Style Minneapolis

Shayne Barsness is a self-proclaimed vagabond. Originally from the rolling green hills of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, Barsness, along with her husband, Greg, a former pilot, arrived in Minneapolis 14 years ago by way of Madison, Wisconsin. “I love seeing new places, and life’s too short to stay put,” she says. “You set your mind and just do it.” 

Now firmly at home in Uptown with three children and three cats, Barsness has put her peripatetic style to beautiful use at Style Minneapolis, her shop/design studio that defies easy description and categorization. 

Style Minneapolis is neither a pure home décor shop, a jewelry store, nor a lifestyle boutique—it is all of these and more. Against an austere backdrop of white plaster walls, painted gray beams, and an honest-to-goodness linoleum floor, Barsness combines antiques, found objects, humble household items, vintage jewelry she has reimagined, and thrift store treasures repainted and repurposed by Greg, to create a signature mix of European elegance, rural allure, and storybook charm. “There’s so much good stuff in the universe,” Barsness says. “It only makes sense to breathe new life into things and reuse them.” 

On a recent Saturday, a tall, striking woman in her 60s found a pillow made from a fragment of vintage tapestry. Another shopper was delighted to find a well-priced piece of English black and white transferware. When a young woman asked Barsness if she could turn a garden ornament into a towel hook, Barsness applauded the idea, saying, “Yes, of course you can. I love that thought!” For this talented retail vagabond, creativity knows no boundaries. 4501 Nicollet Ave. S., Mpls., 612-377-3331