Minnesota’s Best Home Decor and Furniture Designers

Britt Bakke’s watercolors will stop you in your tracks. The Golden Valley-based artist paints heartstring-pulling portraits of beloved pets and people’s homes. Her work is lifelike enough to give you goosebumps and has moved many recipients — especially bereaved pet parents — to tears. 

Pet portrait, architecture, and landscape commissions are available in 5x7-, 8x10-, and 11x14-inch sizing, including the framing mat and shipping, and deserve a prime spot on any home gallery wall.

One of Danté Germain’s recent projects, River Rock Collection, involves gathering rocks from local lakes and rivers and blowing molten glass into the stones at roughly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The resulting lowball glasses look as cool as they sound, but that’s par for the course with one of the Twin Cities’ most talented glass artists. 

His designs are nearly always inspired by nature's fluidity. Some, like the handblown tabletop water drop sculptures and stone-inspired vases that pop up at top-shelf local gatherings like the Edina Art Fair, are the kind of showstoppers that always get your dinner guests talking.

There is simply no one else in Minnesota doing what Joy O’Conner does. The Nebraska transplant started her EARTHENjoy line more than a decade ago after learning the ins and outs of kiln-fired art from her pottery-loving mother-in-law. Her first studio was in Omaha, but she now works out of the Q.arma building in Minneapolis and has become a regular on the local art fair circuit. 

Originally known for her funky jewelry designs, O’Conner has spent the last few years dabbling in colorful, chubby, curiously shaped lamps, vases, fruit bowls, candle holders, and catch-all dishes. The small-batch wares are all hand-formed and hand-glazed and bring a much-welcome burst of color to the local pottery scene.

Sustainably designed and made in Minneapolis — that’s the ethos that drives the skateboarding artists and glassblowers behind this award-winning lighting studio. Hand-blown sconces, pendants, chandeliers, and lamps make a big statement in any foyer or dining room, but they’re just as impactful in a hotel lobby or restaurant, which explains why you see Hennepin Made’s fingerprints all over the hospitality industry. 

There are currently 10 collections on offer, including a design partnership with Prospect Refuge Studio in Minneapolis. Showroom visits are by appointment only.

Learn why a couple of recent transplants decided to move to Minneapolis and work for Hennepin Made. 

From Art-A-Whirl to American Craft Fest, this Minneapolis-based ceramicist is a big fish at local art fairs. Her oeuvre ranges from handsome yet functional household objects such as plates, bowls, and vases to the kind of objets d’art so jaw-dropping you’ll consider rewiring the electricity in your house to better showcase their sculptural beauty. 

Contrasting fine lines, the tiniest of textured dots, and asymmetrical shapes are hallmarks of the Pechacek canon. If you’re curious how she pulls it off, sign up for one of her seasonal classes at Mudluk, a pottery studio in South Minneapolis.

Target stocks a decent selection of faux flower options, but nothing compares to the artistry of the dried wreaths produced by this Shafer-based floral studio and CSA. Founded in 2019 by pals Elle and Kerstin, Mellifera makes wreaths for every mood and color palette (blush and bashful pinks, autumnal golds, even a PRIDE-ready rainbow combo), highlighting the range of florals grown and gathered throughout the state. 

Standard wreaths are fashioned on 5.5-inch gold ring bases with a finished diameter of 8 to 10 inches and include a metal hook for hanging; mini and large varieties are also available. In addition to running a flower subscription in summer, Mellifera crafts custom arrangements for weddings and hosts workshops on centerpiece and tablescape design.

Can a knife be art? In the hands of Jason Kraus, absolutely. The bladesmith founded NorthStar Forge in 2011 and earned Journeyman Smith status through the American Bladesmith Society in 2021, but his passion for knives dates back to childhood. (He’s even competed on reality TV shows such as Discovery Channel’s “Master of Arms” and History Channel’s “Forged in Fire.”) 

Based in Carver with a team of talented bladesmiths in his stead, he offers classes for every skill level and interest. The brand sells hand-forged heirloom hunting knives, bowie knives, chef’s knives, swords, and made-to-order daggers and dirks for less D.I.Y. types. The sheer range of materials — high carbon steel, Damascus, or railroad spikes for blades; birch bark, antler, or leather for handles — makes for truly one-of-a-kind gifts.

Self-taught woodworker Justin Hossle does two things exceptionally well: craft high-quality furniture and objects in modern and midcentury modern-inspired designs. From his 2,000-square-foot studio in Northeast Minneapolis, he turns out goods both large (bookcases, dressers, bed frames) and small (bookends, plant stands). 

His utilitarian designs, often made from sustainably sourced walnut or maple-veneered Baltic birch, are stripped down but never naked-feeling. His honeycomb-like floating hexagon wall shelving is particularly lovely, as is his intentionally askew lounge chair and ottoman set woven with leather straps.

If you primarily think of brooms as something to sweep the floor with, it’s worth getting to know Rebi Hulme, talented broommaker and founder of Rooted Apricity. Her artisan brooms come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from hawkstail hand whisks and floor brooms with knotty alder handles to stiff little pot and veggie scrubbers. 

Her brooms are functional but also pretty enough to display, especially the shapely turkey-wing hand whisks with grips tied in every color of the rainbow.

Does anyone need a custom-made paddle when plying the waters of Minnesota’s 10,000-plus lakes? Of course not. But oh, the joy it brings those who are fortunate enough to own one! 

The Sanborn family and its team of dedicated craftspeople still make their paddles by hand using red alder, basswood, and black walnut. Though ridiculously good-looking, they’re not just for show: These are working oars, reinforced with fiberglass on both sides of the blade and finished with hard epoxy. Customizable options depend on the model but may include shaft length and shape (bent or straight) and grip type (pre-oiled or bare). 

Sanborn is also known for its artisanal camp hatchets, cribbage boards sporting the Minnesota state flag, and colorful hand-painted paddles — ideal for displaying in a home or cabin or cutting across the water. (The designs are laminated.) 

You can get a feel for everything the brand makes at BaseCamp Provisions, its brick-and-mortar canoe and kayak store in Winona, just blocks from the Mississippi backwaters.

Youa and Wone Vang, the sisterly duo behind this homegrown cross-stitch company, turn traditional embroidery on its head, kick it to the street, and set it on fire with their cleverly subversive creations. The Vangs cite pop culture and their grandma’s traditional Hmong embroidery as key influences in their art, which includes seemingly sweet — till you read ’em — cross stitches with phrases like “Employees Must Stop Crying Before Returning to Work,” “What Fresh Hell Is This?,” and “Good Morning. I See My Assassins Have Failed.” 

Ziggy Stardust, Homer Simpson, Pee-wee Herman, Pac-Man’s Ghost Gang, and Prince all make cameos, and they’re not above needling up an expletive-laced Venn Diagram. They even produce customizable cross stitches of people — a fun gift idea for your nearest and dearest.

Afton-based furniture maker Tyrel Bleifus, who describes his business as “one dude in his garage,” uses traditional joinery and eco-friendly materials to transform logs and boards into the kind of heirloom pieces your great-grandkids will use a century from now. 

Bleifus takes a dreamily philosophical approach to his work (“It is the job of the craftsman to move in concert with the tree”), and it shows in the Scandinavian-, Japanese-, and Welsh-inspired designs he creates by hand. Rocking chairs, consoles, table lamps — it’s all within his purview and made to order.