House Tour: Jessica and Andrius - Artists in Residence

Name: Jessica and Andrius
Location: Uptown
Size: 1200 sq. ft.

A reader (Thanks, Katie!) tipped us off to a great apartment owned by two artists in Northeast Lakeview/Uptown. The apartment has many distinct rooms each with a different vibe, all united by Jessica and Andrius's creative talents and eye for found style.

Enter Slideshow

Andrius, an artist/craftsman (recent fun job: he worked on the set of Prison Break) told us all about the projects they have done in their home, from beautifully layered paint finishes and a complete bathroom renovation to creating a whole new built in shelf detail below the windows in their dining room. They have lived here for almost two years and have reinvented the space through hard work, pride and fearless decorating decision making. These two are not afraid to d.i.y.!

Design ideas are everywhere you look. The living room boasts alternating width vertical stripes of the same color/different finish creamy paint, topped off with a bold chocolate brown horizontal stripe. The window treatment solution: handmade coffee-stained vellum sheets framed with thin black balsa wood strips, suspended. They look like ancient milky glass panels and provide all the privacy needed for this garden-level apartment without sacrificing any sunlight.

Their talents for redesign and making things work extends to all of their furnishings as well, acquired nearly everywhere except from retail stores - literally four items were new when they got them. Jessica scored some amazing pieces from a library where she worked when they were clearing out, and Andrius loves their vintage stereo system (works perfectly!) that he has memories of listening to as a kid at his grandma's house.

Jessica makes the super-kitschy romance novel switch plate covers seen throughout the home, which contribute humor and style to unexpected corners. She calls them "Love Lights" and sells them at the online shop Alison Rose. Shop owner Alison (yes, another artist!) made the spray paint family portraits in the bedroom photos which look so graphic and mod against the partially stripped vintage wallpaper.

It was a treat to photograph this apartment - Thanks Jessica and Andrius!

Do you have an idea for a house tour?
Let us know - chicago(at)apartmenttherapy(dot)com - thanks!

Comments (27)

I really like the toilet seat, among other things.

Ohh the doggie about the sofa is brilliant!! Sheltie or Collie? Hard to tell at that size but I love it!

Wow. Usually I get a sense of claustraphobia from garden apts, but this one is just lovely. I love the hallway color and the empty frames as decor.

I like how the strategic placement of the lightswitch can sort of make it look like the bare-chested brawny man is in the mood....or not :)

Awesome! I guess being a sister of the interior design genius behind this place makes me impartial... but I love how the photos turned out! This place has so much personality it's a guide as far as where I'd like to be some day for sure. Love it.

This house definitely turns my not-so-perfect frown upside down. Way to go, sis and Andrius!

I too am personally biased for being the reader that clued apartment therapy in to this awesome space. The colors are so bold, saturated and fun! Jessica and Andrius always have something fun and exciting going on in their home. They aren't afraid to take risks and have fun while doing it! They are always amazing me at the awesome 2nd hand finds they find. Yay!!! Double yay for showing birdman!

Another Devon, how awesome.

I got a huge kick out of this place. So much fun, so much personality. It makes me smile!

for being an interior designer myself, I am soooo impressed by what these two have done...will you guys come over and do my place? :)

Very nice house tour, editors!

Thanks, Atomic! It was so much fun to photograph, as you can imagine...

You could have been a contender in both the art and color contests. I love this place!

Not just another pretty face!

That was see-licious! Thanks for the tour.

So beautiful!!!!!

Very nice, house, Photos, all of it. Wrong kinda dog, but the ship picture is rockin'.

i love it

aah, the vellum window treatments are brilliant. In my previous apartment I used waxed paper taped to the lower half of the window (1st fl) but the vellum is much classier!

Where would you be without your mother. Great job son and Jessica, I was a fan right from the beginning of the decorating process.

Thanks to everyone for the lovely comments. I think the photographer (janel!) deserves so much credit as there are multiple postcard-perfect shots (the bull, the glass windows, the campus cuties, etc). My favorite moment, however, is the orange wall of cacti. It looks so warm!

I love the coffee-stained window treatments. In the 1980s or early 90s, Tom Seaver posed for the cover of either GQ or Esquire in white sweats that had been soaked in tea. It was a great color that I'm dying to try out on something.

Yeah, I think of my self as a butch fag, yet the only thing that I really remember from that profile of Tom Seaver was the great color of his sweats.

Oh my god, I just love what they did with that one wall of old wallpaper that they didn't tear down. I've been procrastinating for a year about this one wall in my dining room. Oddly, the other three walls were stripped and painted at some point, but one wall was just repeatedly papered over. Now I'm going to follow their example.

I just love this site.

I love your apartment!! The color use if fabulous (yummy orange walls), and combined with antiques it feels hip and swanky. Exactly a look I'm going for. But I have to say that I really appreciate you all showing a pic of your cat enjoying it too. I have two cats, and it's quite a battle to incorporate style with functionality. Love the magazine/newspaper rack, one would find in a library. Could you show more of your kitchen?

Hi I am new to this site and love it! I was wondering what two colors you used for the faux painted orange room?

Chelle-
I will gladly show more of my kitchen although I must warn you that it's not that exciting. It's our "last frontier," the most problematic room, and we're not yet sure where to go with it. Perhaps I should send in a post to AT and ask for advice?! But stay tuned to my blog (click on my name to get there) and some kitchen photos will show up soon.
Ericka-
We scumbled (roughly blended with brushes) yellow-ivory, pepto bismol pink, and a fleshy red color. After that dried (and looked like the inside of somebody's arm!), we went over everything with an ochre-colored glaze.

i have that rug from target. and i have the dark blue one with all the different colored squares. now that i've taken the red one out of my bedroom, i'm going to take your idea and put it in my dining room instead of rolled up in the closet. thanks for the idea!

Just awful