Michael Wyrock and Justin Maine of Nistenhaus Design are partners both in life and in business. Their city home is not only a reflection of their styles but also a testament to how well they work together. Says Wyrock: “Our house is not a personal expression of one person over the other. It’s really a collaboration.” Whereas Maine leans traditional, Wyrock prefers modern design. “That’s where Midcentury comes in: It hits our modern vibe but plays well with antiques and vintage pieces,” Wyrock says. “I collect more than he does—books, anything that’s made out of stone or marble. Mike likes shiny and anything that has a function but is also pretty to look at,” adds Maine.
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Photography by Alise O'Brien
A glass-paneled light from the ’80s was repurposed with rope detail and a fresh coat of paint into the living room’s eye-catching fixture. “We wanted something that gave an open lantern feel, and everything we like is usually much too expensive,” Wyrock says. Fourteen Fisk maps of the Mississippi River, each mapping a change in the river, fill the space between the two front windows. Wyrock found the prints for a school project. “I was really enamored; they’re beautiful to look at, but you realize how much we channel rivers and keep them from being what they want to be,” he says.
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Photography by Alise O'Brien
The flow of the house is great for entertaining. “We’ve found that eight is the magic number for the dining room,” says Maine. “That way, we can keep it more intimate and more formal.” The room’s Midcentury Modern hutch is a favorite of guests, and the couple recently bought a tall glass cabinet from a Craigslist seller. “Our next trip will probably be to Japan,” Wyrock says, referencing the Asian-inspired look of the cabinet. “It’s ornate, but the scenery pairs nicely with our other pieces.”
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Photography by Alise O'Brien
Wyrock and Maine work with the space in their bedroom to make it feel larger than it is. “This room is not big, so you have to come up with creative ways to make it look larger,” Wyrock says. “That’s where we pull in the mirrors and play with the headboard.” Because the master benefits from a good amount of light, the couple was able to paint it midnight blue. “When you paint something dark, it actually makes the wall recede. It just seems like one continuous space now,” says Maine. The designers didn’t want lamps on the two nightstands, so when they found pendants they liked at West Elm, they ordered enough to create the look they were after. “We have tall ceilings, so we wanted to play with those,” Wyrock says. Maine grew up wanting a screen, so when he saw this one, he bought it without a second thought: “My aunt had a similar screen, and I always thought it was beautiful.”
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Photography by Alise O'Brien
The powder room features black walls, an elegant glass chandelier, and an eclectic mix of vintage prints, art, and curiosities sourced by the pair. “I don’t have a library, so I made this my formal gallery,” says Maine. The collection of items is what Wyrock refers to as “quiet chaos.” “It’s a very specific room, but we’ve actually won clients based off of its design,” he says.
