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| This is the loft-like living
and dining area in a high-end condo building in Oak Park. The space,
created out of a much, much larger room, is long and narrow. The
furniture placement serves to accentuate this fact, rather than disguise
it, and while the building as a whole has some wonderful period
architectural detailing, my clients' space did not. On
the right is the same view
afterwards. I wanted to make their apartment seem special, and like
it was an original, intimate suite of rooms in the larger building.
We added columns and beams, copied from elsewhere in the building, and
re-oriented the furniture so that it would create areas with specific
functions within the space. Turning furniture groups perpendicular
to the main flow of the space paradoxically makes the room seem larger. |
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This is the existing fireplace
and surround when my clients moved in. Not the most horrible, but
certainly nothing special, nor did it reflect the character and
personality of the original building.
The picture on the right shows the same view
after. The concept and detailing were based on an original fireplace
from elsewhere in the building. I felt strongly that my clients'
apartment should not look like a left-over scrap of a once-grander space,
as these conversions can often seem, but rather like it always was this
way. The bright, multi-colored checkerboard pattern on the face
echoes the original source of inspiration, and the painting above, by the wife's mother, was a
stunning complement, found long after the tiles had been installed.
Flanking bookcases help to define both the space and the function of this
area. The husband is a well-known and respected architect, and I was
fairly intimidated at first, but the collaboration was extremely
successful and satisfying for all. |
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| On the left is a view from the
living room, across the dining area and into the kitchen before we started
work. Again, the furniture orientation exaggerates the linearity of
the space, and creates a subtle feeling of restlessness. It looks
too much like a loft anywhere, in any city, rather than a special space in
an historic vintage building in Oak Park. The picture on the left
shows the full scope of the architectural "detailing" we
did. Each area now has a visual container, but the floor space is
minimally impacted, if at all. By turning the major furniture
groupings, there is the most wonderful sense, when you are in the space,
of little nooks or alcoves, although it is as completely open as
before. Also, the strong horizontal line created by the soffit helps
to tame the height of the ceiling, and provides a spot for the display of
objects, like the basket in the dining room. The paint colors, warm
tans and soft browns, help to create a feeling of restfulness and
repose. If and when my clients ever move, I've told them I want
first dibs! |
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| Here is another view of the new
fireplace, and it illustrates one of those amazing coincidences that
sometimes occur during the course of a project. The tile was made by
a niece of the husband's, and then the colors were selected based on an
original fireplace elsewhere in the building that we had a chance to look
at. The painting above the mantle, found months and months later, is
by the wife's mother, who was a well-known Oak Park artist. The two,
as you can see, have a very comfortable dialogue going on, all by
chance! The view on the right shows the windows that look out onto
the courtyard garden in back, and the French doors that go down to the
garden room and a guest bedroom. The leaded glass, just simple
rectangles made with flat caming, is perfect - not everything needs to be
the star. I believe this was my client's choice, although I would
love to take credit for it. |
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