Name: Kevin Byrne and Dop Troutman
Location: Chicago (Uptown)
Size: 884 square feet (1 bedroom loft in former department store; built in 1915 converted in 2003)
Years lived in: 1
Kevin shared his first place with us way back in May '06; it was a condo renovation with a major bathroom overhaul, tons of DIY with bright, simple design choices. Since then he has moved with his partner, Dop, into a loft conversion in Uptown. And while he brought some ideas from his Lakeview home, this space indicates a fresh start loaded with creativity, color, and of course more doing-it-themselves:
With a wall of windows letting in tons of light and an Uptown view, Kevin and Dop have made their loft both clean/streamlined as well as playful/visual; not always an easy overlap. With both mental and physical room for a trapeze (Kevin has trained in circus arts) and large-scale paintings, this loft feels nothing like "too much." One of our favorite elements is the bicycle pulley system above the front door, more proof that this loft's ceiling height is used in the most perfect ways to suit Kevin and Dop's needs.
AT Survey:
Our style: D: Low, clean lines. Uncluttered. Simple with accents of bold colors. K: All that, plus personal and playful.
Inspiration: K: I like the industrial loft feeling of some repurposed spaces but wanted to soften the look for the design of the building and our personal style.
Favorite Element: K: My last place had zero view; I looked right into the wall of the adjacent building. I love the light, airiness, and view provided by the large East-facing windows.
Biggest Challenge: D: The biggest challenge was creating separate rooms that still complimented each other without looking thematic.
What Friends Say: D: They love it; words we most often hear when friends walk in are “fun”, “creative” and “clever”.
Biggest Embarrassment: D: Originally our bed was a five foot lofted bed that we thought was ideal for the place. Then we realized it overwhelmed the space and ended up sawing three and a half feet of leg off of it. K: We were trying for extra storage but it didn’t turn out quite as we planned. Oops!
Proudest DIY: K: I think I’m most proud of designing and installing the bathroom vanity. Oh- and building the headboard. It really helped to solve the layout issue of the bedroom.
Biggest Indulgence: K: We tend to be pretty frugal; hanging the trapeze was definitely a splurge. I’ve trained in circus arts and wanted a place to practice a bit. It’s definitely a conversation piece.
Best advice: K: I have to remind myself that it’s okay for our place to be a work in progress. My advice would be to tackle projects one at a time… from paint and furniture to accessories and fixtures. Case in point: the Poang chair in the living room and the bathroom light fixture; they’re next on my list.
Dream source: K: Modernica. D: Design Within Reach.
Resources: Ikea (couch, dining table/chairs, bedding, living room chair, dressers, and entryway locker); Custom Wood Products (bathroom vanity and mirror frame), Family Dollar (rugs), moving sales (television stand, lamps, mirror, shelves, and kitchen table/stools), Home Depot (plants/pots); thrift store (kitchen sign and fork), Chicago Flyhouse (trapeze installation), collegebedlofts.com (bed), mattshallenberger.com (bedroom photos), testtubesonline.com (test tubes), Amazon (bike hoist), orkposters.com (Chicago poster), made by Kevin, the homeowner (headboard, coffee table, metal sculptures, pillows, paintings, and marquee photos).
(Thanks, Kevin and Dop!)
Images: Evan Thomas
FANTASTIC! we have a similar loft in Pilsen. Very clean, very creative yet still feels like a home.
view myurbanelife's profile
love the birds
great place
view sunan's profile
Colorful, fun...love it!
view suzy8track's profile
what are in those test tubes on the wall that refract light like that? That is really cool... and I am so jealous of your trapeze bar!
view DonnaKopf's profile
I'm a fan of any place with "Planet of the Apes" artwork -- great job :-)
view JeffC's profile
WOW!!! This place is amazing and the view is incredible. I love the wall colors that were chosen, very bold yet not overpowering. Nice contrast! Anyone have any ideas of similar paint colors (The light gray on the sofa wall and the blue w/ the Chicago picture on the bedroom wall)...
view Mike 123's profile
I don't think I'll ever get sick of birds and chartreuse chairs. :)
view MODERnestS's profile
I love that a lot of the wall art is done by the two of you. Not 'purchase and stick' items. And I LOVE the test tubes! The way the light shines through and the lovely colored pattern it makes on the wall . . . so fabulous. And its SO CLEAN. I heart the two of you. I wish I still lived in Chicago so I could come over and be your friend! :)
view Limeliteshines's profile
Great job.
I really like your photo art. It's nice how you brought a little piece of the outside neighborhood inside in a very creative way.
view art's profile
very nice place
view hima_vasu's profile
Love the artwork. Also? Dop Troutman = best name ever.
view rosenatti's profile
what a fun, bright, colorful place! Love the graphic quality!
http://cozylittlecave.blogspot.com
view CozyLittleCave's profile
fellow uptowner here. well done and inspirational! thanks for sharing.
view elementarian's profile
It is well done and I love the bright colors. And of course, the test tubes are genius!
