Name: Anna + absentee roommate
Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota
Size of home: 875 square feet
Years lived in home: 2+
On August 11 we introduced you to Anna Yust's quaint home in St. Paul, Minnesota. Anna's home is a joyful one, filled with childhood mementos, and smart purchases while living in Copenhagen, Denmark. The House Call was a popular one, and many asked for a full House Tour. So here it is — we hope you enjoy it!
Anna's quaint home epitomizes "hygge." "Hygge" explains Anna "is distinctly Danish." There is no translation in English, but it can be best described as a feeling of warmth and coziness; usually the result of candlelight, flowing wine, great company, and delicious food. And that cozy, warm feeling envelops you like a mother's hug upon entering Anna's beautiful home. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, Anna decided to move to Copenhagen, Denmark as an architecture and design intern for the Danish Institute for Study Abroad. The time that she has spent in Denmark has very much influenced her style. From her framed Danish posters, to her Marimekko textiles, to her Iittala votives, to her many Danish prints, Anna's place embraces Scandinavian design. In addition to owing quite a bit of her style aesthetic to Scandinavia, Anna also owes a lot to stylish parents. Anna's architect father has bestowed upon her both beautiful mid century furniture (i.e Herman Miller chairs) and amazing one-of-a-kind items, like her grandfather's Big Horn Sheep head. Her design savvy mother has handed down child hood mementos, like the heart stamped piggy bank, and heart stamped pitcher.
By keeping the majority of her windows curtain free, Anna allows her home to be showered in light — quite a treat during Minnesota's winter months. All the light shining in breathes new life to Anna's already cheery and colorful home. "I really like to look outside, especially during the summer. We don't get to spend much time outdoors in Minnesota, so being to able to look out is quite a treat." After spending a couple hours in Anna's place, I was left feeling very content and relaxed. I couldn't explain how I felt. "That's hygge for you." Explains Anna. "It's nice, no?" Yes. Yes, it is.
Apartment Therapy Survey
My Style: Local Artist/Scandinavian Design — I lived in Denmark for a over a year and a half and it has greatly influenced how I live and what design trends I lean towards…essentially, if it is Scandinavian, it has a good chance of ending up in my home. I also love buying things from local artists, not just in the Twin Cities but everywhere I travel, I don't mind paying a bit extra to support a small business.
Favorite element: The dining room, I love to cook and to host dinner parties and brunch parties. I have city chickens so the brunch parties have become the most frequent form of entertainment. In the evening it can get very cozy, the pendant light moves up and down to fit any mood. I recently installed a dimmer switch so it is even better suited for all dining occasions. And who doesn't love the big horn sheep? My grandpa rescued it from an antique shop. The sheep's profile is the first thing you see when you enter the dining room, and then he just peers from above.
Biggest Challenge: Lack of storage — the silver lining though is that I am constantly purging unnecessary items from the house. This is good in thought but not always practiced — notice how there are no photos of the closets…
What friends say: Friend: "That's cool, where did you get that?" Me: "Denmark."
Biggest design/home embarrassment: Well I dog sit for friends a lot and one chewed up the couch. It happened 6 months ago and I have been collecting things to fix it ever since, but it wasn't until last night, pre-photo shoot, that I finally fixed it! Other than that, the creeping charlie and chicken poop in the back yard.
Proudest DIY project: It is a toss up between the chicken coops and the stairs. But I think the stairs win. They were so much work, and I didn't even have a banister to deal with. I started one tread with a heat gun but the smoke detector started to go off so much that I quit for a year. Finally I got up the effort to finish the job but instead used the really harsh paint remover gel. I removed 15+ coats of paint and a coat of stain. Had one call to the utility company because the CO2 detectors were going off (from the fumes of the remover) but you never know in an old house. I then sanded each stair with 3 different grades of sand paper. Applied 2 coats of sealer. I was only going to do 3 coats of polyurethane, but I got carried away on the last coat and it ended up crackling. I had to sand it down again and add 2 more coats of poly. I then painted the risers and was finally done. It was well worth the effort!
Biggest Indulgence: New tires for the bike hanging up. It is my mom's old Motobecane, and two years ago I finally brought it out of the basement and took it to the shop to get the disintegrating sewn tires off and new top-of-the-line tires on. I have to admit I haven't taken it out much because it makes me nervous, (1) that I might get in a crash, I am very prone to this, and (2) that it might get stolen…guess I need a less sentimental bike for my daily use.
Best Advice: Quality over quantity.
Dream Sources Illums Bolighus, Designer Zoo, Finnstyle, St. Paul's yearly Craftstravaganza
Resources of Note:
PAINT & COLORS
- • Dining Room: Benjamin Moore, 2131-60 Silver Gray
• Kitchen: Benjamin Moore 2146-30 Split Pea
• Trim & Ceilings: Benjamin Moore White Dove (semi-gloss for trim and flat for ceilings)
LIVING ROOM
- • Grandparent's hand-me down couch
DINING ROOM
- • Danish Antiques
• Iittala Votives from Finnstyle
• Antique Big Horn Sheep (gift from Anna's grandfather)
KITCHEN
- • Vintage Kitchen Made Mixer
• Le Creuset French Oven
Thanks, Anna!
Images: Jose Gonzalez-Maciel
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Comments (26)
sweet yellow coop! did you design it yourself, or did you use someone else's plans? I'm researching for my own chicken project.
