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Following are some pictures from some of our
recent interior projects. We bring over 25 years of specialization
and experience in the Arts & Crafts style to our work in space
planning, renovation, restoration and new construction. We have a
full team of contractors, tradesmen, craftsmen and artisans, and can
tackle virtually any size and type job. Please feel free to contact
us if you would like to discuss a project of your own. Please click
here to read a nice article in the current issue of Midwest Home
Chicago magazine about the ongoing work I am doing in a Frank
Lloyd Wright house in Oak Park
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A third floor library / family room - before. While
the space, up under the roof, was conceptually appealing and engaging,
there was just nothing going on style-wise. |
The same view - after.
There are five distinct areas: bookcase, work table, computer desk,
comfortable reading / relaxing, and an in-progress gallery display for
showing and storing historical memorabilia. It is a magical space. |
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| The same library, opposite the bookcase -
before. The problems here were to unify the three windows, rethink
the too-large window seat, and create an area that would be enjoyable to
be in. |
The area after, with a comfortable seating
grouping, stereo components and additional bookcase storage.
Paradoxically, by making the window seat smaller, it becomes a more
attractive place to sit. |
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| A living room in a large, gracious house in a
park-like setting - before. The colors, furniture, fabrics and
detailing did nothing to reinforce the architectural style of the house. |
The same room after. The architecture
of the house called for an English, William Morris approach, which suited
both the clients' tastes and family history. Those with a keen eye
for detail will recognize the shameless borrowing we did from Standen, a
Phillip Webb / William Morris collaboration in England. |
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| The original built-in bookcases in the midst
of restoration. |
The same view after. The space itself
is a cozy inglenook at the end of the much larger living room. The
overmantle is new, based on ones from Standen. The original surround
had some historical significance, so we had to retain it, but figure out a
way to incorporate it into the new vision. By the way, these are the
same armchairs seen in the first picture, just with new fabric and trim. |
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| This is the living room in a
wonderful new-construction country house in upstate Illinois. The
family is very interested in Nature and outdoor pursuits, and the art and
decoration is themed around this concept. |
The lower-level family room in
the same house. The requirements were that the furniture be
comfortable and low-maintenance, but still reflect the owners' interest in
Arts & Crafts. We mixed antique and reproduction pieces with
soft, upholstered furniture. |
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| This is a view of an
unsympathetic addition on a charming little bungalow. There was no
way to fix it, so we had to tear it down and rebuild something that we
wanted to appear as if it had been a part of the original house. |
This is the space, all new
construction, that resulted. Paint with sand additive was used on
the walls and ceilings to give it a soft, beautiful visual texture.
The room includes a dining room, above, and a family room overlooking the
garden. |
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| While we were refreshing the
rest of the house, some old paneling was pulled down, revealing the
original chimney breast, and the remains of built-in bookcases. |
After careful research, we
were able to determine the exact look of the fireplace, mantle and
bookcases, and replicated them. The living room, formerly
little-used, is now one of the warmest and most popular rooms in the
house. |
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| This is the living room in a
Tudor-revival house. Despite the ample windows, the room was cold
and dark feeling. The previous owners had attempted to deal with
this by painting the walls a pale yellow and everything else, including
the limestone fireplace, stark white. It did not work - in fact, the
results were just the opposite. The room felt colder and just sort
of grey and depressing. |
Counter-intuitively, it
sometimes is better to go darker in order to make a space feel
brighter. We kept the woodwork white, but softened a bit. The
big difference is the wall color - a rich, warm, lush terra cotta, with
plenty of complementary colors. The result, as you can see,
sparkles, and the light that does come in seems brighter by contrast. |
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This is a basement space
midway through construction. The clients wanted a family room, bar
and home theater in what was a typical, and messy basement. We
relocated all the pipes to the perimeters, and sandblasted the beams and
posts.
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This is the same view
afterwards. The concept was to create a vaguely-Arthurian feeling,
without drifting over either into kitsch or a too-serious and
self-conscious result. The floor, in 6 distinct medieval patterns
drawn from illuminated manuscript pages,
is cork tile. The leaded glass windows near the bar are from an old
church, and are backlit.
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| This is the living room in a
modest stucco bungalow. An owner along the way had stripped out any
trace of the original Arts & Crafts charm and detailing, no doubt in
the interests of modernising. Normally I like to re-use historic
elements in a restoration if possible, or at least save them, but I can't really imagine a time when a
future owner would put back the glass blocks, so we threw them away. |
This is the living room
now. Since there were no drawings or photographs showing how it
originally looked, we had to invent all the details. The fireplace
is ventless, so there was no masonry involved. The high hearth
provides overflow seating for parties, but the room, not large, remains
comfortable and functional for small gatherings as well. The room
has a wonderful, warm, happy and loving feeling to it, just like the
clients themselves. |
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| This is the living room of a
beautiful house on a bluff overlooking the Fox River in Wisconsin.
It was built in the Usonian style by a follower of Frank Lloyd Wright, and
consequently has a great deal of architectural integrity and
interest. The existing furniture did not support the style of the
house. |
Using the impending wedding of
their daughter as a catalyst, the clients commissioned all new furniture
from us. The pieces were designed in a Usonian language, but based
on Prairie period pieces by Frank Lloyd Wright. The results are much
more in keeping with the architecture of the house. The upholstery
colors are clear, high-value jewel tones, much like Wright himself used in
this period. |
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| The flash on my camera was not
working the day I shot this, so this is a horrible photograph, but it does
show the wonderful fireplace done in roman brick and the high limestone
hearth. The clients did not utilize this area much, primarily
because the seating was so inadequate for comfortable relaxation. |
This is the same view
afterwards, with the simplified Robie house sofa and chair in the
foreground, and modified Kauffman lounge chairs in the background.
Flat cushions were made for the hearth, which provide additional seating
for parties, as does the upholstered hassock. To the left is a
partial view of the dining table and chairs we designed for the
house. The two main seating areas of the living room now provide
flexibility depending on mood, season or time of day. |
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This is the
senior pastor's office of the 1st Congregational Church of Western
Springs, a late Prairie-style complex by George Grant Elmslie. As
part of a systems-updating campaign, the congregation decided to restore
the sanctuary and the education building to their original condition. |
This is the office after completion. In
order to accommodate sprinklers and new HV/AC ducts, the ceilings in this
building had to be dropped, but it afforded us a chance to do some better
lighting, and improve the proportions of these spaces. The walls
were painted with sand-additive paint, giving them the appearance of the
old sand-coat plaster. An Elmslie-designed stencil, used as well in
the sanctuary, was painted just below the picture rail. The room has
a much quieter, calmer feel to it now, appropriate to its use as a place
of counseling, prayer and guidance. |
Please feel free to
call if you'd like to discuss your own project. We have a full team of
contractors, subcontractors and workrooms, and can handle any size restoration,
renovation or new construction.
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