Name: Danny and Carlos
Location: East Lakeview
Size: 950 sq/ft
Years lived in: 4
Some of you may remember this orange Midway Airport seating posted back in August. We asked (actually, Danny asked) if you thought it was Hot or Not, and with overwhelming Hot! responses, we arranged a house tour to see what other exciting color and collectibles Danny had for show and tell. This house tour was a pleasure to shoot...we entered on a sunny day, it stormed like crazy while we were there, and then before leaving we were invited back for Carlos' special recipe margaritas (and the sun came back out). While there was so much to see in each room, we really fell for the small kitchen, which was covered in color, plants, photos, postcards, and colorful currency. (Look for their Color Contest entry soon...)
Enter BEFORE & WORK-IN-PROGRESS Slideshow
our Style: I want to say we have some strong leanings to Mid-Century modern but I don’t think we can really say we subscribe to that or any particular style for sure. We have very eclectic tastes, in both colors, furnishings and knick-knacks. Some might say too eclectic, bordering on “mish-mash” possibly “mish-messy”.
the Inspiration for our home: Every room and every corner has a different inspiration. We tend to buy things we really love and think we would enjoy and try to fit it into the space and coordinate with and around it. We definitely have had some trials trying to go with one particular style or another and we ended up realizing that every element, no matter how disparate, has a complement somewhere. The fun part is discovering what and where!
favorite Element: Everything we’ve chosen to surround ourselves with is a favorite but aside from the “stuff” we’ve collected, we just LOVE the way our friends and family react to the colors and styles. They are such great conversation starters; great fun and conversation with friends is priceless!
biggest Challenge in designing our home: Space! We try to maximize space as much as we can while making it livable. We are constantly on the look-out for furniture that can provide great storage value or is clean/transparent. We have so many consoles with drawers, and they are filled to the brim!
what Friends Say: They love the colors and they always want a house tour. We are constantly acquiring different items and re-arranging the furniture to maximize the space and to keep things interesting. We like to keep things visual because it’s a great conversation starter when having friends or groups over for drinks.
biggest Embarassment: Gosh, How many! In order of importance: Bathroom, Bedroom Closet and kitchen. We are going to renovate the bathroom soon and have Elfa closet organizers installed, so hopefully we can shorten that list to just the kitchen. Also, when we first moved in everything was Beige! Every wall! All the carpeting in every room! We lived with that for about a year, we finally got tired of it and went for some COLOR!!
proudest DIY: The wall with the bright color squares in the bedroom. They literally took us an entire week to do. We started out with a simple plan of removing a single layer of beige paint, we ended up with a small blow torch, chisel and hammer and about 8 layers of paint that we scraped into several garbage bags. We got to the bare concrete and hand stenciled and colored each square. Our first project, so that wall is here to stay!! I also changed all the wall switches to touch panels to turn on/off/dim the lights.
biggest Indulgence: We downgraded (or upgraded?) from a Stearns and Foster King Size bed with an Ikea frame to a Queen Sonno Prima Medium memory foam mattress with matching pillows and the Min (formerly Alu) bed frame, both from Design Within Reach. We got some really great DKNY sheets and it is our little slice of heaven on earth!! We also had Pergo Laminate flooring put in every room about a year ago, replacing some really ugly beige carpeting and linoleum that was underneath that!
best Advice given or received: Buy what you love!! Don’t think twice about how something might look or what other people might think. The same way there is personal style for clothing, there is personal style in the home. It should be dynamic and vibrant and be a physical representation of yourself, be it the clean black or white lines of a minimalist aesthetic or the quirky, colorful ramblings of 60’s mod or anything in between. If you love it, it’ll work!!
our Dream Source for stuff: Design Within Reach and 1stdibs.com, nova68.com, unicahome.com, Williams-Sonoma, Bloomingdales Home, CB2, Room & Board, any and all antique shops, yard sales, resale shops…
Resources:
Appliances...Sony, Samsung, Krups
Furniture...Brown Elephant Resale Shop, Highbrow Furniture
Accessories...Brown Elephant, Branch Home, Mighty Goods
Lighting...Brown Elephant, Chiasso, Design Within Reach, Cool Stuff
Paint...Behr Paint from Home Depot
Beds...Design Within Reach
Artwork...Brown Elephant
Other...pure contemporary blog
(Thanks, Danny and Carlos for letting us in!)
Apartment Therapy's Sofa Shopping Guide
Nikki’s Sweet and Cheery Print Studio
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Stanley Console by ...
5 Things Paris Taught Me About Travel
Recipe: Ham, Cheddar & Chive Egg Bakes
Danny & Carlos, I love the overall changes you've made in your apt and I also noticed you guys have my fav bench of all times and which I have been looking for ages.. Any tip where I may find it??
!Me encanta este lugar!
I love the use of color as well as the sense of whimsy and personal history that shines through.
