Names: Chuck and Holly
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Size: 1369 sq.ft.
Years lived in: 7 months
>> See Slideshow (SLIDESHOW IS FIXED - enjoy the tour!)
Can you imagine living at high school? While it may be every sixteen year old's nightmare, Chuck and Holly were able to fully embrace the unique character of their new home. It is located in an old high school building originally built in 1872 which was converted to condos in 2005. The conversion was done with an eye on the past as the space retains some of details from the original use - their wood floors are from the boys gymnasium!
>> See Slideshow
Chuck is one busy man - he recently had a book of his work, Wandering Off Into Space, come out and he works with clients as diverse as Puma, Vans and URB. Factor in getting their new home up to snuff and photographed for this tour - it made for a hectic end to 2008.
But, as we like to say at AT, nothing you do for your home is ever wasted, and now the couple can relax and enjoy their unique and modern space. Their love for clean lined design is evident in their decor choices yet the artwork featured throughout takes the cool crispness down a notch; making the space both more personal and beautiful.
AT Survey:
My Style: My style leans towards a more minimal, clean-line, almost art gallery-like style and Holly loves mid-century modern furniture and slightly warmer interiors. We both also love designers like Si Scott and Tord Boontje, whose detailed work juxtaposes well against very simple rooms and colors.
Inspiration: Our condo is still a work in progress, but we’ve been inspired by some of the art we’ve picked out for our place; as well as by a lot of the unique features of the condo that were left over from the original school building.
Favorite Element: The wood floors. They are the original wood flooring from the boys’ gymnasium in the school and have been beautifully refinished. Some units down the hall from us even have original basketball lines on the floors. They add a lot of character to the place along with the custom concrete fireplace ‘wall’. We also really love our balcony in the summer.
Biggest Challenge: Finding storage space. We really have nowhere but a separated garage to store things in, and we don’t want to be packrats so even that is pretty bare. However, the reality is you’re always going to need to a place to put that extra stuff that isn’t meant to be out all the time, and we really only have one real closet in our place. It’s been a challenge not only logistically for our place but for us personally as well.
What Friends Say: “Do you get tired of all those stairs?” and “Can I use a bathroom with a real door?” Ha…On a positive note, they’ve said it’s a really fun place to come over and hang out at. They like that it’s a modern yet comfortable and homey place.
Biggest Embarrassment: We have two cats, so the tumbleweeds that form on the wood floors from their shed hair. And the fact that all the doors in our place are translucent glass and surface sliding doors with no locks. Guests using the bathrooms for the first time are always a little unsure about that…. I think I still am too sometimes.
Proudest DIY: Probably the canvas I made and had printed for above our bed.
Biggest Indulgence: The condo itself was the biggest indulgence. We’re the first owners of this unit in our building, and it has a lot of custom built-ins and upgrades like the kitchen countertops, the office space (desk & shelves already built), and the cabinets/concrete wall/fireplace in the family room. Other than that, my Aeron chair and books are probably the biggest indulgences.
Best advice: Surround yourself with things that make you happy, things you love, and most of all things that fit and make sense in your space. Holly and I both like lots of different artists, styles, and colors, but a lot of them just wouldn’t be a fit for our place, so we try not to force anything. If you have to have something by a certain artist or designer on display, but their art isn’t accessible or it’s too expensive, there’s always a good chance they have a book you can buy and put out.
Dream source: Holly would settle for a shopping spree at IKEA over just about anything else. Even Target. There’s a lot of satisfaction in getting good design at a good price. But on a dream level, it would be nice to shop at The Future Perfect in Brooklyn or A+R in LA.
>> See Slideshow
Resources:
Living Room and Kitchen
-Bertoia-style side chairs: livingincomfort.com (we’d love to update to real ones eventually…but the cats love these)
-LEM-style bar stools: modabode.com
-Living room prints: Si Scott (siscottstudio.com)
-Fabric canvas & pillows: IKEA Fabric
-Sofa & end tables: IKEA
-Laser cut vases & bathroom curtain: Tord Boontje
-Balcony Furniture: IKEA
-Chalkboard: Salvaged from our original building
-Herman Miller Nelson Bench: DesignQuest in Grand Rapids
-Cat scratching post: made by our friend Tim
Office
-Prints: By Chuck (npandco.com)
-Chair: Herman Miller Aeron – from Room & Board in Chicago
Bedroom
-Bed: IKEA (Malm)
-Bedspread: Target
-Lamps: IKEA
-Canvas print: Made for Holly by Chuck
Loft
-Prints: Everythingart.com, Southfield, MI
-Fabric curtains+pillows: Made by Holly from mostly IKEA fabric
-Futon: Amazon.com
-Chair: IKEA
-Paint color: Behr-Sterling
-Pillow by KAWS - www.kawsone.com
>> See Slideshow
Thanks to Chuck and Holly!
