Modern Man

Photo by Karen Melvin

Whittlef’s vases are from the Joan and Robb line; the painting behind him is by Juan Sanchez, a Mexican artist whose work Whittlef started collecting in California. “He did a lot of politically influenced work in the sixties,” says Whittlef. “I’m completely nuts about his art.”

September 2004

By Jayne Haugen Olson and Abbey Klaassen

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For homes expert Robb Whittlef, Minneapolis isn’t flyover country—it’s his base while shuttling between coasts—as a Style Guy for CBS’s Early Show, for appearances on Style Network and Inside Edition, and to work with design clients. “Minneapolis is my touch point,” he says. “My family’s here. I have lots of friends and history here.” The Twin Cities is also home to his Great Estate Sale Company and his collaboration with fellow HGTV-er Joan Steffend. But a recent downsize from a spacious Palm Springs home to an 800-square-foot Lake Calhoun apartment proved to be challenging, even for this style-savvy guy.

“I moved from a just-under-5,000-square-foot house to an apartment the size of my former closet and bathroom,” says Whittlef. “I sold off most of my stuff. It was an incredibly cleansing period.”

DESIGN INSPIRATION: “I’ve changed my style pretty much every few years. I’ve had a house all gild and antiques, one that’s very contemporary, and this is somewhere in between. The mid-century look is appropriate for the building, which was built in the sixties and has that feel. It’s also a great style for mixing in a lot of different art, and I’ve purchased some key period pieces in Los Angeles and Palm Springs.”

DUMPSTER DIVING: “Those white chairs are Richard Schultz vintage lawn furniture that I pulled out of a dumpster in Palm Springs. I found four of them and the original seating was really worn out, but the metal frames were perfect. Having them redone was really inexpensive, but they’d retail at auction for $1,100 to $1,400 a piece.”

CITY OF LAKES: “I have friends who fly into town for two or three days and they’re just amazed by the lakes, by the great parks and trails around water. I don’t know of another major metropolitan area that has something like this.”

HI, STYLE: “This city is really coming into its own design wise. Le Meridien is stunning and a great design addition, and I’m extremely excited a Chambers Hotel is opening up here.

Adapted Reuse
“Those dressers [below] serve as extra storage for my clothing,” says Whittlef. “That’s what was energizing for me—figuring out how to make a very small space stylish but also functional for my lifestyle.”