Prime Time

In the years we’ve known the divine Ms. M, she’s lived in an historic home near Lake Harriet and an expansive mid-century rambler a blink from Cedar Lake. But now Pat Miles has settled along the shores of the Mississippi in a fabulous riverfront loft with views of Minneapolis. “I was ready to downsize,” says Miles. “I have one daughter in college and the other off in a year. Plus, I’m working downtown again, and I hate being in a car. This way I’m close.”

When she moved, Miles started from scratch. “I had been carrying around so much stuff. Not just mine but my mom and dad’s, even my grandma’s. I had never gotten rid of anything,” she says with a laugh. As for the look, Miles has always considered her decorating style eclectic, mixing traditional with antiques and vintage. “I had never done modern or contemporary before,” she says. “But I really like it.”

With only three weeks to get her new home ready, Miles enlisted the services of interior designer Brandi Hagen from William Beson Interior Design. Says Hagen, “She’s the easiest client. She makes the quickest decisions of anyone I’ve ever worked with.” Since the timeline was tight, Hagen relied on pieces she could purchase off the showroom floor and ordered only a few key pieces. “Pat’s style and loft living made it come together with ease,” she adds. “I wanted to reflect her casual personality—make it warm and livable.” Hagen also observed Miles: “Pat typically dresses in solids with fabulous accessories—so I took inspiration from that and carried the look into her home.” All the major pieces are done in solids, and the pillows, the spashes of color here and there—such as the kitchen’s backsplash—are “the jewelry, ” adds Hagen.

Miles welcomes her new streamlined lifestyle. “My life has changed. My closet has even changed. I had worked twenty-five years in TV, I had all of the shoes, suits, even the little bows from my first year on TV!” she says.

How does it feel to get rid of it all? “It was hard, but good.”

THE VIEW FROM HERE: “Downtown Minneapolis, the bridge, the river. I love the symmetry—it’s like a beautiful photograph.”

CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: “Golf,” she says with a chuckle.

ON MY NIGHTSTAND: “I know this may sound incomprehensible, but right now I am reading P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home. I guess I miss my yard and garden. He’s from Arkansas and grew up in the same area I did, so he likes the same things I like.”

GROCERY SHOPPING: “It’s difficult. I still go to Uptown.”

EATING OUT: “I eat out every night. I love all of the fabulous places in my neighborhood. Oddfellows, Bobino, The Sample Room. I love to eat outside, so I also like Zelo and Mojito.”