apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

DAMN CUTE! Great job on that GOD AWFUL KITCHEN!
Congrats :)

So cute! Great job with the kitchen.

Love it! It looks so comfortable.

Wow! Lovely!!!!

I dig the bedroom side table. It looks like a drum throne with a table top instead of a seat.

I love all of it. I've been coveting that bathroom sink for a while too (happy d, right?). You guys did a really fantastic job.

The bedrooms are very cute.



OT: How does one see the large pictures in the slideshow? I use the pull down menu and choose the higher resolution but the picture remains the same size. It's been a problem since the redisgn... anyone?

O holy god!

That kitchen with the white marble and deep brown cabinets is BEAUTIFUL!

Well done. The whole house isn't exactly my taste but there are definitely some incredible moments in there.

Nice! I love all the wall-mounted storage pieces. And I have almost the exact same Broyhill Brasilia credenza. Kinda junky construction-wise but you can't beat the look!

I really love your house. the selection of the pieces in the dinning room is inspiring. I would really love to live in this comfortable place.

The cake in the kitchen is so great!

And the house is lovely.

So cute! I love the vanity you created. What a big beautiful place.

Emily

this is a lovely place!

and i love how matilda's occupation is listed as "baby." haha.

Where is the lovely green day bed from?

Too funny. The cookie/bunny jar gives me a little bit of the heebie jeebies also. At least it's in a beautiful home ;)

You have a great space. I love the bedside table in the master bedroom (very cool). Where did you get it?

Very nice, clean and simple.. nothing wrong here.

BEDSIDE TABLE INFO PLEAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZE !!!!

Just gorgeous!

The plastic chairs and the basic frame table in the dining room reminds me of a cheap Pizza restaurant or school cafeteria. May just not my thing.

The floors look GREAT especially considering how how they were abused before.

Mafan
Laser Modules For Raves!!!

I would also love to have info on that bedside table.

Gorgeous house!

Hi this isn't a question about this house but I'm not sure where else to post it. I'm looking for the house tour or story that was done a while ago with a really cute attic make over. I think the woman was a designer. She turned this very small attic into a cute guest bedroom and used a lovely marimeko fabric for the curtains. There were leaves space cupboards on either end. I think it had a pink feel to it. Wish I could be clearer. Can anyone help? Ring any bells? I'm sure there was also a story about their house and the main photo was of the living room. I've searched the house tours archives but can't seem to find it. Thanks everyone.

handbaggirl,

are you thinking of the Making It Lovely tour? Here's her blog:
http://makingitlovely.com/2008/03/28/the-guest-room/

Jacob and Laurie,
Your space is amazing! My mom lives in Albany Park, bordering West Ridge, and her place is architecturally very similar, so your tour made me nostalgic :) (Though I just live 15 minutes away in Avondale...) Fantastic elements throughout your home.

Quick q: I've been wanting to get a Chicago Ork poster. How did you frame it in the nursery? Small detail I know, but I've been trying to figure this out for a while!

handbaggirl - I think you're talking about this?:
http://makingitlovely.com/2008/03/28/the-guest-room/
and if not, it's so cute that it's worth another look anyway!

Great job... love the kitchen and the bedside table. Thank God you put some color in the nursery . House could use a little punch of color besides the pale green. Also, the lamps over the living room chairs must be incredibly unflattering and annoying to sit under. Reminds me of the machines women put their heads in when they get perms. But otherwise, beautiful house! Well done!

Fantastic! It has a calm, earthiness to it. You've done a wonderful job combining the old with the new. GOOD JOB!

Owner here:

Thank you everyone for your supportive comments.

There seems to be a lot if interest in the bedside table that I made. The base is from a drum stool, and the top is 3 layers of 3/4" plywood glued together and cut at an angle, dyed green with an aniline dye, and clearcoated.

Selena asked about the poster hanger for the Ork Chicago; check out posterhanger.com.

Jacob

I love love love this place. Great job on the kitchen.

Very nice indeed.

Wow. What a difference in the kitchen!

Nice renovation of typical vintage Chicago place, very clean, modern design without looking cold and lifeless.

perfect renovation of a vintage chicago flat. modern and welcoming.

Lovely place, calm and inviting and to think that you did most of the work yourself. The way you changed things really brings out the lovely bones of the apartment.

the cookie char IS scary...

Where did you find the long red shelving unit?? I love it, but can't find anything around that's that long!

i like the place a lot! some of the rooms seem a little too neutral or like they're missing something. but i love the arches and moulding, the vanities, and the nursery! reminds me that i need to do something with my flor samples & tiles. i'm also a fan of that dwell bedding in the crib (have to admit- i actually got the fleece blanket for my puppy). overall i think you did an awesome job!

What a great, great place! Inspiring in so many ways. Jacob, how did you make those felt ottomans? They look almost like you sandwiched together felt floor pads from polishing machines--but I must be wrong?

rachelrachel - the long red shelving unit is actually a CD rack turned horizontal (available from topdeq.com, but no longer in red).

brynhild - the felt ottomans are sandwiched 1/2" layers of industrial felt that I got from Booth Felt (before they moved to NH) for free from their discard pile; they were waste from a die cut job. I fastened them together with a tagging gun and heavy duty fabric barbs.

