“Elevated Cozy” Defines Melissa Oholendt’s Global-Meets-Traditional Design Style
It was a childhood bedroom that nudged Melissa Oholendt into interior design. Noticing the little Ralph Lauren Polo bears stitched into every square of a quilted bedspread got her thinking creatively, and selecting the perfect navy paint color to match. Encouraged by a well-meaning professor to choose a more “practical” path, she set aside her passion for interior design and pursued a degree in finance instead. But an entrepreneurial journey in photography pulled at her decorating heartstrings and she launched her Minneapolis, Minnesota-based firm, Oho Interiors, in 2019. (It now also serves Colorado, and beyond.)
“The initial years [interrupted by Covid] were like drinking from a firehose,” Oholendt says. “Without a true formal education or any experience in any design firm, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. While there was immense energy and hustle in those years, I was also effectively having the most intense form of education there is.”
Learning project-by-project in real time paid off. By 2022, she made her first hire and defined Oho. The next year, the team grew to four, and then seven, allowing Oholendt to direct the firm creatively.
Oho’s style is a fresh take on traditional design, heavily influenced by English and European motifs. “We are low-key obsessed with mixing and matching different elements—the unabashed color use of the English with the warmth and natural materials of Belgian with the unexpected and delightful curves of French and Spanish,” Oholendt explains.
When designing, she envisions a space where you can kick off your shoes, hold a glass of wine and sink into the sofa, but also host a dinner party on a whim. “‘Elevated Cozy’ is one of our internal North Star phrases,” she says.
The team has a weakness for color but knows how to show the restraint of a neutral palette. Picture deep mulberry walls hugging a room with a leather ottoman that plays nicely with chintz drapery. But to make the house truly irresistible, Oholendt employs pieces that only get better with age. “Our superpower is the ‘nothing is too precious’ mentality,” she adds. Even if the project was done years ago, it should get better with time, aging to perfection as it lives a full, dynamic life.
Get to know Melissa
House Beautiful: What is one thing you have set aside, just waiting for the right project to install?
Melissa: While sourcing for a project, we happened upon an antique, hoofed side table that stole our hearts. We purchased it, not knowing if the client would go for it, and when they passed on it—we held onto it.
HB: Can you describe a project where you stepped outside your comfort zone?
Melissa: I challenge our design teams to step outside of our comfort zone on every single project. Recently, a client loved the look of a bathroom outfitted in a retro-feeling tile and wanted something that felt playful and a real wow-moment. We spec’d a pink tile and balanced the high-spirited color with the classicism of a white tile and black liner. A campaign-style custom vanity in a dark walnut stain was paired with a polished nickel faucet and quintessential enameled, built-in medicine cabinets.
HB: You can collaborate with any brand or artist. Who would it be and why?
Melissa: We are in love with everything that Casa Gusto puts out into the world. I would love to do a small collection of very pattern-heavy upholstery pieces and painted frames and coordinate hand-painted furniture pieces with them.
HB: Who is an artisan/maker who inspires you?
Melissa: We love what Ellen at Great Florals is doing right now with delft-inspired pottery pieces. We collaborated with Great Florals on a few pieces for our Holiday Market last year, but I might be her biggest fan, and each and every room in my home might have a Great Florals piece in it at this point!
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