Photos: Chuck Anderson
Chuck Anderson is, by far, one of the most brilliant young graphic designers out there. Their home definitely embodies his style and genre. He's definitely one of my inspirations! I heart Chuck!
view joybedesign's profile
so inspirational to see the home of an admired artist. I have many of chuck's things bookmarked and wishlisted. Fantastic and unique looking space (what I can see of it) and the editing and challenges tackled is probably most interesting.
view Laurie's profile
Slideshow is fixed - enjoy!
view janel's profile
This has nothing to do with this space but rather the new slideshow with a background image for advertising. It seems for my dsl hookup that it is REALLY slow and I checked the size of that Bloomingdales image and it's 650Kb which is about twice the size it needs to be even to fill a large monitor and still look nice (and does it really need to fill a 1920 x 1200 monitor?) Apparently there are other problems with slideshows today so it might be something else affecting the loading speed, but it's so slow that I've quit out of two slide shows today.
view home body's profile
it's so slow that I've quit out of two slide shows today.
I agree. Taking FOREVER to load for me (in IE and Firefox).
:(
view hissingsissing's profile
Wow. GORGEOUS! Thanks so much for sharing!
view Home_For_2's profile
Love the place, but love even more the fact that there are a lot more pictures to look at compared to other AT tours. the pictures are great; they give a good idea of the space. More often than not, they just show closeup details of decorative stuff, which isn't interesting at all.
view fabulissime's profile
Lovely home! I always am a fan when a building can be repurposed like this, especially when it has such good bones to begin with. I am also a bit partial, as I went to school in Grand Rapids, but it's nice to see it represented.
view Sassyladie's profile
When I say "More often than not, they just show closeup details of decorative stuff", I mean with other AT tours.
view fabulissime's profile
Nice! However, I second the need for a bathroom door.
And I, too, hate the ads. Even though my high-speed is reasonable, the background reloads with every click. It's really irritating.
view whytephoenix's profile
Wow, yeah, that is quite the ad in the background!
Thanks everyone for your comments so far, we appreciate it.
view nopattern's profile
I can't believe that's Union High School! Love what you've done with the place. Like Sassyladie, I'm always happy to see the cool side of Grand Rapids represented.
view libbylibby's profile
The place looks amazing and I'm so jealous you have two cats! I miss having a little troublemaker around.
view AMBERYVETTE's profile
I love everything about it!
view modernguy's profile
None of the (many!) nightmares I've had about having to return to high school looked anything like this!
view travislessness's profile
I have lived in GR my whole life and this has to be my favorite house tour ever. I can't believe it exists a few miles from me!
view clf13's profile
May I ask where the storage cabinet/set is from in the living room? Looking for something just like it!
Great job on your place. Its modern....but looks lived in and comfortable to relax. Great space!
view jadepwinters's profile
And???
Want Want Want!
So beautiful!
view KathinCO's profile
Beautiful place, but...no drapes/blinds on the bedroom windows? Really???
I couldn't do that (I'd go crazy)!
view Mrs.Mack's profile
Absolutely gorgeous.
I am so happy to see a house tour not in a big city like Chicago, NYC, or San Francisco. Good style is possible pretty much anywhere.
I grew up in Grand Rapids and it is a very stylish city. I love that this condo encompasses one of the hallmarks of Grand Rapids design- Herman Miller chairs.
The remake of old Union High School is truly fantastic.
view twoUDalums's profile
Beautiful place, but...no drapes/blinds on the bedroom windows? Really???
We have HUGE white honeycomb blinds in the bedroom windows - they're all the way up at the top - they just kind of disappear into the top of the window frame. That's why we like them so much - they vanish when we want it all open and they fill the whole thing perfectly when we want privacy
view nopattern's profile
their place is gorgeous and i'd live there in a heartbeat. and that sink! oh my. nice work.
view abbydennis's profile
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing your lovely home with us!
view kimmiller's profile
OMG!!! that horrible Bloomies ad behind the slide show made me quit the slide show early. AT, you've really stooped low.
view kimg924's profile
I am not usually a fan of vessel sinks, but I love the white one against the brown counter. Where did you find it?
view madsarah's profile
love your taste in artwork. for the si scott piece, where is the frame from? also where did you find the si scott work? i looked on the website but its sold out and in the uk.
thanks.
view thealiceline's profile
I live in heritage hill in grand rapids!! and was SO close to buying a condo here. They're the union square condos and they're super awesome. It's cool to see something on AT from my neighborhood.
view jared188's profile
your house is so close to perfect it's insane. the color choices and the simplicity of the different rooms are mind blowing. great house-- thank you for sharing :)
view slurpeee's profile
Congratulations, what a beautiful home. I too have a soft spot in my heart for Grand Rapids and I love to see its creative people featured.
view monroe's profile
Love it!
view ekoshyun's profile
Now this is my kind of house tour. Please don't post those kitchy, granda's house sort of tours, please . . .
