Tour Aimee Lagos’ ‘Hygge’ Home in Minneapolis

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Stylemaker: Aimee Lagos

Where do you shop for art?
We regularly attend local events and pick up pieces of art here and there. Some of our favorites are the MCAD art sale, SooVAC’s Get Lucky, and the Soap Factory’s $99 sale. (She won one piece in a rock-paper-scissors face-off.)

Any local furniture stores you fancy?
I’ve been buying furniture from Room & Board lately. I think they have great pieces, and I really respect everything they do with U.S. manufacturers and local companies.

What’s your most prized possession?
I have a couple. My grandfather kept a scrapbook and when he passed away, he left it for me. It’s a really sweet chronicle of our family history. And my husband got me a first edition of my favorite book, Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, when I graduated from law school. It was such a sweet, thoughtful gift.


One of the first things Aimee Lagos fell for in her Minneapolis home was the front porch. “My husband and I love to sit outside in the morning on weekends, reading and drinking coffee. And then again in the evening, it’s a great place to relax and have a glass of wine—it’s a big source of hygge.”

Hygge. Pronounced hoo-ga, it’s an untranslatable Danish term best left to the Danes to define. But it basically means a sense of coziness, warmth, and enjoyment.

Lagos knows a bit about it. She and lifelong best friend Christiana Coop, both ex-lawyers who love colorful, modern wall coverings, started online wallpaper shop Hygge & West in 2008. Thanks to their creative take on intricately designed, elegant wallpapers, the e-retailer’s sales soared along with the hot home-décor trend.

Her 1908 classic foursquare, situated neatly between Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles, offers easy access to the outdoors beyond the porch, too—her two boys take advantage by canoeing, fishing, and swimming whenever possible. The breezy interior reflects both the vintage of the house and the eclectic art and furniture Lagos adores—a casual-cool not unlike homes of Los Angeles, a city she recently “unexpectedly fell in love with.”

Rather than following design rules, Lagos’ guideline is “create a home that makes you happy, full of things you find beautiful and people you enjoy.” Her living-room furnishings demonstrate: Restoration Hardware leather sofa, vintage Scandinavian rattan chairs, a coffee table from Room & Board, Jonathan Adler pottery, a Lindsey Adelman DIY chandelier. And, of course, Hygge & West wallpapers: Queen Anne in the dining room (unexpectedly applied to the glass doors of the built-in), Daydream in the front hall, and Petal Pusher in her office.

Real life guides her selections: “What will the dogs or the boys not ruin? My goal is that our home feels warm and welcoming to our friends and family, and that people feel comfortable when they are here. Is that a style?”

Yes, Aimee. It’s called hygge.

Samples of Hygge & West’s latest offerings.

Her office features Petal Pusher.

Daydream, its most popular paper, brightens the front foyer.

By Katie Dohman
Photos by Wing Ta, Canary Grey

Aimee Lagos, Hygge & West

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