apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time


House Tour: Naz and Jen's Mid-Century Americana Apartment
Chicago

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Name: Jen Schuetz and Naz Hamid
Profession: Jill-of-All-Trades and Designer
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Size: 1200 Square Feet
Years lived in: 2 1/2
Type: 2 Bedroom Apartment

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We first met Naz around 2000, when we were both members of a fledgling Chicago bloggers group. Later, we had an opportunity to write together when he co-founded Gapers Block, with Andrew Huff. During these past 8 years, it has been our pleasure to know this creative, great individual. When we saw the apartment Naz and his wife, Jen, a talented photographer, had created together we knew a tour was in order...

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Photos by Evan Thomas

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A lovely, open space with great flow, Jen and Naz's apartment seamlessly combines vintage finds, like complete bedroom set previously belonging to Jen's great aunt and a dentist chair, with iconic pieces such as an Eames Molded Plywood. The great personal DIY touches displayed throughout -- Naz's silk screened posters, the cardboard letters over the headboard, Jen's work on the dress form -- let their personalities come through. The total effect is charming, modern and eclectic.

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Naz and Jen's Survey

My Style: Americana, mid-century modern, minimal, clean and fun.

Inspiration: Mid-century, classic Americana, things that endure.

Favorite Element(s): Sitting corner in living room; the office - I spend all day in there.

Biggest Challenge: Finding what we wanted. It takes time, especially when you want to avoid off-the-shelf mass-produced items, but it's sometimes unavoidable. Also, colour since we can't paint.

What Friends Say: They like the colour, brightness and space.

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Biggest Embarrassment: The bathroom.

Proudest DIY: Our "fake" sconces. Construction paper!

Biggest Indulgence: Other people's places. We're pseudo voyeuristic, looking into people's spaces while walking by to see how they did their space.

Best Advice: Be creative in sourcing materials. Sometimes, solutions are in the simplest and obvious places. Re-appropriating items for other uses is what did a lot of good for us.

Dream Source: We don't really think of a dream source but more of dream items - things that we have in mind but either don't exist or we haven't found.

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Resources:
Dining Room
Bench - Ikea
Pillows and drapes - Urban Outfitters
Table - Target, Thomas O'Brien
Chairs - CB2
Rugs - Cost Plus World Market
Bar Stools - Praha (a vintage shop on Lincoln)

Living Room
Rug - Crate and Barrel
Coffee Table - Ikea
Chairs - Vintage
Sectional - Ikea
Book Shelf and Side Tables - Value City Furniture
Square Bookshelves - Container Store
Lamps - CB2
Sewing Machine - Vintage
Pillows - Etsy and CB2
Drapes - CB2
TV Stand - Ikea
Magazine Rack - Container Store

Bedroom
Bed - CB2
Side Tables and Dresser - Vintage Set
Drapes - Cost Plus World Market
Frames - CB2 and Ikea
Floor Lamp - CB2
Table Lamp - Ikea
Bedding - Bed, Bath & Beyond

Office
Desks - CB2
Bins - Ikea
Shelves - Ikea
Chairs and Ottoman - Ikea
Rugs - Cost Plus World Market and Ikea
Lamps - Ikea
Frames - Ikea
File Cabinets - CB2 and Ikea

Thanks, Jen and Naz for the tour, and to Evan for the photos!

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Comments (15)

brindle boxer baby! soooo cute.

posted by thekatieway on October 16th 2008 at 11:11am
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awesome and I adore you puppy

posted by hanako66 on October 16th 2008 at 11:17am
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You obviously have a ton of Ikea in your home, but it doesn't feel like a showroom. I love the cardboard(?) words above the bed. I'm stealing the idea. ;)

posted by Kimber on October 16th 2008 at 11:30am
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whoa! i have a cat named loki & use the same tapestry from urban on my couch AND made curtains out of them.
get out of my head ;)
i love it!

posted by saltyc on October 16th 2008 at 11:49am
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The two comic/pulp-style women pictures in your office are wonderful! Where did they come from?

posted by mabith on October 16th 2008 at 1:34pm
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mabith – our friend, christian, made them for us. you can find more of his paintings and artwork here.

posted by treesquirrel on October 16th 2008 at 1:53pm
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great place, I actually like your cream (?) walls, they bring a calmness to the space. I love the undersized art but one big, great pice might be nice too. Thanks for sharing --

posted by outonalimb_2008 on October 16th 2008 at 7:50pm
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great space! I love the walls in the dining room and the "frames" on the wall (Is that molding?). Looks great!
Tabitha @http://www.fromsingletomarried.com

posted by Tabitha (From Single to Married) on October 17th 2008 at 3:25am
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I like it except for the words on the bedroom wall.

posted by hrhprincessfiona on October 17th 2008 at 6:27am
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love the place, also love the jay ryan art prints.

posted by costa on October 17th 2008 at 8:57am
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Your space is very airy and light feeling. Wonderful!!!. I am sooooo considering getting the same sofa from IKEA. How does it wear over time?

posted by Sylvia K on October 17th 2008 at 1:49pm
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sylvia, considering we have two cats and a dog, i think the leather kramfors couch/chaise from ikea has held up well in our household. we've had it for 2 1/2 yrs, and there are some spots of wear, but nothing major.

posted by treesquirrel on October 17th 2008 at 4:34pm
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diggin' on your photog

posted by laHAMMER on October 17th 2008 at 4:36pm
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thanks :) i would say well worth it. again, i love your space.

posted by Sylvia K on October 18th 2008 at 5:20am
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where did you get your dog dishes? I like the idea of them being up off the floor, but can't find anything my style.

posted by shalg on November 6th 2008 at 8:50am
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