Love this place!
view visual's profile
Just so tired!! Looks like a Crate and Barrel. What's that outside the living room window, 131?
view tinkun's profile
I love it!
view LaurieLu's profile
You Guys did a great job!
The loft looks a million times better than it did before! Thank you for getting rid of that comic book blue!
view miscellaneous's profile
I DID live at high school, but it sure didn't look like this.
view Lisa (Montreal)'s profile
There is a senior living apartment building in my town that used to be an old school building. My grandfather had a place there several years ago and it was the same room as his 2nd grade classroom 50 years earlier!!! (He's since relocated out of bitter new england to sunny FL.) The classrooms were big enough that when they remodeled, they kept the same perimeter of each. The lockers were still in the hallways too. It was actually really neat to see the ultra modern styling of the loft apartments with the very vintage characteristics of the public areas.
view HelloChloe's profile
Yowza.
Chic. Edited. Curated. Sculptural.
I love how the minimal space is such a 180 from the visual overload (in a good way!!) of Chuck's work.
I held my breath reading the comments, since this is not always the kind of space that garners praise from ATers... but so happy to see (well, 'cept for tinkun!) such great comments.
So, add mine to the list.
view patrick (the other one)'s profile
Gorgeous home with some truly unique finishes and unexpected touches (ie the bathroom sink is so divine!). The best part? This house showcases how that design savvy is EVERYWHERE in the US!
view Seaside's profile
A bit gloomy for my taste...
view gryt's profile
Chucky and Holly!
Beautiful place!!! Good for you guys! Would need bathroom doors though :)
love you!
Aunt Sandy
view sandymc's profile
Pretty pretty pretty ! I love what you did with this place. I have a question though : are there other windows than the ones in the living-room and bedroom ? I'm feelinga little claustrophobic here...
view Green Martha's profile
I thought I was the only one getting that Bloomingdale's image and that I was doing something wrong - licked something by mistake. I have it with every slide show, not just this one. Shows get very slow after a while, I find and I have to delete temporary files. I could do without that particular image especially as it is so unrelated to the current show.
Claustrophobic was my feeling too, but where there is plenty of light this apartment is incomparable.
view Battling Betty's profile
This is so neat! An old school was converted into apartments in the city where I attended grad school, and had I stayed after graduation, I would have loved to live there.
view madampince's profile
Sweet pad, thanks for posting.
A few questions though
1. In Thumbnail 30, where'd you get the wood flooring for the bathroom?
2. In Thumbnail 17, different bathroom, what faucet is that and where'd you get that sink?
3. In the bedroom, how did you construct that giant headboard/wall with recessed lighting? Was this custom work done by the builder?
Thanks!!
view cisopen's profile
Brilliant! I especially love the kitties sliding into so many pics--the one on the shelf in the office is adorable! Great work on the place; your creativity shines through but is not overbearing.
view nmrosycheeks's profile
office; lol:
thats what she said
awesome awesome place.
view hissingsissing's profile
I'm a little late to this post, but, does anyone by chance know anything about the 'whole lotta love' mirror? I really like it.
view txdejael's profile
Fantastic condo! Being a fellow Grand Rapidian, it's great to see such a well done, modern space. The cats are a purr-fect accent too!
view phonics's profile
Similar to NPs' "trendy" graphic work, this home's overall look seems way to staged. Almost like they have been studying catalogs on interior design way to much. However, the overall construction and materials used for the building seem solid and of quality. A nice place that could use more personal
style and less "designy-ness".
view seangf's profile
Mmm mmm mmm. I love this place. Kudos to the buyers & builders who had the foresight to take the old building and create something so grand! Yea for preservation and restoration! I know it's costly to do but WHAT CHARM! I'm crazy for your condo!
view Mudhouse's profile
I meant to add that I would love to see the outside of the high school as it appears today....did they keep the original look somewhat intact?
Also love the exposed pipes in the ceiling :-).
view Mudhouse's profile
This is a very attractive condo and I applaud the use of recycled buildings and materials. I do think that it's sad that, from the inside of the unit you would never know you were in an old school. Schools of that era have so much charm and visual interest. This condo could be housed in any exterior. This lack of context is disappointing.
view Chris in Seattle's profile
Love it!
view sanchezperrier's profile
Awesome! Your kitchen is fabulous! I cant believe that so much of your stuff is from Ikea, you would never know!
view lviox's profile
What a beautiful place and the kitchen is divine.
view ah2Bthee's profile
Love it! Such a fresh, clean and different area to live in. I really like the idea of living in a high school. So original.
I particularly like the colouring used in the kitchen, such a beautiful place to make cereal in :D
A really well thought out place to live :)
ps. Also really like the pipes along the ceiling!
view thirstyfortea's profile
Your kitchen is to die for! I'm drooling....
view prettyinperiwinkle's profile