Designers We Love: Shelter Collective

What are three words to describe your design aesthetic?

Considered, grounded, natural.

At MINNA we believe in creating beautiful, ethically made products and using business to do good. How do these concepts relate to or inspire your process?

From the very beginning, a major component of our design practice has been making and working with makers. As makers ourselves and as part of a community of makers, we gravitate toward the handmade because we know that intentionally and ethically made objects can have a different energy than others, one that you can really feel in your daily interactions with them. We also believe there is a lot that is sacred about the act of making, and place deep value on the longstanding and hard-earned techniques that go into doing beautiful work. Makers are very important to the preservation of culture and the building of community, and we are proud to support them whenever we can.

What about your home makes it feel like home? What is a favorite memory in your home?

When Rob and I decided to buy a house in Asheville, we knew that the "dream home" didn't exist, because we wanted to design it ourselves. So we bought a beat up little bungalow in one of our favorite neighborhoods with the intention of renovating. The past year we've been able to spend some time on it, making it our own. We've worked on it on the weekends together (including throughout my pregnancy and with a newborn - not recommended!), and more recently we've hired some friends that are craftspeople to work on some of the more fine details. It feels like home because it's not only imbued with the warmth that our friends and family have brought to it, but also because the objects in the space are imbued with our community. 

My favorite memory is coming home from some errands and seeing that Rob had ripped off the ENTIRE back of our house - to the studs. He was replacing a door and realized that the builder had never put sheathing on the house. Instead of being mortified, I laughed until I cried. I am so grateful to be partnered with someone that wants to do things right and cares so deeply about the process of making.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

It's the building, not the building.