Jenn Sayavong has been collecting vintage, antique, and “anything cool or old” since she was a kid. Her mom and grandma also collected vintage clothing and décor. Her grandma even saved some of her great-grandma’s clothes. So, Jenn has some vintage clothing that dates back to the early 1900s. 

She also fondly remembers $5 bag sales on Fridays at the thrift store in her hometown of Cambridge, MN. You’d get everything you could fit in a bag for $5. 

“I’d find the coolest old concert tees, like ACDC, and these great polyester pants. Unfortunately, most of the t-shirts were paper thin, so they didn’t survive,” says Jenn. 

Jenn Sayavong is a vintage silver lamé jumpsuit in her 1970s time capsule basement bar. Photo by Jon Carnes

Today, she loves finding fur coats and Gunne Sax dresses. Her oldest daughter, Chloe, who just turned 13, has also started collecting Gunne Sax dresses. Arizona State University Institute for Design and the Arts states, “Sometimes referred to as granny or prairie dresses, a typical Gunne Sax dress of the early 1970s featured a banded empire waist and a long maxi skirt. Lace trim, high collars and long sleeves evoked an amalgam of past eras and created an overall impression of demure femininity.” The dresses are much beloved by vintage collectors. 

“The fun thing about having kids is they get to wear all the teeny tiny vintage clothes,” says Jenn. Most vintage clothing is sized for smaller people, so finding plus-size fashion for women, or even a size 10 and up, can be challenging. 

Jenn’s other daughter, Stella, is 6. Other than vintage clothes, Jenn collects, well, a lot of things. 

A 1970s time capsule across the street from mom

“I like anything that is fun, funky, weird, wacky, and wild,” says Jenn. It makes sense then that she and her husband, Chris, bought a 1970s time capsule house, complete with the shag carpeting, vintage floral drapes, original wallpaper, and bathroom fixtures in harvest gold and baby blue. Their home is a 1,584 square foot ranch-style home with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and a 2-car garage in Cambridge, MN. 

The upstairs bathroom has the original wallpaper, Formica counter, and harvest gold bathtub. Photo by Jon Carnes

Chris and Jenn met in college and have been married for 17 years. In that time, they’ve lived all over Minnesota, but when this house was listed, they couldn’t say no. They loved all the 1970 details, but it had an even more important bonus: Jenn’s mom lives across the street.

From left to right: Jenn, Stella, Chloe, and Chris sitting on a vintage sectional in their basement. Photo by Jon Carnes

For the family, the move was an obvious yes. When asked what she enjoys about living across the street from her mom, Jenn says,

“I get to see her every day. She gets to spend time with my kids. They can go over there on their own, and we help take care of her dog when she visits my sister.”

Jenn and Chris have a crew of pets, too, including an elderly cat named Jepeto, a young black-and-white cat named Herman, Priscilla the Poodle, and two energetic corgies named Enzo and Seamus. 

Herman the cat pictured on the magenta red upstairs carpet. Photo by Jon Carnes

The carpet does match the drapes

The family moved into the time capsule house in 2021. The older woman who lived there before was the original owner, and she’d kept the home pristine. Even the original carpet was in great shape, from the magenta-red deep pile throughout the upstairs to the green shag in the main bedroom and the rainbow shag carpet in the basement. 

But with kids and pets, Jenn admits that her family has “loved” it more than the previous owner, and they’ll eventually need to replace the vintage carpet. 

“Whenever that red carpet gives out, we’re definitely replacing it with red carpet,” says Jenn.

The living room is filled with vintage finds, along with the original magenta red carpet and the original drapes. Photo by Jon Carnes

The rug is vintage Ikea, and it fits in the house perfectly. Photo by Jon Carnes

One of Jen’s most beloved original features is the magenta-red carpet on the main floor. The house she grew up in also had 1970s magenta-red carpet. 

Some of her other favorite original details include the flocked red-and-white wallpaper in the entry, the rainbow shag carpet in the basement, the original drapes, and the leftover knickknacks found in the basement.

When you walk in the front door, a built-in plant holder—with a vibrant, plastic flower garden—greets you. Photo by Jon Carnes

The red and white wallpaper in the entryway is also original to the house, and it is one of Jenn’s favorite original elements. Photo by Jon Carnes

The original rainbow shag carpet in the basement. A truly one-of-a-kind feature. Photo by Jon Carnes

A piano, an installation of CDs, and some disco balls make for a fun corner in the basement. Photo by Jon Carnes

A collector raised by collectors

Jenn’s mom and dad were collectors too. Her dad, who has since passed, had an antique soda fountain and a collection of coin-operated slot machines. Her mom collects antique photography and candy jars. Her parents were well known in the antique community. So well known, that they even got to show off their collection on an HGTV show called “Collectible Treasures.” The show aired “from 1996-2003, and was hosted by Sharon Anderson.”

