In 2023, St. Louis Magazine writers and freelancers tackled a range of design topics, from interiors and architecture to gardens and fashion, proving once again that there’s no shortage of creative output in the region.
Writer Nicholas Phillips profiled LaVanna Wrobley, a former Republican candidate for state representative, about her vegetable garden. “I know people say this all the time,” she says “but all of your senses are on fire. You can hear the birds, and the flutter of the butterflies. You can smell the tomatoes on the vine, the marigolds in the pots. So when you sit there, you are really in the moment.”
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Writers Amy Burger, Nicholas Phillips, and Veronica Theodoro delved into the stories behind 10 local buildings, each of which has been given new purpose–and life–through the practice of adaptive reuse.
Author James Archer Abbott visited St. Louis in November to talk about his book Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration. Veronica Theodoro interviewed Abbott, who was raised in St. Louis, about the fascinating nexus of politics and the decorative arts.
Writer Cara Downs profiled Ramón Asunción, CEO and founder of eyewear brand Carsten Boyd. Born in the City of Manila, Asunción studied industrial design and dreamed of designing cars. In time, he developed a love for fashion and the rest is history.
Writer Megan Mertz introduced readers to Hostas on the Bluff, a hosta farm in Fairview Heights, Illinois. Owners Brian and Erica Kniffin sell approximately 8,000 hostas a year to buyers from across the country, making it one of the largest hosta farms in the bi-state area.
Two years ago, interior designer Annie Brahler and husband Charlie Smith closed on the sale of their beloved glass house designed by midcentury architect Robert Elkington, and moved into a Maritz and Young cottage in Webster Groves. Writer Veronica Theodoro interviewed the couple about the new home’s renovation and design. Brahler was Theodoro’s first guest on the newly released House of Lou podcast.
Karen Spreitler loves the architecture of her midcentury modern home, built in 1963. She refers to it as simple—but that might not be the word others would choose to describe the acre and a half of land surrounding the house, which straddles the border between Olivette and Creve Coeur. Read more about this house from writer Amanda Woytus.
In early 2023, Veronica Theodoro visited Dawn and Mark Sturmon at home. The couple’s newly built pool house, which reflects Dawn’s love of the Eastern seaboard and architect Ann Wimsatt’s interest in the work of the architect Charles Gwathmey, was the March issue cover story of St. Louis Magazine.
Papillon Press specializes in using antique endpaper designs as the basis for brand-new decorative prints, stationery, greeting cards, notebooks, linens, and other products, all made with block printing, writes Nicholas Phillips. The owners, a father-and-daughter team, operate the business from two locations, one in St. Louis and the other in Grand Rapids, MI.
St. Louis interior designer Amy Studebaker reflected on her first Kips Bay Decorator Show House in a Q&A with writer Veronica Theodoro.
