Sponsor: Thanks to turnstone, an office furniture company focusing on small businesses, for supporting Silicon Prairie News. The company is sponsoring our monthly Startup Spaces series.

About the author: The Turnstone Tip is authored by Jenny Gauld, space planner for turnstone.

Since day one, Omaha-based startup MindMixer has call the Mastercraft Building, located just north of Omaha’s Old Market district, home. In March 2011, the startup’s team consisted of just its co-founders—Nick Bowden and Nathan Preheim—and the pair was sub-leasing desks from a landscape architecture firm. 

As the team began to grow, the founders wanted their own space and by November, MindMixer had moved into its own 1,500-square foot space. “(That) allowed us to afix more desks to the walls and start to design a space that was complimentary to our business, meaning, nice individual work areas but with plenty of areas for collaboration,” Preheim told Silicon Prairie News.

In July, MindMixer expanded their offices and worked with TACKarchitects to design their new space. Preheim notes that Jeff Dolezal—co-founder at the firm—is a long-time friend.

“(We) couldn’t be happier with how it turned out,” he said. “Everything flows well. Strong continuity.” 

Preheim says the startup’s newly updated office is divided into two separate works areas—a “production shop” where team members can work at more traditional desks, and a collaborative, social space, which includes the startup’s kitchen and living room where the team gathers at diner-style booths for meals. 

“Overall, our office is informal, whimsical, colorful and very very startup,” Preheim said. “The desks are reclaimed doors and the dividers are ceiling insulation titles. We’re not fancy people and we don’t invest in fancy furnishings.”

With 18 people in its Omaha office, the startup’s 5,000-square foot space has grown to reflect its inhabitants’ personalities and mission as a company. 

“We built a front porch inside our office,” Preheim said. “We’re in the community engagement business and the front porch is a perfect analogy for what we’re building. People used to socialize and chatter with neighbors on their front porch about important community issues. We’re building a network of contributors, taking the premise of the front porch online.”

Turnstone Tip 

“Omaha’s MindMixer is a startup with attitude. They’ve done a tremendous job of branding their space while successfully integrating a variety of zones that allow them to find spaces for privacy, collaboration, fun and quiet.

We think MindMixer also has hit a bullseye with the ways they’ve made their space look great without investing a lot of money. Not only do we applaud the color and texture of the raw wood, but the pervasive use of bright colors, branding statements and quotes on the wall send powerful messages to customers.

To bring down the ceiling height to create a cozy feel, we’d love to see a Campfire Big Lamp added to their open lounge space. Additionally, turnstone’s Paper Table and Buoys make impromptu meetings a breeze. 

We also think this group would benefit from our Bivi desks for power routing and vertical storage. Bivi offers shelving and display space and adds to office culture with optional board racks and bike hooks for that ‘startup’ feel MindMixer loves.”

MindMixer will receive two turnstone buoys for free as a thanks for participating in SPN’s Startup Spaces. To submit your startup for consideration, email editor@siliconprairienews.com to tell us why your company should be featured, and include a few photos. 

MindMixer’s yellow and orange light bulb logo is the inspiration for much of its office decor, with lots of bright spaces and yellow or orange highlights. 

MindMixer’s company mission greets visitors when they enter its office in the Mastercraft building. 

The startup keeps with its color palette in many different aspects of decor—from walls and partitions to throw rugs and furniture. 

Even though MindMixer’s logo is two light bulbs, its Mastercraft office is swimming in natural light. 

The area that Preheim refers to as the startup’s “production shop” allows team members to work at more traditional desks and collaborate with one another. 

MindMixer keeps its company’s guiding principles top of mind with vibrant wall art. 

Team members in MindMixer’s Omaha office gather at the diner-style booths (pictured above) for meals.

Nathan Preheim, one of MindMixer’s co-founders, says the front porch the team created in its office reflects its mission. “We’re building a network of contributors, taking the premise of the front porch online.”

MindMixer incorporates its lightbulb logo into a number of different elements around its office. One of the most visible is the frosted glass (pictured above) surrounding the space’s conference room. 

This post has been co-authored by our sponsor, turnstone.

Credits: Photos by Michelle Vu.

About our sponsor: turnstone gives people in small business the freedom to think and move in ways that inspire, both by creating furniture unique to their needs and by supporting their efforts to thrive. We champion the idea that space and office culture matter, and work behind the scenes to connect the dots so that you can get back to changing the world.

We believe that entrepreneurs hold the promise of tomorrow for many of today’s challenges. Turnstone supports their efforts by sharing insights and solutions to help create work environments that foster creativity and better connect people to their potential. We believe space matters and that exceptional design should inspire exceptional results.