Spotlight Our Showrooms: Blended Blue

Tell us a little on the back-story of how Blended Blue came to be?

Blended Blue got its name from a hike on the Amalfi Coast back in the year 2000. I was walking along the top of a tall cliff in Ravello just as the sun was starting to rise. I looked out to the Sea and the sky and the Sea where exactly the same color... just this massive wash of blue. It was such an overwhelming color experience, i found myself just standing there trying to take it in. Later, i penned a short poem in the travel notebook i carried along. The notebook has been lost along the way, but the name of the poem, Blended Blue, stayed with me. In 2010 when I needed a name for my new business, I decided that was the perfect name to describe what I wanted the business to feel like : Limitless, wide open and like I could fly.

How does being based in Minneapolis inform your work?

Being based in Minneapolis gives us plenty of weather related reasons to stay fresh and adaptable. We're used to change and we're used to extremes. It softens our edges and makes us quick to try new ideas, if nothing else to distract us when the outside keeps us in. Our market leans casual and towards stylish comfort. I think with how digitized and fast paced our world can be, we're at the forefront of making our spaces textural and cozy with patterns as the punctuation in a space. We know the importance of a warm sense of shelter.

What are your personal design inspirations?

Marcy: My design inspirations come from a collection of far flung solo travels where looking and listening, shape a new level of understanding in my design mind. If I had to pick one Iona Crawford pattern as a favorite, it would be wilderness. I've often found myself sitting under trees, mesmerized but the branches swaying in front of the wide sky. I love how this pattern captures that moment where you see an intense blue through the lush green leaves.

Chloe: I absolutely love mixing antique with new/mid-century. Specifically, I love Rococo and Art Nouveau. I’m a history nut so I really enjoy hunting for antiques and incorporating those pieces into my space.

David: I enjoy kitsch, purposeful clashing and streaking color into unexpected places. I love going to thrift stores and roadside museums and seeing histories and stories all garbled together, and then stringing my own new storyline from the pile.

What is your favourite design from the Iona Crawford line?

Marcy: We love Iona Crawford for the wild way her patterns can have such a life of their own. Not only can they print to scale and customize, but the patterns have such an intricacy, they often read one way from a distance and quite another up close. That kind of dynamic gives each room a sense of intrigue and sophistication we love, without being too formal.

Chloe: I’m a real sucker for color, so the minute I saw the pattern Mineral, I fell in love. Every time I look at a sample, it brings me such joy. The colors are so vibrant and lively, how could you not adore it?!

David: I’m a big fan of the Arctic Noir. There’s something hypnotic about this pattern, especially from a distance - I can almost see flowers, or black holes, or the ocean depths where all the glowing things live..

Any fun facts; be it a past-time, favourite vacation spot, celebrity doppelgänger or perhaps just cocktail of choice!?

Chloe: I’m a crafter at heart and I recently started to make polymer clay earrings - I should be launching my shop on Instagram soon. Keep an eye out!

David: I’ve really gotten into baking the last couple of years, thanks to The Great British Bake Off! I’ve finally mastered getting the perfect hump on my madeleines!

If you are based in Minnesota and need some assistance with your next creative venture ~ contact the team here!