Being a native St. Paulite from the West Side, would love to know what area of town you live in. Your house is a very typical style from what I remember (haven't lived in MN for 28 years!). I also loved the little note that read "St. Paul is the new Minneapolis"
I live in an 860 sq ft. bungalow outside of DC and you seem to have loads more room then I do. I think my purging skills need work. Love the floors!
beautiful. a nice blend of old and new with a touch of whimsy and a good adherence to simple design principles (color, contrast, balance, etc.). thanks for the tour.
Beautiful.
I love the chicken coops and the "hygge" feeling you get from the house, really cheery, cozy and sweet. A place I wish to live in.
However, I'm probably in the minority group that don't like the big horn sheep. I don't know, I just don't like this animal staring at me while I eat its friends.
Your house is hygge but so are the chicken coops! If I were a chicken I would SO want to live in those. I love the portability of them, pick and go with the white one, wheels on the other. I'm keeping these designs for future.
Now, about that shower curtain. ( ! ! ! ) Source?
Usually I'm okay with taxidermy but this particular one seems like it might be kind of jarring in a room. Can't quite put my finger on it.
I love this house! It's minimalist without giving me sweaty palms. It feels loved :)
I really like the Scandinavian feeling of the house - simple, clean, comfortable.
But with three pics of your coops, I'm curious how they work -- they're obviously not connected in the photos, so how do you actually move them from their coop to their run? And do they ever get to roam a little? Their run seems awfully small for three adult birds. I kinda feel bad for them...
Anna, you are so nice! Anna, we'd visit you twice!
Such a wonderful topic for me.I read this article and agree with this article.Thanks to talking us about this article.
Pure Cleanse
where did you get your dining chairs?
I love all the Scandinavian influence here, it is so unique and really does make the house seem so cozy!
I was wondering where those wall pockets for mail hanging in what looks like the hall above the purse hooks are from. They aer so cute!
I've been inspired to add a little taxidermy to my own home, and I enjoy seeing it pop up here an there. I prefer it "georgia o'keefe" style, as opposed to "con folico" as they say in Spain. But I've become rather fond of my long-horn steer skull and horns. She's lovely....
Yes, to all you animal rights folks. Yes, you're right: animal husbandry in the U.S. is an abomination. There is no husbandry. It's just abusive. That said, I have collected my cow's bones, which would have been a wasted by-product of her corporeal raison d'etre to provide beef for someone's table, and honor her in my my living room.
The "Hygge" shows and inspires. I can certainly picture a visit with flowing wine, good food and good company in this great space. A masterful mix of personal collections, classic design and functional spaces - this is the best recipe for "Hygge", no?
Where are the dining shelves from? I love them.
It would be nice to have fresh eggs in the house, but I am sorry the house does just not do it for me. but then again I do not live there and I can understand you being happy in this house.
LOVE.
and now I must. have. chickens.
love the coop. how often do they come out using those stairs, if at all?
Also, where is the shelving unit from the dining room from?
Great Scandinavian touches and clean aesthetic! And the chicken coops... so charming.
Two things:
1) As a native Minnesotan, I just want to point out that some of us do spend a lot of time outdoors! Snowy winters make for great winter sports.
2) Yikes, the animal head scares the bejeezus out of me.
Hello all, it’s Anna, thanks for all the great comments, here are some answers to questions…
The house is located in Uppertown.
The “Summer Coop” is a chicken tractor about 4’x8’, the top portion is the coop and they live in it all summer. It travels around the yard, I let them out when I am home and they love to romp around the year, we have hawks though, so I like them to have supervision. The neighbors across the street have kids and let them out during the day to play and pass out treats of rice krispies.
The “Winter Coop”, yellow one, has 1-1/2” insulation and since it is summer the front portion, a 4’x4’x8’ pen, and the lower portion of the stairs is in storage in the back yard. Since the photos, I have painted the steps and door. I put a windbreak on the pen and straw on the snow and they love to be outside all winter.
Of the coops, the winter coop is my own design and the summer coop was derived from internet research.
See link for your own set of St. Paul postcards; they have them for free in a lot of coffee shops around St. Paul
http://www.storenvy.com/products/16372-saint-paul-is-the-new-minneapolis-the-postcard
Shower curtain is Marimekko, the following link is my source but Marimekko is sold in many cities. http://www.finnstyle.com
Dining chairs came from my dad, we bought the covers from the Knoll dealer in town. The dining shelves are from Ikea.
The mail sorters are something I whipped up out of wool fabric samples and a wire hanger.
And I do spend a lot of time outdoors, being from Minnesota, it’s what we do; it is just that my time in Denmark has turned cold gray winter nights into ones filled with candles feasts and friends. Really, I just dislike window treatments that block out the daylight, I like to know what’s happening outside.
Adorable! Always nice to see what people are doing locally. When I first saw your house, it struck me as being older than most St. Paul homes. Then I saw your post indicating you're in Uppertown, and that makes sense -- my sister's house is near yours, and it was built in 1885. Just out of curiosity, how old is your house? Also, I love the chickens :)
Where did you get the large picture/painting/poster(??) in the living room?
And where did you get the Helsingborg/Elsinore print?
I was just in Denmark, and no one could tell me where to get prints - I came home empty handed, very sad!
Love.
The red/orange on the front door is exactly the same as I am painting mine--only I am 8 coats in and still don't have full coverage! You have given me hope!
LOVE the chicken coop! But my town will not allow chickens in town limits, even tho we are on almost an acre lot. Buggers. The bears, coyotes, raccoons and such may be an issue with chickens here anyways... and the 15 feet of snow and -50c... :(
AWESOME house. SO light.
Lovely home! I really like the print of the owl in the kitchen (picture 18). Anna, do you know the name of the artist?