The Agave suspension lamp from the Luceplan design line is energy efficient and sports different colored filters. Available at Citilights.
The Twin Cities is home to dozens of design show rooms that carry a wide range of items for your home. Knowledgeable sales consultants and on-site designers can help you find the right solutions and give you a head start as you plan your kitchen or bath project. Here’s a list of places to contact and explore. Check out our other show room listing for kitchens, baths, countertops, and flooring. Also, watch for future show room listings for furniture.
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Appliances Show Rooms
Appliances are becoming bolder in terms of color and design. “The idea of appliances as a color accent or art statement is here,” says designer Laura Ramsey Engler. However, the tried-and-true features are still the most popular. “Stainless has been big for a while, and I’m still doing tons of it,” says designer Bruce Kading. That’s true, says designer Martha O’Hara, but “the new gold standard in appliances is bronze.” And the smarter the appliance, the better.
What’s In
- Microwaves placed as pull-out drawers
- Refrigerators with touch-screen front panels to help you create a shopping list that is automatically sent to your grocer
- Big ranges
- “Dull charcoal finishes that look like iron,” Kading says.
- Wine coolers. “People like to show off their wine,” Kading notes. “We do more of the under-counter coolers, but the tall, narrow ones that are the size of a narrow refrigerator are more fun.”
- Built-in coffee centers, in which all you do is program what you want, when you want it, and then every so often, stock the coffee center with coffee beans.
The Show Rooms:
GE Builder Appliance Center
Show Room Insider: 5909 Baker Rd., Ste. 505, Minnetonka, 952-933-2090. Open M–F and alternating Saturdays. Purchases must be made through a builder, remodeler, or designer, but homeowners browsing for design ideas are welcome. Appointments recommended.
Great Finds: Features more than 300 GE appliances on display. The new GE Café line offers a professional-grade look at a lower price point than the GE Monogram. Also offers full line of GE Monogram, GE Profile, and GE products for the kitchen, laundry, and entertainment spaces. Exclusively offers GE Advantium Speed Cook oven, GE front-load laundry, and GE Harmony clothes-care system. Eleven designer vignettes.
Extras: Only show room in the U.S. owned and operated by GE Appliances. Non-commission sales consultants are familiar with building codes and potential design issues. Full delivery services, including installation on most products.
 Image courtesy of GE |
See for yourself:
Four times faster than a conventional oven, the GE Advantium SpeedCook Oven offers a European convection oven, microwave, and warming capabilities.
Image courtesy of GE
Guyer’s Builders Supply
Show Room Insider: 13405 15th Ave. N., Plymouth, 763-553-1445; 211 Hwy. 25 S., Monticello, 763-295-3000; 6808 W. 151st St., Apple Valley, 952-997-7690; 1830 Wooddale Dr., Ste. 500, Woodbury, 651-578-9012; International Market Square, 275 Market St., Ste. 123, Minneapolis, 612-339-3236 (contract flooring and furnishings). Most locations open every day except Sunday. Appointments recommended if working with a builder but not required.
Great Finds: Specializes in high-end and specialty appliances, such as the English AGA line of appliances. Exclusive dealer of the TurboChef residential oven. Features appliances and cabinets in all price points as well as fireplaces in Plymouth, Apple Valley, and Monticello locations. The Plymouth location is home to The Living Kitchen display by Sub-Zero and Wolf, an upscale series of vignettes.
Extras: Four staff designers, plus sales consultants to help with the process. Plymouth show room offers mortgages, windows, and live cooking demonstrations.
Sells directly to the public.
See for yourself:
The TurboChef 30” Double Wall Speedcook Oven, a convection oven and high-speed microwave, cooks a turkey in forty-five minutes.
Warners’ Stellian
Show Room Insider: 3533 W. 70th St., Edina, 612-920-0640; 1711 Snelling Ave. N., St. Paul, 651-645-3481; 5462 Nicollet Ave. S., Mpls., 612-825-6465 (outlet center); 7665 W. 148th St., Apple Valley, 952-891-4700; 12772 Bass Lake Rd., Maple Grove, 763-551-0888; 1750 Weir Dr., Woodbury, 651-714-9790. Open seven days a week. Trade appointments requested but not required.
Great Finds: Exclusively offers Liebherr Refrigeration, plus more than thirty major brands of household appliances in all price points, including washers and dryers, ranges, refrigerators, dishwashers, freezers, wine coolers, water heaters and softeners, grills, dehumidifiers, vacuums, and kitchen housewares. Top brands on display: Capital, Wolf, Sub-Zero, Asko, Viking, Bosch, Miele, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Maytag, Whirlpool, GE, LG, Fisher & Paykel, Dacor, and Frigidaire.
Extras: Features live displays of appliances in a real-world setting. Offers many freebies, including metro-area delivery on appliances of more than $499, recycling of free-standing replaced units, and installation on qualifying appliances.
Sells directly to the public.
See for yourself:
Exclusive to Warners’ Stellian, the Liebherr refrigerator is an energy efficient and sleek looking appliance for the kitchen.
Lighting Show Rooms
The trend in lighting is toward a combination of background and accent lighting that softens a room. “Today people are using smaller light sources and more fixtures,” says designer Bruce Kading. Martha O’Hara adds that along with more fixtures, people are mixing up styles while keeping finishes consistent. “People are putting up pretty fixtures that add charm and personality to the room,” she says.
What’s In
- Acrylic and Lucite combined with polished golds and silvers
- Transparent, simple pieces
- Contemporary glass beading for light fixtures
- “Suspended track lighting with curves,” Kading says. “But be careful not to overdo it.”
