(NYC'ers beware, Janel's fourth post from Chicago might cause heartburn and palpitation while at work due to the excessive space pictured within.)
Name: Shannon and Emmett
Location: Chicago, IL
Size: 1700 s/f !!
Take a powder-coating factory in Chicagos River West neighborhood. Subtract the spray paint. Add the following: Ten years, a painter named Emmett, a sculptor named Shannon, hard work, creativity, and some really great vintage furniture. Mix in: A young son, happy neighbors (goodbye toxic fumes), more hard work and lots of art supplies.
Oh yes, and dont forget the cute dog. What do you get? The result is one of my favorite urban family homes; a true hands-on renovation from raw space to harmonious home and studio.
The 1700 square foot apartment has exposed brick, heavy timber beams and huge windows along its west wall. The main open space serves as kitchen, dining and living room. The two bedrooms and bathrooms are enclosed areas, as is the 800 square foot work studio. Skylights and repurposed windows set high into the interior walls let natural light into the back rooms.
Being the home of veteran bargain hunters and treasure seekers, it features enviable finds. The butter yellow metal kitchen cabinets and stainless cook top were bought directly from the retired cabinet-makers own home in Indiana. Classic twentieth century design pieces and vintage metal furniture comprise most of the furnishings, along with a new, cozy sectional. A small computer workspace and bookshelves cleverly made from salvaged stair treads define one wall. The collections of pottery, quirky toys, found curiosities and artwork made by friends make the space a pleasure to explore.
The couples artwork is created in their (always amazingly organized!) studio. Emmett makes smooth, meticulously layered paintings that impress with their scale and beautiful sense of color. He also makes wooden sculptures reminiscent of oversized toy tops. They are carved, painted, lacquered and highly polished. Shannon is a metal sculptor. Among her works are large pieces on which she wields her torch like a brush, carving pretty, delicate forms from nature in the rough metal. They are left untreated, to develop a patina as they age. The circular prints next to the bookshelves are hers, as well. Currently she is designing and fabricating original work for Chicagos amazing Redmoon Theater.
Summer 2005 brought the unveiling of a new improved roof top deck, complete with furniture designed and made by the family. Soon, theyre beginning work on a second story addition to house a master suite, childs bedroom, bathroom and laundry. The current bedrooms will become an office and guest apartment. This home is an ever evolving work-in-progress, and with Shannon and Emmett, the journey is always interesting.
- Janel
Beautifully furnished but with tons of personality. Real people obviously live here and love it. Wonderful, wonderful.
Gorgeous, gorgeous. I especially like the bedroom--it has such a wonderful, diffused, warm, and womb-like quality.
I love Emmett's paintings (assuming the tricycles are his?)! Is there any way I can get in touch with him?
Now I am going to the other room so I can get sick with envy over all that space.
damn cool art. cool space. cool people. when can I move in?
actually I do have a question...the footed bookshelves in the background of the lead photo? where? those are killer
rs
Jennifer, click on Emmett's name to get to his website
Great place. Any pics of the roof deck? Bonus points for being a fellow Chicago weim owner (at least I think it is a weim and not a vizsla)!
Great use of space and nice placement and storage of collectibles-- particularly the pottery above the kitchen cabinets and the toys in the work room.
-- John
Sensational, in every way.
Are those slides framed in small square boxes and backlighted above the bed? Love the idea. (if yes).
And the kitchen cabinets: paintedmetal?
Beautiful.
And I want to kiss that dog right on it's nose.
love those bookshelves. they look handmade. any idea how they were made?
Best
Jane
Wow! Those people are committed. Well done.
Holy whatever, this is absolutely gorgeous in every possible way. The space. The light. The furnishings. The place is totally livable and that art work! I might even be just a teeny weeny bit envious of the people who live here. And good for them. Quite inspiring and so now I see I need to review a few things at home.
I'm going to check out Emmet's website.
Thanks. This perked up my day.
love, love, love. aesthetically pleasing, homey and warm, hip and stylish but loaded with the personal and personality. it feels like such a happy, lived in home. kudos!
two questions, please:
1. is your elliptical dining table by piet hein? if not, who makes it?
2. above your shelves, you have open square spaces. are those filled with glass or are they empty. i couldn't tell because the photo doesn't show it completely.
thank you.
OK I'm not experiencing heartburn or palpitations but oh yes, dear Shannon & Emmett, I do covet thy space! :) And I love that retro lamp in the bedroom with the Asian lady base. Back in the '50s, my parents had a similar pair of bedside lamps, one a woman, the other a man (wish my mom didn't get rid of them).
I literally gasped in envy at the studio space. Wow, I'm jealous. It looks awesome.
Bookshelves DIY or purchased where?
