Welcome to the last post in this round of Wall Around the World, where we go inside the homes of some amazing gallery wall stylists and get the inside scoop on how they choose their art and decor.
Today’s modern monochrome gallery walls come from Minnesota, where Kate lives with her family.
Here, Kate shares the secrets to her home style, including her eco-friendly view on renovating.
On where she lives
I live in Minnesota and am an eco-friendly, budget-friendly designer/stylist. I have two beautiful little girls and a wonderful husband who makes my design ideas come to life.
I live on a dirt road, in the country, and I love it! I am surrounded by woods and have a gorgeous view of a lake in my back yard.
I searched for years for a house that was on a lake, close to the cities (but far enough away), in a great school district, with privacy, and in our price range.
It was tough, but I persevered and couldn’t be happier. I am surrounded by trees and nature and wouldn’t have it any other way.
We bought our home a year ago. It’s a ranch-style home that was built in 1984 and needed updating like it was nobody’s business!
I am updating it room by room with my husband, and we have done almost all of the work ourselves. I am renovating it in an eco-friendly manner. Keeping what can be kept, donating what can be donated, and loving every bit of it.
Too many people these days feel the need to gut a space to modernize it, and that’s just not the case. Paint and a little imagination go a long way.
We have renovated almost our entire first floor and have never gotten a Dumpster for any project. I am reusing doors as artwork, making trees we had to cut down in the back as wall art, not taking out cabinets but enhancing and making them better with a little paint and hardware.
Finding the beauty in what is, and putting a little love into it to make it even better.
Fantasy house guest: Meryl Streep because I adore her! I think that she is intelligent, funny, down to earth, sarcastic and extremely giving. I think we would immediately become best friends, hahaha! We would drink wine, by the fire, down by the lake and laugh all night!
On her modern monochrome home decor style
I think that less is more, always! I like clean, modern lines but love to add natural wood elements in any space to soften and make it feel welcoming. I love all things MCM but like mixing a little modern industrial vibe in there, too.
I speak a monochromatic language almost all of the time because that is just where I gravitate and feel most at home.
I feel like my style is ever evolving, getting more simple but bold as time goes on.
When I am designing a space it’s more about how I feel in the space than anything else. I want to feel calm and at peace because what you see and what surrounds you directly affects your mood and how you feel.
On making decor decisions
To emulate Kate’s style: Always remember, less is more, always!
Also incorporate natural wood elements into your space. It will soften your space and add texture and dimension in a natural way.
Also, buy vintage or second hand and repurpose it. I have vintage pieces in all of my rooms and those are the pieces that get the most attention. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Always remember your footprint. Can someone else use what you don’t want, can you reuse and revamp something to make it feel and look new again?
Pop culture influences: I love ALL things Harry Potter, so every HP movie is my favorite. I love all different types and genres of music. You will hear me listening to ’90s rap one minute, hear Garth Brooks the next, and then a little Mumford and Sons to cap it all off. It depends on my mood, but 7 out of 10 times I will ask Alexa to play Mumford and Sons or The Lumineers. I love all forms of art. From music, to dance, to artwork, to design. I appreciate all forms, and they all affect me on a daily basis. Every day, you will find me dancing, singing, and listening to music in my kitchen. It makes me feel happy, so that is what I do.
Favorite shops: Target, article, cb2. I like affordable modern home furnishings. I don’t think it’s necessary to spend an arm and a leg on things. I like shopping with companies that have that same mantra. I also buy a lot of vintage pieces. I think it’s important for people to buy secondhand because one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and these pieces aren’t being thrown away but reused and recycled … my two favorite things!!
Finding inspiration: I appreciate all different designers and styles. I love seeing beautifully executed spaces or designs. So as long as you have made me feel something by looking at your design, kudos to you!
On the gallery wall process
I like things to be clean and simple. Not too busy but impactful.
Scale is very important when doing a gallery wall. I channel my inner Goldilocks when doing all things design. It has to be just the right size for the space, not too big and not too small, but just right.
I also like using artwork that speaks to me. In its beauty and simplicity. I like using nature in my artwork, and if I’m using family photos I like to use black and whites. I like the impact of black and white prints.
On her favorite wall art
Nature prints: The 3 Desenio prints in my living room I love. They are beautiful and make me feel happy when I look at them. They are nature photographs that have mist/clouds covering half of the picture. I love their simplistic elegance.
Personal photos: My black and white personal photo gallery wall in my entryway is another favorite, because I get to look at the people that mean the world to me every time I walk by.
Harry Potter quotes: I did a wall piece in my oldest daughter’s room that I also love. My husband made a wood wall art installation, and I wrote pages from my favorite Harry Potter books with quotes that I feel my daughters should live by. Example; “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” “You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.” “If you want to know what a man is like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
Fishing drawing: I also have a picture that was drawn for me by Tove Dalsryd. She gave me a picture she drew of my girls fishing in our lake. I absolutely love it!
You can find Kate posting her awesome interiors on Instagram: @katechipinski
P.S. Read previous Wall Around the World posts.
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