Take A Sneak Peek At New Linden Hills Store

For Linden Hills residents who haven't yet made the trek up to Bryn Mawr to sample Honeyshine, the creative home goods store that will soon move into the former Linden Hills Yarn & Textile space, co-owner Adam Braun explains the store's ethos by way of a cocktail recipe:

The Honeyshine

• 1 part creative
• 1 part modern
• 1 part weird
• 1 part fun
• 1 part vintage
• 1 part new

Stir and serve over ice. Garnish with moss.

Braun and co-owner Daisey Mitchell hope to be serving up a lot of that starting early this May. 

Like several shops in the Linden Hills and Fulton areas, Honeyshine's owners curate a mix of new design and old objects and gifts. At Honeyshine, though, the overall effect—perhaps enhanced by an impeccably-dressed manequin sporting a goat's head, named Bruce—is self-assured, youthful, and funky yet very carefully assembled. Twee birch bark candles share space with sleek midcentury furniture and the occasional place card holder molded in the shape of a disembodied chicken foot. 

In an email to Patch, Braun called that kind of sly attitude "curiosity" when describing how store curates its merchandise. You could also call it "keeping people on their toes."

"It sounds simple but we pick things we like," he wrote. "Connecting with other peoples’ sense of imagination and engaging curiosity makes us happy."

"Honeyshine is about collecting objects that are interesting, authentic, and creative," Braun added, "and sharing them in an edited, curated way that let’s people see them in a new way."

Treating their store like a really ambitious living room quickly paid off for the duo, in the form of a sideline in interior decorating and design consulting.

"People kept commenting that they loved the design and style of the store so much they wished they could live here," Braun explained.

Like their store, Braun wrote, working with him and Mitchell on a design process should be fun, not intimidating.

"We help you reinvent your space. Up becomes down, old becomes new, obsolete becomes current—but at the end of the day, it’s still you," he wrote. "It’s not about breaking the bank, but breaking free of surroundings that don’t inspire you."

Something seems to be working, though: the move to 43rd and Upton is meant to help Honeyshine grow its so-far-successful business. 

"Linden Hills is an engaged, creative community that feels like a good fit for Honeyshine. It is an established retail location with a ton of foot traffic, great restaurants and a lot of community events—all of which will be great for business," Braun wrote. "In many ways it’s like Bryn Mawr, only bigger."