that filtered the natural light perfectly. However, the kitchen was walled off from the rest of the space. 

Before long, Dusty kept asking Erin if he could start demoing the house already.  Erin said "yes" and came home after work to a pile of rubble. Their goal was to open up the space and let as much natural light in as possible. They achieved this by installing French doors and tearing out the walls that separated the kitchen from the rest of the space. Now, they are able to open up the French doors and enjoy the fresh air on a nice night.

The current sitting room used to be the dining room, and their current dining room used to be a carpeted living room. The first thing they did when they moved in was paint all of the walls white. They used Home Depot's Behr paint in the color Painter's White. This brightened up the space immediately. 

They wanted white marble countertops, but were advised not to invest in them since the natural stone stains easily and can absorb red wine, beet juice and more. They replaced their original blue countertops with a white quartz and couldn't be happier. They purchased their dining room furniture and the kitchen island as a set, but they added a slab of white quartz on top of the island to give it a more permanent feel. 

They removed the walls surrounding the kitchen to open it up to the other spaces.

They spend most of their time in the kitchen because they love to cook and entertain guests. The open floor plan makes their space the perfect location for a get-together. They can have a dinner party with some people in the formal dining room, some people in the sitting room with coffee, and more people standing with drinks at the kitchen island. There are multiple gathering areas within the one large space. This layout enables a group to be in close proximity without being separated by walls.  

This lovely sitting area used to be the dining room. The space is now flooded with natural light from the gorgeous French doors they installed.

"Everything we have is a mix of old and new." -Erin Stanczyk

Not only can the Stanczyks tear out walls and install new doors, they are also talented artists! The cocktail table in the sitting room was found on Craigslist. They proceeded to sand and white wash the table until it turned out perfectly. The painting in their dining room was originally pink and blue, but Erin painted over it with neutral tones. The finished product adds texture and contrast to the large white wall.

As you can tell from the photos, they have some seriously amazing plants- and they are ALL REAL! The Fiddle leaf fig was an anniversary gift that Dusty gave Erin years ago. All of their plants started off tiny and have grown extremely tall over the years. They thrive on the natural light from the large windows. 

The credenza in the dining room was originally dark brown, but they painted it a nice neutral grey color and swapped out the old knobs for some fun ones from Anthropologie. The dining room is filled with great plant variation. When they started renovating their space, their goal was to have a bright white space with lots of plants. They definitely accomplished that goal! 

Erin explained that part of her wants to be super minimal, but her and Dusty both like interesting decor items. A perfect example of this is the head sculpture from Restoration Hardware in their entry. "It makes it interesting," Erin says. "Not everything has a story." They have the perfect balance of repurposed and new pieces to give their home that "homey" vibe. 

They also painted all of the doors and trim in the space white because they used to be dark brown. This brightens the entire space and adds to their light and airy aesthetic. Speaking of "light"- they searched high and low to find the perfect light fixtures for their home. They typically start by finding a fixture they like on Pinterest and continue the search from there. Erin said, "Dusty goes to Home Depot almost every other day and they have really good priced fixtures as well." The light fixtures in their space draw the eyes up towards their lovely high ceilings. 

Read the note above to find out what the Stanczyk's love most about the home they've created.

Their back patio is just as lovely and inviting as the interior of their home.

Don't forget their back porch! The "bright and white + plants" aesthetic continues into their backyard as well. The Stancyk's could not have created a more perfect spot for relaxing outside. Their home is absolutely gorgeous and is in the heart of Nebraska.

If you live in the Midwest and have a home that is uniquely "you" and beautiful because of it's own special qualities, please reach out to me via our "contact" page. I would love to feature your home in the Heartland Home series.

If you have a friend or family member that has a wonderfully special space that people find themselves drawn to, please reach out to me about them. Erin and Dusty were happy to have their home shared as the first Heartland Home and I look forward to sharing many more. It is up to each homeowner to choose if they would like their identity to be revealed in the post or not. The goal of this series is to celebrate the uniquely beautiful homes of throughout the heartland. 

[ All photos in this blog post were taken by Nicolette Wagner with Life Unbound Photography ]

---

Shop the Look: The Grove Juicery

I love supporting local small businesses. Most of the time, when I’m wanting or needing to purchase something, I ask myself, “can this product be sourced locally?” From there I take a moment to rack my brain or do a quick google search to see if there are any local businesses or makers that I can go to. I would much rather stimulate the local economy an purchase something from a big chain.

View fullsize

Photo @justbebalanced

View fullsize

Photo by @kimberlydovi

View fullsize

Photo by @cait.perman

View fullsize

Photo by @kimberlydovi

View fullsize

Photo by @anrosen

View fullsize

Photo by @cait.perman

View fullsize

Photo @wellesleylauren

View fullsize

Photo @uglyhumanbeing

View fullsize

Photo by @kat_foster_

From time to time I’m going to share a few local businesses on the blog that I enjoy. The Grove Juicery and Wellness Cafe opened it’s doors to the public on Monday May 28th and it has been quite literally taking over the internet ever since. Instagram feeds are plum full with shots of the trendy interior and their colorful juices. *Swoon* It is dreamy for sure. 