With most home tours and contest entries you discover very little about the inhabitants beyond their particular aesthetic sense. This apartment reflects DAnny and Carlos' personalities and personal history, not just their "taste".
Me encantaria conocerlos. Lastima que viven tan lejos.
Danny y Carlos,
I love love love this place. If this eclectic blend of styles and design had a name, it would definitely be my favorite.
Great job!!!
TT
(oh, and where can I find a bookcase like the one in your living room by the mirror?)
*stands and applauds*
Wonderful. Thanks for letting us see the marvellous space.
^^
Argh. *This* marvellous space.
So many apartments, so many ideas.
I greatly enjoyed looking at this slideshow. The place is a rich and luscious treat for the eyes. Nice going.
I'm so in love with your place. I'm not usually a fan of red walls, but this is executed perfectly-the shade is great and it's not overwhelming! It's great up against that pretty green too. Your place is the perfect combination of elegance and fun (the bedroom's great) and it looks very livable as well. I love all the furniture, it's definitely my style. If I'd seen those airport seats on their own, I'd probably hate them, but they look wonderful in your apartment. Thanks for letting us see your beautiful home!
Mama Chilanga and everyone: Thanks so much for the great comments! :) We tried our best to make the apartment feel like a home and we hope we can inspire others not to be afraid of color! So long as your happy, it's perfect! :)
To answer some questions:
New York Muhtari: Are you referring to the single telephone bench in the hallway with the golden angel or the longer, lower benches in the hallway and bedroom (with the pillow)? I have to say that 85% of the stuff we have we were lucky enough to find at a local thrift. The lower brown benches were a gift from a friend and have served many purposes. I didn't think of it at the time, but everyoen should have a bench, they are so useful!
tt: The bookcase we have is from Design Within Reach (DWR.com), it's called the Sapien Bookcase Short. Crate and Barrel 2 (CB2.com) also has the same bookcase by the same designer, Bruno Rainaldi, and it is called the Array bookcase. The DWR Sapien bookcase is all steel with a Lacquered finish and the CB2 Array bookcase is made of aluminium with a powder-coat finish. Although they were by the same designer and are visually identical to each other we opted for the DWR model because of the higher quality material and we liked the brown hue of the lacquer as opposed to the gray color of the CB2 powder coat. We are actually looking to get another Sapien Short Bookcase as we have soo many other books that need a home! :)
Amanda: the store Re:vival on the corner of Southport and Irving Park (a block or two West of Clark on Iriving Park) still has one of the airport seats available! :) It was one of their Window displays a few days ago. They also have so soo many other goodies, I wish I could live there!
CORRECTION: The CB2.com Array bookcase is also made of Steel, just like the DWR.com version, it just has an Aluminum Tone color (I always thought it was MADE of aluminum for some reason).
Other than the color and finish they seem to be identical:
Same Designer, material, made in Italy, etc.
DWR does have a taller version called Sapien Tall that is 80" instead of the 60" of the Sapien (and Array) Short. The Tall bookcase is VERY tall!
Sorry for the confusion,
Danny
Classy, creative, original! Kudos!
But also a question. What's with the grimy windows? They are dull and dispiriting compared to the glow and brightness of the space. Stir up a spray bottle of vinegar water, grab a stack of newspaper, add some elbow grease -- *then* your apartment will have the full shine it deserves.
Happilyever: Thanks for the comment!
The windows aren't grimy, when Heather got there for the shoot it started to storm really bad for about an hour. That's rain on the windows, not grime. When Heather left the sun came out and the windows were even cleaner and clearer than before the rain...
Danny & Carlos,
Thanks for the info on the bookcase. I'm in desperate need. And thanks for Re:vival introduction. Boy, do I miss Chicago. :)
Great job once again.
tt
absolutely stunning! I love how your place feels rich, but not sterile. beautiful!
marvelous! wonderful! you guys worked SO HARD on this transformation and it shows all throughout. of course i celebrate your use of color and decor but wow, all that space in your bedroom closet made my eyes bulge with envy (i live in a 400sq ft apt. in nyc). congrats!!!
Where did you guys get the two dressers in your bedroom? They are great, and I need something exactly like that. Please tell me!
Cristopher:
The dressers by the windows (as well as the white one in the closet) are from a local and very popular Thrift called The Brown Elephant. It's in Boystown (the Gayborhood) on the corner of Waveland and Halsted. I paid $25 for the low long one and $15 for the taller one. Unforunately neither has any markings as to the manufacturer so I couldn't point you in that direction... Sorry... Good luck on your transition to Chicago! :) :)
Love your place, especially all the use of color and the fun, funky furnishings. Definitely gave me some ideas on how to find the right home for various things!
Question - can you share the paint color you used for the red wall? We're looking for a great red and love the color. Also any specific painting techniques you used to get that gorgeous color would be much appreciated!
Thanks!