ANGIE LANE’S MIDWEST MODERN MANIFESTO
photo by Marta Xochilt Perez
A ngie Lane was (partly) raised in the house her father was born in—an old, once-upon-a-time farmhouse in a small town outside of Lansing. While interior decorating wasn’t exactly her father’s thing, she does remember afghans hand-knit by her aunts (“some of them were, well, you know, hideous, but some of them I still have,” Lane says). Her dad and aunts also collected pudding stones—a rare composite stone left by glaciers found only in several places in the world, Michigan among them. As a child, she filed those objects away in her memory—cherishing their shapes, colors and the nostalgic feelings they conjured. Later, Lane attended University of Michigan for undergraduate and graduate studies, leaving with a Masters of
A MICHIGAN ARCHITECT/INTERIOR DESIGNER’S BOLD, COLORFUL DECLARATION THAT, YES, MIDWESTERNERS HAVE STYLE. AND HERE’S HOW IT WORKS. By E L I Z A B E T H E DWA R D S
Architecture degree. Before opening her own practice, Lane worked for several architectural firms, including one that also offered interior design services—a side of the design world Lane found she loved. “It’s so much more tactile than the architectural side,” she says. “You’re getting samples, you’re testing colors and searching for different furniture shapes.” All of those shapes and colors got Lane thinking that she could figure out a “system” for isolating what makes an interior feel balanced—without repressing individual expression. “It’s just kind of how my brain works, I like to simplify things,” she says. Eventually, Lane developed her own design formula: A (hard pattern) + B (soft pattern) + C (bright color) + D (nostalgic/ eclectic). Take those afghans—they’d give a room both A (hard pattern), C (bright color) and D (nostalgic/eclectic). The pudding stones? Those are B (soft pattern) for their curved shapes. The magic in Lane’s formula is that
A, B, C and D don’t have to be equal parts—and the formula could be used in regions other than the Midwest— although the very warmth inherent in the formula rules out anything too spare and monochromatic. Lane had mused about writing a book demonstrating her theory for a while when Covid hit. The lockdown gave her the time to focus and 10 months later she had produced “Midwest Modern Manifesto—Easy Formula to Get Designer Style in Your Home.” Within the book’s 300-plus colorful pages is an explanation of Lane’s formula, as well as room photos of both her designs and a number of Midwestern interior designers. The book closes with an unexpectedly perfect nod to our regional brand of hospitality: a chapter on colorful, delicious cocktails. As she writes with exquisite Midwestern pragmatism: “You’ve flipped through this long-ass book, now it’s time to relax. Cheers!” Order Midwest Manifesto at midwestmodernmanifesto.com.
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