To all who asked about the shelving: I know it's not what's pictured above, but I wanted to share a wonderful shelving/cab system I saw at the latest Brooklyn furniture show: Atlas Industries
www. atlaseast.com
The www.atlaseast.com shelving system looks nice but it is fairly expensive.
Absolutely beautiful. Homey and exciting. The type of place you could examine and reexamine for months.
I think the placement of the two tables is interesting. And I LOVE the jutxaposition of the Asian lamp and the toy bulldozer.
Kudos!
If those shelves aren't DIY, they very easily could be. I saw some of that thicker pine at Lowe's (do they have those in NYC or just Home Depot?) and the rest of it is just plumbing. I like the look and may borrow it for the home office.
I want to move in right now
As someone who is about to live in a 60sqm (around 650 feet I think - my metric conversion is rusty) apartment, with 3 other people, I am exceedinglyjealous! Amazing & lovely.
The Atlas stuff is beautiful, and was posted here back in 2004:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/111104/brooklyn/atlas-industries-as4-shelving-001424
ps--
Janel is doing an awesome job with her posts. We won't hold the behemoth size of this loft against her, though!! ;)
Thanks patrick - that's so nice to hear.
And, thanks for not holding the fabulous size of this loft against me, I've been trying not to hold it against Shannon for years now...
and to all the folks with questions: thanks, and either Shannon, Emmett, or I will post info ASAP
Very, very cool.
Yes! Please do give us more info on the technique used for the frames behind the bed. Are they back-lit slides, or 2d images with bright lighting from the asian lady lamp? Hard to tell from the photo.
Either way-- GORGEOUS!!
Thanks for the lovely comments everyone! I feel the same way about Shannon and Emmett's place.
Ok, here are some answers:
rs, Jane, Chris and Jeremy in VA:
Good eye, Jeremy! The bookshelves were made by Shannon and Emmett from recycled stair treads from an old Chicago coach house and threaded pipe they bought at Home Depot. They said it only took an afternoon to build(!).
Jeremy: Sorry-I didn't get pix of the deck (February in Chicago-boo), and the doggie is a vizsla who loves that spot on the sofa.
Tat: The light boxes over the bed are made from boxes with 4x5 transparencies of Emmetts work, wired up with 5v bulbs.
Yes, the cabinets are painted metal.
Barbara: The dining table is Florence Knoll, found at Urban Artifacts on Lincoln Ave. in Chicago.
The squares above the shelves are repurposed windows from the original facade of the factory. They do have glass in them. They allow light into the bedroom, which is on the other side of that wall.
Phyllis: The "man" lamp is on the other night table! They do have the pair, and actually got them separately and reunited them...
I wanted to know if they sealed their exposed brick walls. We have them in our 18 month old daughters room and we keep hearing that we should cover them with sealant -- any thoughts?
::Waving to Janel from Lincoln Park::
Keep up the good work!
Ideas for future explorations:
Check into interviewing the guys at Hallmark Fabrics at Diversey and N. Elston. They have great stories to tell and their shop is a pleasant way to feel like you're getting to-the-trade only without the intimidation.
Also Roy's Furniture at Altgeld and Sheffield turned out to be a godsend to this newbie-Chicago family.
Michelle:
I haven't spoken to Shannon re: sealing the walls,but please check back, I'll post here with her answer. In the meantime you might want to look at an interesting Apartment Therapy thread about dealing with painting/sealing exposed brick. Its in the archive from March 29, 2005, and one of the comments even gives a "recipe" for a simple homemade brick sealant.
Lisa: Thanks so much for the ideas! We're neighbors!...are you planning on going to the get-together on the 9th? There is a thread going about it for any interested Chicago folks.
One more thing, where is that cool looking red oriental rug from? I can't seem to find anything similar anywhere (rugman and the other similar suspects).
>...are you planning on going to the get-together on the 9th?
I'm not really the bar-party type. And generally, the only school-night socializing I do is for my husband's work. But have a ton of fun!
Michelle:
From Shannon:-Yes the couple should seal their child's room. We had our walls tuckpointed and sealed with some non gassing stuff but we can't remember the brand....
Chris:
From Shannon:- Our rug is from E bay (new not vintage) .... it's a William Morris pattern.
Hope that's a little helpful...
Shelving FYI for Chicago friends - I just ordered some pole mounted shelves & cabinets from ISS Designs. They have the best web site in the shelving business. My husband and I got the white oak wood veneer cabinets w/shelves...and the price was reasonable. They ship to Chicago and can recommend a local installer.
Now I'm pissed that I have to go home to my place instead of something more like this. Amazing work. Everywhere you look it's a treat for the eyes.
I love your space. Where can one find similar cabinets?
I'm interested in metal kitchen cabinets.