- Oil-rubbed bronze finishes
- Energy-efficient light bulbs and fixtures
The Show Rooms:
Cartier Lighting and Home
Show Room Insider: 151 Cheshire Ln., Plymouth, 763-476-9555. Open every day but Su.
Great Finds: Residential and commercial lighting, landscape lighting, lamps, mirrors, framed art, ceiling fans, and home décor. Top sellers include Schonbek crystal, Fine Art Lamps, and Holtkotter.
Extras: Professional lighting plan layout, design, custom work, delivery, after-hours appointments, and landscape lighting lab.
See for yourself:
The contemporary “Tango” chandelier by Schonbek features crystal beads that hang from a stylized frame studded with Swarovski rhinestones.
Citilights
Show Room Insider: 1619 Hennepin Ave., Mpls., 612-333-3168. Open M–F or by appointment. Browsing welcome, but appointments are recommended for those working on larger projects.
Great Finds: Specializes in contemporary lighting fixtures, including many European lines. Exclusive Twin Cities dealer for Baccarat lighting fixtures and exclusive Minnesota dealer for Foscarini Italian lighting line. A limited display of accessories, including art and decorative pieces.
Extras: Authorized dealer for Modern Fan ceiling fans as well as Tech Lighting, a distributor of the popular low-voltage monorail and cable systems.
Sells directly to the public.
See for yourself:
The Tech Lighting POD is a high-tech yet functional track-style fixture that rotates 360 degrees. Shown in amber, clear, and amethyst (shown).
Creative Lighting + Home Accents
Show Room Insider: 1728 Concordia Ave., St. Paul, 651-647-0111. Open every day except Su. Appointments recommended for larger projects.
Great Finds: Features roughly 500 different vendors with products ranging from lighting fixtures for the entire home to table lamps, home hardware, mirrors, bath vanities, and vases. Top vendors include Kichler, Murray Feiss, Tech Lighting, Schonbek crystals, and Hammerton. Recently added a large display of home hardware, pulls, knobs, and handles.
Extras: An eighty-year-old, third-generation,
family-owned business that offers in-home consultation and installer referrals. Added e-commerce to its website.
Sells directly to the public.
Muska Lighting
Show Room Insider: 700 Grand Ave., St. Paul, 651-227-8881 (show room); 18326 Minnetonka Blvd., Deephaven, 651-227-8881 (catalog show room). Open M–Sa. Appointments recommended for large projects. Catalog show room by appointment only.
Great Finds: Offers more than 100 brands and a wide variety of lighting fixtures, including hand-picked vintage and antique fixtures. Unique collection of moderately priced mirrors, accent furniture, and decorative lamps and accessories. Top sellers include Candice Olson, Billy Moon, Thomas O’Brien, Lauren Brooks, Carolyn Kinder, and Tracy Porter. Full lighting distributor with a division for commercial projects and lamp and ballast needs.
Extras: Offers in-store design consultations and discounts to the trade. Provides installation
referrals.
Sells directly to the public.
Touchstone Accent Lighting
Show Room Insider: 2425 Industrial Blvd. W., Long Lake, 952-475-2112. Open M–F, Sa by appointment.
Great Finds: This unique living show room replicates soft, warm, indirect outdoor accent lighting by featuring nighttime displays of seven distinct architecturally styled homes. Designs and manufactures its own brand of Touchstone Accent Lighting, including architectural lighting and accent lighting for gardens, pools, decks, water features, walkways, outdoor kitchens.
Extras: Full-service show room offering design, sales, installation, and service on its own products.
Sells directly to the public.
Hardware Show Rooms
Retro is big in all categories, and that includes knobs, pulls, and handles. “Barrel handles in shiny chrome for a vintage look are in,” says designer Martha O’Hara. “Polished nickel is not as dominant.”
What’s In
- Oil-rubbed bronze finishes that age and have a sense of history. “When you touch them, they lighten,” says designer Bruce Kading.
- Large-scale iron-like curtain rods with simple lines, either transitional or contemporary bronze finishes that age and have a sense of history.
- Grapevine-style hardware that frames
- wine coolers
The Show Rooms:
Nob Hill
Show Room Insider: 7630 Wayzata Blvd., Golden Valley, 763-225-8794, nobhillhardware.com. Open M–F. Appointments for larger projects recommended.
Great Finds: The new 6,200-square-foot show room is triple the size and features thousands of decorative hardware pieces. Manufacturers include Baldwin, Baltica, Rocky Mountain, Edgar Berebi, Von Morris, and Ginger.
Extras: In-store design consulting. Clients welcome to bring samples home.
Sells directly to the public.
The Brass Handle
Show Room Insider: 3605 W. 69th St., Edina, 952-927-7777. Retail show room open seven days a week and by early-morning appointment for those working with a builder.
Great Finds: Added a full line of bath fixtures this year but specializes in decorative hardware for doors, cabinets, and bath fixtures in a variety of styles and finishes. Plus, switchplates and mailboxes. More than 3,000 cabinet knobs and fifty styles of bath accessories. Also showing Baldwin Archetypes, Lew’s Hardware, and Rocky Mountain Hardware.
Extras: Features everything from basic hardware to handcrafted products. Offers installation on sales of its own products.
Sells directly to the public.
See for yourself:
Sietto handcrafted glass knobs are available in fun patterns, shapes, and sizes.
Excerpted from “A Show Room ‘Show and Tell,’” Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, December 2007, p. 183
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