It took me about a week to find the time to stop into the cute little spot on 24th and Farnam. I stopped there on my lunch break to see what all the buzz was about and experience not only the beautiful atmosphere, but also to drink some epic juice. Once I looked over the menu (and realized how hungry I actually was) I opted for their Açaí bowl instead of the juice. I had multiple appointments afterwards so I didn’t want to buy a bunch of juices and let them sit in the heat of my car for the remainder of the afternoon.

Like a moth to the flame I made a bee-line towards the electric navy sofa after placing my order. Who doesn’t want to sit on lush velvet? There I waited for the barista to take the orders of the numerous people in line behind me. During that time, I was able to really look around and soak in my surroundings. While doing this I realized that I recognized many of the beautiful furniture pieces and light fixtures in the space.

I am an Interior Designer. Therefore, I am constantly shopping for furniture, light fixtures, etc, for my clients. You can say I’m on the internet – a lot – and that is how I can sometimes easily identify products.

In this blog I’m going to share with you how you can “get the look” of The Grove Juicery and buy the pieces for yourself. Most of the products can be easily sourced online and shipped directly to you. I hope you enjoyed reading this and I hope you'll like the quick work I did on identifying the charming elements in The Grove Juicery and Wellness Cafe.

Photo via Anthropologie.com

The Velvet Lyre Chesterfield Sofa from Anthropologie can be purchased in a variety of ways. You can click here to order it in the "Forest" green colorway with the dark hickory legs on rollers. If you want additional options, you can click here for a full list of all the fabrics and leathers the sofa is available in. See the "Velvet in Navy" color code in the adjacent photo for additional information on the blue sofa.

Photo via Anthropologie.com

Photo from Target.com

The Jewel Round Side Table via Target's Opalhouse collection is made of rattan and adds natural warmth and texture to the space. This piece is available in both the natural and a black finish. It is approximately 19.75" in diameter and 19.75" high. Click here to see additional information on the side table.

Photo from Anthropologie.com

Each table is accented with the Pari Ratan Arm Chair from Anthropoloie. This rattan chair is not only comfortable to sit in, the fact that you can see through the chair makes it visually "light" within the space as well. 

Photo from Houzz.com

The Safaveiah Leda Rattan Bar Stools can be purchased through a variety of vendors such as Hayneedle, Houzz, and Overstock.com. Be sure to check the dimensions on each website to see if they are selling the counter height, or the bar height version. This information can typically be found in the 'product info' section or under the 'dimensions' section.

Photo by WorldMarket.com

(Scroll down to see information on the lighting, tiles and paint in the space.)

The Basketweave Bamboo Pendant Shade can be found at WorldMarket.com and is available in both natural jute and a black finish. This product is hand woven onto a metal frame and is sold separately from the actual lightbulb and chain. You can see WorldMarket's Electrical Cord and Swag Kits here. 

My favorite finish in the space is the original mosaic tile flooring. These intricate pieces compose a striking pattern on the floor and give a freshly acquired look. They tell a story of a time when developers, real estate agents and business owners invested in the hard surfaces of their space. They weren't worried about if the pattern would affect resale value, and they didn't argue over wheather it was "timeless," or not. They knew that mosaic flooring was a great investment and they just did it. It's simple, and it is magnificent. 

While this look may be from another era- there are tile manufacturers today that are creating similar looks at a decent price point. Jeffrey Court came out with a tile line last year called Chapter 18 - Rotunda. This collection features many magnificent tiles, but a few particular styles lend themselves as an exquisite alternative to this historic look.

If you click on the Junaeu Mosaic, the Montpelier Mosaic, or the Augusta Mosaic, you will see dainty compilations of mini-square tiles. These tiny pieces create a large floor pattern similar to the flooring at The Grove. Each of these patterns are available in two colors: Nero Marquina (Black), or Tunisian Grey. 

You could easily put Jeffrey Court's Rotunda mosaics in your home, office or business to create a striking floor pattern, and I guarantee people will love it! (Not everyone of course, but the majority of people will be drawn to it.) Be bold! Be different. Be you! If you like pattern, then I'd like to encourage you not to be afraid of it! :)

Last but not least, let's talk about those WHITE WALLS. We see photos of white interiors everywhere. But have you ever gone to the store to pick out a white paint color? There are literally MILLIONS of white paint options to choose from. So how do you know which white is a good white? The last thing you want is to have all of your walls painted "white" and then end up feeling like they're peachy, or that they have a green undertone.

Some of the brightest stark whites in the business are Sherwin Williams -Pure White (SW7005), Benjamin Moore's -White Heron (OC-57), PPG's -Commercial White (1025-1), and BEHR's Home Decorator's Collection's -Nano White (HDC-MD-06). However, a paint selection depends so much on the flooring, the furniture, the lighting and many other elements in the space. So these whites might not be the perfect fit for your space.

If you ever need help picking a paint color, or anything else that has to do with interior design, feel free to shoot me an e-mail. I am happy to help!

I hope you enjoyed this blog post covering the ultra-trendy interior of The Grove Juicery and Wellness Cafe. Go for the atmosphere - stay for the juice. It's divine. <3 #shoplocal #interiordesigner

---