David Heide & Michael Crull

Award-winning interior designer David Heide has created a niche with interior design, home remodeling, and restoration projects—many that are historic or inspired by homes of the past. Along the way, he and his partner, Michael Crull—also an interior designer at David Heide Design Studio—have managed to beautifully renovate their home in St. Paul. “We were looking for a home that would be ours,” says Heide. They discovered an overgrown home in disrepair in Crocus Hill. “We didn’t buy it right away,” says Heide. “Each time Michael would mention it, I would say ‘No, no, no,’ ” They continued their search and still hadn’t found the one, when Crull asked, “What about that house off Lexington?” The first priority was to remove bad past interior and exterior improvements and return the home to its original Prairie School character. As for the kitchen, “We were planning for a new kitchen, but weren’t planning on an addition,” says Heide. But after living in the home and paying attention to flow, they changed their mind. The new addition—designed by Heide—was completed this summer and includes a vintage-inspired kitchen with all the modern conveniences, a powder room that looks like it could be out of a fine historic hotel, and a new back porch and entrance that serves as the main entrance to the home. In the end, the creative couple has created a home that is warm and welcoming inside and out.

In the Details                                                                                         
In a home shared by two very creative interior designers, you know that each item was carefully selected and placed, but the home doesn’t feel overly decorated. Crull had the inverted acorn glass shade (above, left) crafted by a California glassmaker to top a vintage base. Years later, they used it as the inspiration for the lighting in the new kitchen and had more shades created from the same source.

Stories to Tell
For the curious, a tour through this well-appointed home is filled with great stories of where and how the couple acquired pieces. Crull discovered the free-standing pantry in a blown out building in downtown Minneapolis, then overhauled it and now uses it as a liquor cabinet. The dining room chandelier came from one of Heide’s clients, “He hated that fixture,” says Heide. “He told me to get rid of it.

Good Listener
Heide believes homes have a story to tell. “My philosophy is that to learn what to do with a home you need to listen to the architectural language as you peel away layers to the past and then speak to that as you improve for the future.”

Good Neighbors
Sensitive to aesthetics, the couple commissioned an Arts and Crafts–inspired tile mosaic that was placed within the stucco siding on the exterior wall of the addition. “Our home is the entrance to our alley,” says Krull. “We wanted to give something back to the neighborhood.”