This past weekend I traveled home to the motherland, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What’s up Wisco??!!!! Ben and I make a pilgrimage at least once a year to visit old friends and get our fill of cheese curds and Friday night fish fry. This time at Drink Wisconsinbly. Check it out. Yummy.

I knew I wanted to write a post about what a hidden gem Milwaukee is. I think it often gets overlooked by its huge neighbor city Chicago. Milwaukee has great people, festivals, food, and an awesome mix of modern and historic architecture and design. Milwaukee is an industrial city that has a big connection to the lake and marine industry. This is reflected in its new and historic architecture.

“What inspires me?”

I get this question a lot when talking with friends and family about home design and architecture.

Normally I would say modern or mid century design. Maybe I would say context or place. Maybe my rescue dogs. This trip I found myself very inspired by the way historic and modern buildings coexist so seamlessly with the lake as the common factor. The harmony that happens when historic and modern design come together is a great reminder that design from different eras can blend together in a beautiful way to create something special.

Modern and historic elements in my home can mix together to create a home uniquely custom to us. Whether it’s the white butterfly chair from my aunt’s college days or my new modern dining chairs, these pieces create a home that reflects our design style with family history.

(Graffiti art wall)

In this post I want to share some of those inspiring details from Milwaukee architecture. I hope this inspires all of you to go out and seek new ways to blend historic and new, modern and traditional, polka dots and stripes, or anything else that doesn’t seem to go together at first but could be a really cool risk to try together.

(Mitchell Building)

(Art Museum & Veteran’s Memorial)

(Veteran’s Memorial)

(Third Ward neighborhood)

“What inspires you?”

Feel free to comment below or on the Designpetproject Facebook page! I would love to hear about what stuff you all see out in the world that inspires you and transforms your house and design style.