As much as I admire a minimalist home, I could never pull it off — I’m a goddamn packrat. I am a collector of things that collect dust. A curator of curiosities. A magpie.

I have an attraction to objects that you won’t find on the shelves at Target (although I do love a good Target run). Objects with a history. Stuff with a soul.

When I travel, I seek out those places that aren’t on your typical “Top Ten Places to See” lists, like Deyrolle in Paris and San Francisco’s Loved to Death. Locally, I can spend hours wandering around Hunt & Gather and the shops along Minnehaha Mile.

Antique stores. Oddities shops. Estate sales. It’s the thrill of the hunt, but never having any specific prey in mind… until there is.

Why yes, that is a manhole cover serving as our (immovable) serving tray

Over the last year, we’ve increased the number of client photoshoots internally and with many of the fabulous photographers around town tenfold. And while I’m an art director/designer, not a professional prop stylist, the thrill of the hunt for the perfect prop for the shot always fires me up.

In a sea of beautiful Instas and pins, I strive to include a little something special that helps our clients’ posts stand out from the noise, while honoring their brand vision. Occasionally, pieces from my personal collection have made it into a shot, but more often than not, I’m visiting my favorite haunts, wandering those Target aisles, or scouring the internet looking for the pièce de résistance.

From the perfect chippy white paint farm door found on Craigslist an hour outside of Minneapolis to the perfect color for a teenager’s chippy nail polish, some might say the details matter, but I prefer to quote Charles Eames: “The details are not the details. They make the design.”