However, Jenn didn’t always appreciate her parents’ collections. Many of the antiques were expensive, so Jenn wasn’t allowed to play in the basement where they were kept. This has informed the kind of home Jenn and Chris have created for their kids. 

A collection of vintage ephemera hangs on the wall above the stairs down to the basement. Photo by Jon Carnes

“Most of our stuff is from the thrift store, so if something breaks, it’s not as upsetting,” says Jenn. 

That doesn’t mean the couple doesn’t have cool and valuable things. There’s a huge glass case with a taxidermy fox in it. Nearby sit treasures like stacked crocodile heads, a log with two raccoon heads peeking out, jaws, skulls, ceramic and brass deer, butterflies in a terrarium, and on and on. They also have an old jukebox and a collection of vintage lava lamps, one of which stands about 3 feet tall. 

A vintage owl lamp with a pair of swung glass vases. Photo by Jon Carnes

Upstairs, Jenn has a collection of swung glass vases sitting on top of a vintage entertainment center in the living room. She has a beautiful set of Villeroy & Boch Acapulco Collection dishware in a midcentury modern China cabinet. Then there’s the small cabinet filled with Uranium glass. 

The set of Villeroy & Boch Acapulco Collection dishware is a particularly striking pattern, and is displayed beautifully in the mcm buffet. Photo by Jon Carnes

A pared-back hoarder’s museum

While it might seem impossible to pick favorites among her vast collections, Jenn does have a few. She loves a brightly-colored, vintage Minneapolis poster that hangs in the basement. She and Chris found it in the closet when they moved into the house. She is also especially partial to her psychedelic Peter Max trays and the moose antlers that hang over the TV in the basement. 

The mannequin is dressed in Jenn’s dad’s Roy Rogers costume. Her dad wore it when he was a little boy. Photo by Jon Carnes

Some of her pieces are sentimental too, like the little boy mannequin dressed in the Roy Rogers costume. The costume was her dad’s from when he was a kid, and the mannequin and costume were a fixture in Jenn’s house growing up. 

Jenn also has a Shawnee ceramic pig cookie jar, tucked away in a cabinet in the basement. The jars used to be her grandma’s prized possessions, and as a child she wasn’t allowed to touch the valuable cookie jars. However, these days, the jars aren’t worth much, except in terms of sentimental value for Jenn. 

Even with her collections upon collections, Jenn admits this is the pared-back version of the house.

“I used to have a lot more; the entire basement looked like a hoarder’s museum,” says Jenn. “But I cleared it out and only kept the stuff I loved.” 

The secret word is COLOR

As you may have guessed, Jenn is a maximalist. 

“Color is neutral in my opinion. I like to mix patterns and textures in décor, and the same goes with my clothing,” says Jenn.

Jenn in the main bedroom in a vintage caftan. Photo by Jon Carnes

The main bedroom also has the original green shag carpeting and drapes. Photo by Jon Carnes

Jenn and Chris do have a bathroom as part of their main suite. Unfortunately, there is no door between it and the bedroom and the carpet is also in the bathroom. There are a few drawbacks to their 1970s time capsule home. Photo by Jon Carnes

Part of Jenn’s vintage clothing collection is upstairs in her closet, but the bulk of it is in covered storage racks and boxes and bins in the basement. There might also be some overflow into Chris’ office. 

Jenn credits her grandmothers for inspiring her style, along with all the antique stores she visited with her parents over the years. 

“My grandmas both had immaculate homes. One was a lived-in home, and one was more of a showroom (the cookie jar grandma),” says Jenn. “I learned to appreciate them both, and I see them both reflected in myself. I try to keep my home photo ready, but also, we live here.” 

Their basement bathroom is all original. And the grandma touches are hard to miss: check out the crocheted poodle and kleenex box cover. Photo by Jon Carnes

Another design inspiration becomes obvious as you wander around Chris and Jenn’s home: Peewee’s Playhouse. The colors are vibrant; the humorous signs and tchotchkes are abundant; and the whimsy is unparalleled. Plus, there’s a vintage Peewee doll and a little Peewee sitting in Chairry.

The basement bar is an incredibly moody and cool collection of vintage barware, bar signs, old cans, and on and on. Photo by Jon Carnes

A view behind the basement bar, which is filled with treasures, including a vintage PeeWee Herman doll. Photo by Jon Carnes

A perhaps more unexpected style inspiration: local dive bars.

“They always had the best burgers in town and the worst bathrooms,” says Jenn, laughing. 

The dive bar inspiration is very apparent in their basement. Photo by Jon Carnes