I didnt see the bed side stand mentioned, if I missed it, could you share from where?
view sassydo's profile
ohhh opening my browser to that first picture was like a little burst of sunshine! i love it!
view christie d's profile
i love it! this is exactly what i want to achieve in my house. playful and silly but not over the top or too childish. its awesome!
view serrakat's profile
I'm jealous of how simple, clean, and open you've managed to keep it without it feeling cold or boring. It's wonderful!
view cassielynn's profile
Those test tubes are so cool!
view Brandyjane's profile
I need those birds. Where'd you'd git 'em?
view katiejane's profile
Did you stencil a bird on the coffee table or is that a reflection?
Lovely happy space!
view leadingedge's profile
I love the color and simplicity of the apartment. housing grants
view housegrants01's profile
Bravo!
view quiltmaster's profile
I really like your place! I love how you used the IKEA dressers. And the IKEA chairs, i love those, I have the powder blue ones. and everything else :)
view Lizzykewl's profile
I mean i like everything else, not that I have everything else, lol.
view Lizzykewl's profile
wow, how did you do the lincoln box painting? i love it!
view hekela9's profile
I love those birds. Well, it all looks great but I love how those birds are so simple yet have an awesome impact on the room. I love all the colours too. I don't think I could be in a bad mood living in a place like this.
view nkstr's profile
Gotta love that pixelated Lincoln, especially against the bright sky blue wall. The test tube artwork is also a very clever way of adding changable colour to a well-lit but bland wall.
view Blandwagon's profile
VERY masculine but terribly cool and clever nevertheless ... Love the wire art iron.
Thanks for sharing!
view EAM's profile
i really love those birds with the spotlight washing the wall they're on...it's like the birds are coming from the light.
i know you can get those birds on Etsy.com...lots of people sell them there! they are vinyl and removable (at least some of them are) but you could easily paint them on the wall, too!
view nikki moore - photography and vintage treasures's profile
Those birds are to die for! Makes me think of other things I could do like, butterflies, stars, fairies, whatever, for my daughter's bedroom. Thank you!
view -----'s profile
"VERY masculine but terribly cool and clever nevertheless"
This didn't seem masculine to me at all. Or feminine. Just right. My first thought was "friendly minimalism".
view jyw's profile
I, too, am enraptured by the Lincoln painting. What a cool effect. Where can we see more of your work, Kevin?
view teenatuner's profile
Imagine my surprise to open this and find my son's name - Kevin Dopp (a NYC fashion designer) as post title. I do like it so clean and minimal.
view 12candycane's profile
wow- thank you all for the kind compliments. dop and i are really flattered. thanks also to heather for the invite and evan for the wonderful photos.
in answer to the questions...
the test tubes are filled with water and a few drops of condensed watercolors. they're actually the same watercolors i used to paint the marquee photos in the kitchen.
the paint colors are: living room gray = behr "anonymous", hallway gray = behr "dark granite", kitchen blue = ralph lauren "montego bay"
the bedside stand is by... you guessed it... ikea.
as for the birds, we found a photo online, projected it on the wall with an LCD projector, traced it, and painted it with leftover wall paint.
the lincoln portrait was done by pixelating a photo and boiling it down to 9 shades of gray (both done in photoshop). i built the canvas, gridded it off in 2 inch squares, and mixed the different shades of paint. at that point it basically became a paint by number.
hmm... i think that's everything. let me know if i missed anything.
thanks again for the feedback!
-kevin
view kb's profile
WOW! I totally love this house. The colors and the furniture were soo well chosen, and I could totally imagine myself living here. I also love the color of the sofa -- where is the sofa from?
Michelle
http://cheeseloversinternational.blogspot.com/
view michelleinbrooklyn's profile
teena- thanks! feel free to check out some of my (random) work here: http://kevinbyrne.blogspot.com/
michelle- the sofa (too!) is from ikea.
view kb's profile
So how are these birds "projected?" The lamp on right of wall looks to be a lamp, not a projector. I like the idea of projection rather than wall painting. Thanks for photo captions; makes for a nicer "view" :)
view KateInHawaii's profile
hi kate- the birds are actually painted on the wall. we just used a projector to help us out in creating the mural. hope that helps!
view kb's profile
Love it!
Very creative and interesting!
view rhianna's profile
I love it - very bright and modern. Thanks for sharing!
view Bikegirl71's profile
Excellent!
view pariseden's profile
Wow your place is amazing!! Each room has a different color of walls, but they look so coordinated. Love the bright yellow chairs in the blue area. Great taste you got!
view ryumama's profile
kevin,
you guys have outdone yourselves!
it's so gorgeous!
~victor
http://urbanshedstudio.com/victor.cfm
view urbanshed's profile
Incredible test tube installation!
view bejeweled's profile
Groovy baby ~!
view Jen Coutureglass.com's profile
Simple ideas with maximum impact. Love it!
view Patrick F. aka PsychoPat's profile