Hello! Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions for House Press. Can you tell us a little about yourselves? And of course – your mission behind COOP?

COOP is a natural transition for us to talk about all of our passions in life; interior design, style, cooking, entertaining, art, do-it-yourself, and gardening. We’ve been married since 2008, and Jessica started our interior design firm, Birdhouse Interior Design, shortly after, and Christopher came on in 2009 as the business manager. The goal of Birdhouse is accessible style, and once Christopher started culinary school, we thought seasonal recipes and accessibility in cooking and gardening complemented our original mission. We were lucky enough to recruit several friends to lend their expertise in the respective categories.

How has your Midwestern location impacted the COOP vision – interior style, sustainable living, work ethic?

It certainly has impacted it by noticing that Midwesterns always want plenty of bang for their buck. We’re trying to focus on balancing the high-end and low-end while showing that a little elbow grease goes a long way in all aspects of life.

When planning for Fall, are there any significant trends – indoors and out – we should look for? 

We think more and more green, eco-friendly products will be on the rise; you’re still seeing plenty of items being used with reclaimed materials, but now there are more sleek and modern pieces doing the same. Ethnic prints have been on trend lately, and we think they’ll be pretty big come fall. Everything from fabrics, to rugs, to ceramics. Neon has been huge lately – which we’re big fans of – so as fall comes around, the bold colors will stay, but in more muted versions.

What books are on your coffee table? 

These aren’t necessarily on our coffee table, but are staples of our library: Gardening by Martha Stewart, The Backyard Homestead edited by Carleen Madigan, Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People by Hamish Bowles, Bunny Williams’ Scrapbook for Living by Bunny Williams and Amy Archer, Details: A Stylist’s Secrets to Creating Inspired Interiors by Lili Diallo, The ELLEments of Personal Style: 25 Modern Fashion Icons on How to Dress, Shop, and Live by Elle Editors Joe Zee and Maggie Bullock, The Handbook of Style: A Man’s Guide to Looking Good by the Editors of Esquire Magazine, The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook by Dr. Brent Ridge, Sandy Gluck, and Josh Kilmer-Purcell, and The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker.

Where would your dream destination be and why? 

We took a trip to Europe several years ago and fell in love with both Amsterdam and Barcelona. They each have a laid-back yet urban vibe, and the Spanish and Catalan cuisine in Barcelona is incredible.

// Read more from Jessica and Christopher on COOP. //

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