Thanks so much Selena and Rockalita. That was it exactly. A great help.

Wow, i love this space!

Two questions:

1) Where is that floating wall mounted dressing table/shelf from? It looks great!

2) Where is the green hallway console table from? I've been looking for something like that (skinny, with only the front table legs) forever...

Really nice space. I feel relaxed just viewing it. Great job!

Great looking place. Can you tell me where you got the very cool alarm clock on the nightstand?

ten_eighteen,

I made the floating dressing table out of some walnut plywood, and brackets from rakks.com.

The console table is actually our old dining table from Ikea that we cut in half and painted.

Thanks for the questions.

Jacob

hi mattk--the alarm clock is a big ben moon beam from l.l. Bean.

Adoring the products the owners made and customized. So inspiring. !!!

And moved beyond words to see that little child's shell chair, remembering I had the same chair when I was little girl. It served as a drum, doll bus, a cave, and may other things. How sweet to recall those times, and to think there's a little girl who may invent totally new ways to play with it.

Very nice! I wish you had a photo of the exterior...

That vanity you made is just what we are looking for for our bathroom.

Are you still answering questions? Hope so! I swoon for your kitchen. What Ikea cabinet line did you use in kitchen? And did you use carrera marble? Thanks!

Sarah in Nola,
We used the Nexus Brown Black cabinet line from Ikea. Carrera Marble was what we wanted, but it was out of our reach; we went with a less expensive white marble. Unfortunately I don't remember the name.
Jacob

Hello,

I am looking for a big white table lamp like the one you have on the dresser in the hallway. Where is it from?
Many thanks

Your dining room light fixture is exactly what I'm looking for but I can't tell which model it is on lightinguniverse.com.
Thanks!

Just beautiful and very much in keeping w/my own style; I do wonder about this trend of soaring kitchen cabinets tho...how do people reach them without always climbing?

manue--the white lamp was a CB2 floor model on clearance about 3 years ago. I wish they still made it.

TracyK--the hanging fixture in the dining room is the 26" Fleurino by Hampstead Lighting.

muirwoods08--In rental after rental we were constantly stacking items on top of the cabinets, so when we got the chance to design our space we thought, why not put cabinets all the way to the ceiling? Now the vases, wine glasses and seasonal items are tidy and dust free. A kick stool is always close at foot.

Thanks for all the interest!

Laurie

Your floors are beautiful. Great Job! Also love the nursery and it's simple clean look. The rocking chair is especially great. And the cd rack mounted sideways is such a great idea for any room.

Love the tour - so much inspiration here.

I was wondering about the light in the kitchen, above the cookie jar. How did you handle attaching it to the wall? We've made a similar light fixture, and ended up making our bracket with wood. I love the fixture, and will probably recreate it elsewhere. Thanks in advance!

Ace,
I did a sketch to answer your question. Follow the link to see it.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lIHZz-2qN-XI35uXe46qeA

I hope it helps. Good Luck.
Jacob

Jacob, you are a doll! Thanks so much, that's very clever.

Hi I love the home! where is that kitchen light from, above the bunny? Been looking for something similar but price was really steep.

pbeya--
Jacob made the light. Not to brag, but isn't that cool! See the posts from ace and jchart13, just above yours, as he explains how he did it.

Laurie

What is the color of the wall in the 1st picture of slideshow. I love this color, you've done a fabulous job!

tlcuningkim331--
the paint color is benjamin moore's dorset gold.
glad you like it!

Laurie

A late, late comment here.

Add me to the list of people who love the drum-stool avec plywood bedside table.

And the cookie jar? Is SUBLIME.

Jacob & Laurie,

I have been looking for a vanity for sometime and just love yours. I saw your comment @ ten_eighteen:

I made the floating dressing table out of some walnut plywood, and brackets from rakks.com.

Can you tell me what the material is that edges the vanity and acts as a shelf up top? I am enlisting my woodworking father for some help in reproducing it.

Thanks so much!

PS the bedside table is gorgeous!

I am hoping you are still responding to comment.
I was wondering what paint you used in your master bedroom. I love it!

loveplus

the paint in the master bedroom is butte rock by benjamin moore. we used about 4 coats to get it to the desired color. thanks!

Laurie

What color paint did you use in Matilda's room?

Wish I would have seen your place before I asked my question about redoing floors. Try to make a long story short here, I'm not sure if we have oak floors or not, but our house dates back to the 1920s so I'm thinking that in the rooms original to the house, we probably do. I read about a triple bleaching process to lighten up oak floors, but its not a DIY and I've been told that it could also hurt the duribility of the floors. I love your light floors (and many other things about your house) and was hoping you could explain to me in a bit more detail what you did to your floors since you did it yourself. Thanks.

bunny23
Matilda's room is painted with Benjamin Moore Catalina Blue. Sorry for the late response!

Laurie