Kelly English, owner of CHEERIUP!, a company that makes hand-woven playhouses for kids (or adults!), can’t wait for her move to Seward, which will become official October 1. She’ll be sharing a building with Beez Kneez, where she’ll have a showroom and shop space. Cheeriup has been getting some wonderful exposure in the press, and her business has grown since English sold her first Thicket in October of last year. She’ll be marking her anniversary with a big move to our neighborhood, and you’ll be able to see her friendly structures being created through the big windows at 2204 Minnehaha.
Check out some photos of her process here.
SCCA: Why Seward?
Cheeriup: CHEERIUP is brand new to Seward this October! But Seward was the first Minneapolis neighborhood I scoured for a studio space when launching my business in 2012 because I spend so much of my daily life here. I ended up landing my studio in the NE Arts district. That area has been wonderful in terms of it’s creative community–I’ve connected with so many wonderful craftspeople in NE, but since I live in South Minneapolis it was a total hike.
Why Seward? Short answer: Family style. Long answer: Seward just feels like home. My little one goes to school here, my husband’s design studio (Aesthetic Apparatus) is here, and we practically live at the Seward Coop. I’m also looking forward to tapping in to the wellness community here more: Yoga and Community Acupuncture at the Ivy Building, Common Ground Meditation Center. Then there’s Northern Clay Center and ArtiCulture, the list of Seward gems is endless. I’m probably most excited about finally being able to bike commute to work on days when I’m in the studio.
SCCA: What are you hoping to achieve with CHEERIUP?
CHEERIUP: Originally, I wanted to create a natural retort to the plastic playhouse for kids that adults would also enjoy living alongside. But it quickly became obvious how much we ALL respond to being enveloped by the rhythmic rings of willow that make up a Thicket dwelling. Being inside a Thicket is sort of womb like: immediately calming, safe, and curative. Most of us just don’t get to experience anything architecturally similar to this in our modern lives. I think we really crave that. A Thicket is a great place to cool off in the Summer with a book or a picnic, or to curl up on a warm evening with your sweetie and a glass of wine and listen to the cicadas sing, or to bundle up on a chilly Winter day and listen to a quiet first snowfall. Babies fall asleep in them, kids lose themselves in imaginative play in them, teenagers daydream in them, adults meditate in them, but eventually everyone at some point wants to just slooooow dooooown in them.
SCCA: How are you planning to engage the community in your business?
Cheeriup: I’m SO excited to be sharing a space with Beez Kneez. I can’t even think of a more perfect match. (Thanks, Redesign!) Our businesses share a similar passion and respect for the natural world, as well as a shared mission to help connect people to the wonder of it. I’m also personally inspired by what they do and how they do it. Kristy and Erin are such dynamos and all around amazing women. (And selfishly, I can’t help think about what an amazing childhood my daughter will have growing up in a studio filled with Thickets and honey!) We’re collaborating on a shared play area filled with natural building materials and bee keeping tools for our young visitors to explore. We want our spaces to be fun! We’re excited for families to visit and test drive a Thicket.
