“Everything in my life has been a happy accident,” says Shayne Barsness, a longtime Twin Cities creative and vintage aficionado. On the career front, she was running her vintage store, Style Minneapolis, when Etsy became big, which allowed her to easily source vintage jewelry to remake into one-of-a-kind pieces, from necklaces to brooches. So she closed her store, shifted her focus from rehabbing cast-off furniture to her signature jewelry, and Shayne and Coco (@shayneandcoco)—the Instagram account where she sells her remade designs—was born. (The “Coco” nods to French designer Coco Chanel, who was known for wearing pearls; Barsness’s designs typically incorporate pearls and have a timeless look that is casual enough to wear with jeans.) On the personal side, Barsness, who considers herself a bit of a nomad, was thinking about moving from the Twin Cities when her daughter, who was living overseas, moved back. Barsness stayed and, needing a place to live, lucked into a small apartment in a house across the street from a friend. Turns out, the attic space—which a real estate agent estimated at under 500 square feet, excluding sloped spaces—has been a perfect fit for her and her many vintage collections. “Small-space living isn’t about space constraints,” Barsness says. “It’s about filling every space with things you love. When you walk into your house, no matter what size it is, you have to feel like it’s your sanctuary.”