Kim & Scott’s Happy “Yellow Brick Home”
Name: Kim & Scott
Location: Logan Square, Chicago
Size: An itty bitty 650 square feet
Years lived in: 2.5 happy years
A perfect tour for small spaces month, here is an expanded look at the colorful condo that is the inspiration behind the blog Yellow Brick Home. Located in Chicago in a nearly 100 year old building, this recently renovated Logan Square space got a strong dose of individuality from its owners.
From the colorful wall choices to the carefully chosen second-hand furnishings, this home is now far from the developers beige box that Kim and Scott moved in to. The big architectural plus of the space are the windows, with the abundant sunshine helping to make the most of the not-so-big floorplan. But, nice light aside, it is the really the wonderful mix of color, texture, artwork and quirk that make this space so charming…and the cute pets don’t hurt either.
Our favorite take-away from putting together this tour is from the survey – Kim and Scott give some really great advice for fellow small space dwellers when they say “Work with the space you have, and not the space you wish you had.” Wise words for designing spaces of any size — coming from people who clearly love their home!
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Our style: Clean lined eclectic meets Craigslist DIY. Mix in colorful splashes and a dash of collected art, and you’ve got a home fit for the two of us, an energetic puppy, two cats, and a tank full of fish.
Inspiration: So much of our inspiration comes from perusing other home blogs. We love the close-knit community that home-and-décor blogs bring to the table. We get amazing feedback and suggestions from our own readers, but we also have a seemingly endless list of things we want to try from other writers and contributors. Inspiration can come at the most random moments; whether it’s a small image of someone’s pottery collection or a whole tutorial on adding stripes to your walls.
Favorite Element: We found our home after only about 8-10 walkthroughs of other condos in the Logan Square area (our favorite Chicago ‘hood). After setting foot into our current home, we knew it was the one as soon as we saw the windows. With windows that face west and east and at over 100″ wide and 72″ tall, we get beautiful light at all times of day as the sun rises and sets.
Biggest Challenge: Finding creative ways to fit all of life’s necessities into 650 square feet. The good part about this challenge is that we both avoid clutter and abide by the rule that when one thing comes in, one thing goes out.
What Friends Say: Even though the space is, in reality, pretty teeny, our friends often comment on how it feels much bigger than it is. We’ll take that compliment, since we like to host potluck gatherings and movie nights (or in Scott’s case, Guitar Hero nights) and can sometimes find 10-15 people in our home at one time. The more, the merrier.
Biggest Embarrassment: While painting the bathroom the first time around (we’re on color number 2, maybe soon to be 3), an entire gallon of paint came crashing down from the top rung of our ladder. Not only did I (Kim) burst into tears, but we also spent hours cleaning each and every last splatter. The sad part is that I don’t think our fresh grout has ever recovered.
Proudest DIY: With the “biggest embarrassment” said, we can still say that we’ve personally painted each and every square inch of every wall in our home. Moving into a newly renovated building meant super flat, low-grade khaki walls – which actually worked out as the perfect primer. Over the last 2 and a half years, we can now say that all the khaki is out of our life.
Biggest Indulgence: In addition to our pops of color throughout the home, we can proudly say that each shelf, television, and Craigslist rescue were all hung, mounted, and brought back to life by our own two – I mean, four – hands.
Best advice: We have a few that we’ve learned ourselves, so I’ll limit them to the top 3:
1) Work with the space you have, and not the space you wish you had. Oh, how we wish we could buy a 10 foot long dream sofa, but instead, we have the 75 incher – but covered in a dreamy velvet fabric. Extra chairs, ottomans, and pull up stools are the added boost we need for friendly drop-ins.
2) Don’t be afraid to get started with your projects. There will always, always be an excuse to wait, but who needs excuses? Pick up your (insert tool needed here) and just go. Go, go!
3) Also, and here’s the tops: mom knew best when she said to clean your room. Except this time, clean your home.
Dream source: All the best of Craigslist from across the globe, and it would be contained in Chicago. All prices would be negotiable, and free delivery would be included. Yes, please.
Resources:
Foyer / Living Room:
Paint: Behr’s Winterfresh (blue-mint), Chlorophyll (green), Porpoise (gray)
Couch: Room & Board’s Lorrie sofa found on Craigslist
Coffee and End Tables: CB2
Media Center: Ikea body and legs (2 separate painted pieces)
Wall Shelves: Ikea (brackets) and Home Depot (wood we had cut to size and painted),
Rug: Dwell Studio for Target (living room) and FLOR (foyer)
Table Lamps: stoop sale find and Jubilee Furniture
Foyer Light: Ikea
Console Table: Bombay & Co.
Track Curtains: Ikea
Ceramic Birds: Retropolitan
Art : self made, gifted, Etsy, and purchased from craft fairs.
Kitchen:
Paint: Behr’s Honeydew
Appliances: Frigidaire
Lighting: Overstock.com
Bathroom:
Paint: Behr’s Ocean Tropic
Medicine Cabinet: Ikea
Shower Curtain: CB2
Waste Can: Bed, Bath & Beyond,
Mirror: Ikea
Decorative Hooks: Anthropologie
Office:
Paint: Behr’s Silver Screen (barely gray) and Distance (navy)
Desk and Chair: Ikea
Wall Shelves: Ikea (brackets) and Home Depot (wood we had cut to size and painted) Storage Unit/Sideboard: found on Craigslist and painted
Table Lamp: HomeGoods
Curtains: Ikea
Bike Storage: Amazon.com (hooks) and Home Depot (2×4s cut to size)
Mirror: flea market find
Bedroom:
Paint: Behr’s Pumpkin Patch (orange) and Relaxing Green (accent stripe)
Bed Frame: Overstock.
Floor Lamp: Ikea
Side “Table” Cubes: CB2 bought and painted ivory
Picture Rail: Ikea
Curtains: Bed, Bath & Beyond
Art: Laura Baisden print (bison) and Seattle Show Posters (text).
And an entire, detailed list can be found on Kim & Scott’s blog.
(Thanks, Kim & Scott!)
Images: Kim & Scott Vargo