First things first. Provisions are necessary for winter, and this wine room that Minneapolis designer Lisa Ball remodeled out of an unused storage space is the perfect way to start this list. In fact, the Minneapolis Star Tribune even did a piece on this wine room.

By LiLu Interiors, Minneapolis

Unsurprisingly, LiLu Interiors won a couple of statewide awards from the American Society of Interior Designers for the cabin pictured above. This place looks incredible. “The only rustic part of this Minnesota cabin is the logs that hold it together,” LiLu’s designers write.

By Grace Hill Design, Wayzata

Technically, the Minnetonka beach house that features this rec room (with a media area, game area, wine cellar and sport court) is for summer living, but it also looks as though it could accommodate a great Sunday afternoon of football, as well.

By Molly Howe Design, Minneapolis

Designer Molly Howe gets it. Whatever desire makes a person walk into a room and go, “Whoa,” she’s tapped into that. The home bar pictured above is just one example of this. Scrolling through her professional portfolio makes you wish you could hop into each room photographed and make yourself at home.

Also, we are assuming that the bucket in the above photo is for tips.

By Eminent Interior Design, Minneapolis

Let us not overlook the importance of a great bathroom, which is what Eminent Interior Design has created here for a client. Starting a morning with a blast of hot water in this shower would prepare anyone to take on whatever the day brings, even if that’s -20 degrees and a standing 18-inch base layer of snow.

By Lucy Interior Design, Minneapolis

Lucy Penfield and her team — who are consistently ranked among the Twin Cities’ best interior design firms — created this wide-open kitchen and living room for a local client, who no doubt is getting lots of mileage out of that fireplace and comfortable-looking couch.

By Dwelling Designs, Minneapolis

Ammar Steven Alshash founded Dwelling Designs, an interior design firm and furniture boutique, in 2003 to offer clients a minimalist option for their living spaces. This particular design, a downtown loft, has to look awesome in mid-winter when the snow is coming down and those hanging lights leave the whole apartment glowing.

By Vivid Interior Design, Minneapolis

Designer Danielle Loven created Vivid Interior Design 14 years ago to be both a furniture store and interior design firm by drawing on her diverse experience working all around the country. It helps, too, that she grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, which has the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings anywhere in the world.

By Baker Court Interiors, Saint Paul

The Baker Court Interior team had this river house pictured above featured in a couple of publications, including “Artful Living” and “Spaces.” Pictured is the dining area in this intimate river retreat.

By Marie Meko at Gabbert’s Design Studio & Fine Furniture, Edina

Marie Meko, an in-house designer at Gabbert’s — which has locations in Minnesota, the Dakotas and Iowa — designed this boat house for a client up in the lake country in the central part of the state, and that is easily the wildest staircase on this list. Between that and the skylights, this would make a great place to hole up for part of the winter, especially for ice fishing purposes.

By RLH Studios, Minneapolis

In the last few years, RLH Studios has taken home a couple of first-place awards from the local American Society of Interior Designers chapter. For the local Minneapolis client who hired RLH Studios to create this living room, however, the sweet deal is probably stretching out on that big leather couch in a house coat and watching the snow whip and swirl through the trees outside that huge window.

By Fiddlehead Design Group, Minneapolis

Here is another place that is designed mostly for warm-weather occupancy, but that view, that fireplace and all that comfortable sitting space (did you see the bench wrapping around the kitchen counter?) suggest otherwise. Fiddlehead Design Group designed this lake home for a client in Wisconsin, and it looks like a great place to spend a weekend or a whole season any time of year.

By David Heide Studios, Minneapolis

Owner David Heide brings a background in architectural history to his firm, which does everything from designing new houses to helping people remodel and restore historic homes to designing interiors. Heide himself has served for several years on the Saint Paul Heritage Preservation Commission in an effort to help preserve the city’s architectural integrity.

By Maggie Flowers & Co., Duluth

Maggie Flowers & Co. has been designing clients’ living spaces for more than 30 years, putting an emphasis on ensuring that any design elements harmonize with the existing architecture. The company also gets credit for one of the coolest fireplaces we have ever seen.

By Kamarron Design, Inc., Minneapolis

Just try to pretend that the photo on the left isn’t one of the most tactile shots you’ve ever seen. Can’t you imagine what those couch cushion feel like, or how rough that brickwork is, or how warm that room is? The separate wine room is just a bonus.

(And just for the sake of fun/envy, you should see what Kamarron Design are doing for their clients down in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Examples can be found here and here.)

By Susan Hoffman Interior Designs, Wayzata

Susan Hoffman’s design firm celebrates 35 years in business this year, and you can tell from these two homes pictured above that she has developed a sophisticated understanding of what comfort means. Case in point: Those chairs in that home theater. You could watch movies for days in there.

By Niosi Design, Minneapolis

Owner Kimberly Niosi and her design team aim to create artistic spaces for clients around the Twin Cities area. Her firm also does staging for clients who are trying to sell their homes, and her team can help design the exteriors of clients’ homes, as well.

By Martha O’Hara Interiors, Minneapolis

Celebrating its 26th years in business, O’Hara Interiors has won multiple awards for the company’s design work. Founder Martha O’Hara actually began her career in accounting and business consulting, but it appears she has since found her true calling, as this lakeside cabin her team designed demonstrates.

By Bruce Kading Interior Design, Minneapolis