Minnesota-raised designer makes Midwest style cool, popcorn ceilings and all

White popcorn ceilings. Plastic-lined upholstered furniture. Wall-to-wall carpet in varying colors.

To some interior designers, these elements are cringe-inducing. All Minnesota-raised Victoria Sass sees, though, is style.

Pinning down the makings of a quintessential Midwestern home has been an issue at the top of Sass’ mind. The interior designer, also owner of Minneapolis-based Prospect Refuge Studio, posed her answer in her latest exhibit at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Dallas that runs through Nov. 13.

The Show House started in the 1970s as a fundraiser in New York City but has since expanded to homes in Dallas and Palm Beach, Fla. Each year, designers apply to decorate the homes, then shown to the public as a way to raise money for charity.

Trendy designs like “quiet luxury,” “coastal” or “minimalism” often come from other regions of the country and ignore what the Midwest has to offer, Sass said. The result: Midwesterners aren’t caught up in trends and focus on their unique tastes, like playing with contrasting patterns and textures along with prioritizing practicality and durability, she said.

Her childhood home in Palmer Township (about a 20-minute drive southeast of St. Cloud) inspired the exhibit — aptly named “The New Nostalgia: A Midwest Memory” — including its setting beside a lake and memories of kids driving tractors to school.

“Everything in the space felt like we were at my mom’s house. There was so much golden oak and so many lines vacuumed into the carpet and Laura Ashley floral formal living room sets at my mom’s house,” said Matthew Swenson, a brand consult for Sass based in Minneapolis. “There’s that version of ‘I’m sick of looking at my mom’s house,’ and this version is ‘Ah, I’m back at their house, but everything has been reconstituted in a new design approach.’”

The exhibit features a twist on Minnesota homes, with furniture pieces fusing many themes. A bright yellow, upholstered desk is a centerpiece to a room with loud florals that resembles not only a place to work but also a formal sofa in a typical home, Sass said. The piece even has a plastic cover, reminiscent of her mother who wanted to protect furniture for special occasions.

“It comes from the spirit of respecting and honoring a piece,” she said of the plastic coverings. “We don’t live in the past, but the past can be a fond reference point for us. Midwesterners, we’re really good at toeing the line and keeping what works from the past but also not holding onto it if it doesn’t work.”

Another undervalued element of Midwestern homes: those light wooden cabinets. Many millennial homebuyers lean toward whites or grays, but Sass fondly installed paneling of that color around her exhibit.

“It was wildly overused without thought and concept by builders ... and people got sick of it,” she said of golden oak finishings. “It’s gorgeous, warm and buttery. It lasts forever and is super durable. You see it 40, 50 years later in a lot of homes, and it’s in fantastic condition.”

As for that divisive stippled popcorn ceilings, Sass said the original prevalence of them spoke to homeowners’ desire for texture.

“They wanted the home to feel finished,” she said. “And there’s utility to it: It eats up noise because it has a sound-absorption quality.”

Popcorn ceilings are still very popular in Minnesota homes, said Realtor Dylan Olson-Cole at Anderson Realty in south Minneapolis. Many people keep it for its practically, he said, though he remembers hating to see popcorn ceilings when he was younger. But in time, they grew on him.

“There’s two different camps: There’s people that want to tear it down and then there are others that enjoy it,” he said. “The alternative is knockdown [textured] plaster, and between the two, I personally prefer popcorn.”

Sass’ exhibition puts Minnesota nostalgia front and center, he said.

“This seems reminiscent of the vintage-era homes that we have in the Twin Cities,” he said. “I’m seeing a lot of folks moving from other parts of the country, and they’re specifically looking for well-preserved historic homes, and we have a lot here in the cities.”

To be part of the Show House is a huge honor for Sass, who describes it as “the Met Gala” of interior design and a “bucket list” career milestone. It’s another highlight she can add to a list of accomplishments, including her work appearing in publications like Vogue and Home & Gardens, and Architectural Digest naming her one of seven emerging designers to watch in 2022.

“There’s a lot of people bringing trends into the Midwest, but what I don’t see [is] anyone exporting Midwest trends outside of the state,” she said. “To bring what we have here to outside the Midwest, that was a huge motivator to be part of the show, to have that platform.”