Chicago Home Tours

Name: Johanna Lowe, food and prop stylist, and Derek Richmond, food photographer; together, they are the co-founders of Richmond Lowe Studio. Location: Logan Square; Chicago, Illinois Size: 3,000 square feet, with an additional 2,000 square feet of outdoor space Years lived in: 7 months; Rented Could there be a more perfect pairing than a food and prop stylist and a food photographer?

Name: Elizabeth Tulipana, founder of Anticipation Events + Bad Loo Loo Location: Bucktown; Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,000 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; Rented Putting together a space that functions as both a home and base for her event planning business and Etsy shop came naturally to Elizabeth. A lover of all things vibrant and patterned, her spacious one bedroom apartment reflects her dynamic spirit and boundless creativity.

Name: Hallie Glennie Location: South Loop, Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,000 square feet Years Lived In: 2 years; Owned From the rustic wood ceilings crisscrossed by painted red duct work to the castle-sized windows surrounded by floor-to-ceiling exposed brick, her loft is the real deal — that sleek, urban look that suburbanites (like myself) often try to emulate with faux brick panels and prepackaged beadboard, but can never quite capture for lack of authenticity.

Name: Eric, founder of Fair Coast Goods & Upholstery, and Kellie, advertising account manager Location: Roscoe Village, Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,300 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years (own) Eric and Kellie’s wonderfully bright and modern loft is punctuated by a serendipitous story (bad pun intended!). You see, shortly after moving into their loft, which is a converted pencil factory, Eric launched his own business making handcrafted leather goods.

Name: Rosie and Kara Volcano Location: Wicker Park, Chicago, IL Size: 1,000 square feet (2 bedroom coach house) Years lived in: 1; rented Volcanos are fiery and dynamic, leaving ribbons of blazing light in their wake. Kara and Rosie Volcano certainly fit this bill. Warm, welcoming, and downright radiant, they are an on-the-go-couple who are just as fearless in their home design as their personal pursuits.

Name: Sara Tunstall, Digital Producer, and Becky Kastelic, Art Director Location: Wicker Park; Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; Rented Longtime roommates Sara and Becky make cohesive cohabitation seem effortless. Friends since college, these ladies combine carefully selected additions from estate sales and big box stores together with favorite pieces from their childhood homes to give this historical space a sense of depth and timelessness.

Name: Marti Palermo and Jarrod Routh Location: Lincoln Square; Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; rented There’s a real effortlessness about Marti and Jarrod’s home: a fresh, comfortable simplicity that immediately puts one at ease. I felt right at home on a Sunday afternoon with sunlight streaming through the windows, Wild Belle on the stereo, and a cold glass of beer.

Name: Brian Cobb and Brad Harris (Benny, greyhound & Chi-Chi, chihuahua mix) Location: Rogers Park; Chicago, Illinois Size: 901 square feet Years lived in: 9 months; Owned Brian and Brad have the eye, the patience, and the motivation that is required from artists who create perfectly harmonious and balanced spaces. They are also able to pull it all together in quick order — just nine shorts months.

Name: Ashley Location: West Town; Chicago, IllinoisSize: 1,800 square feetYears lived in: 2 years; RentedAshley had quite a project on her hands. She had just finished her residency, and moved out of a three-bedroom apartment that was shared by a total of four roommates. With only a handful of furniture pieces in tow, she went searching for more space, and found a former embroidery factory that had been recently renovated in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood.

Name: Arthur Garcia-Clemente & Kristin Over Location: Printer’s Row, Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; Rented When two interior designers move in together for the first time, to a loft space with only a few walls and even fewer enclosed rooms, the chances for design conflict run high.

Name: Irina (and Lummi) Location: South Loop; Chicago, Illinois Size: 975 square feet Years lived in: 1 year; owned Coleridge, influenced by an opium-induced dream, wrote of “a stately pleasure-dome” that Kubla Khan established in Xanadu. In this space, verdant gardens mingled with caves of ice, and the sweet scent of incense floated above the sun-dappled hills, inspiring “deep delight.

Name: Laura Shaeffer, Andrew Nord, Jasper and Sebastian Location: Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,400 square feet Years lived in: 9 years; Owned Laura and Andrew’s modernist townhome is a part of a community near the University of Chicago campus. It has 2 floors, a basement, and a huge backyard accessible by the other houses in the community. Their house is HOME Gallery, an intersection between a living space, an art gallery, a community engagement center, a playground, and a school.

Name: Hillary Schuster, graphic designer and aspiring wedding stylist, and Michael Kiser, freelance writer, photographer, brand strategist, and founder of Good Beer Hunting Location: Ravenswood; Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,600 square feet Years lived in: 2.5 years; Rented Curios collected and lovingly composed unify the style of Hillary and Michael, a Chicago couple who balance home space with work space, and ephemera with plenty of classic, quality pieces.

Name: Danielle Moss (and Buddy) Location: Lincoln Park; Chicago, Illinois Size: 750 square feet Years lived in: almost 1 year; rented Danielle Moss leads a hectic life. As a co-founder of The Everygirl, a popular website dedicated to career-driven women, the owner of her own graphic design and photography business, and the writer behind the blog Breakfast at Toast, it’s a wonder that she has time to think about interior design at all.

Name: Terri Falvey (Advertising copywriter, freelance graphic designer, daydream comedy writer) and Adam Penly (Software engineer, musician, amateur photographer) Location: Albany Park; Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,200+ square feet (townhouse w/ partially finished basement) Years lived in: 1.5 yearsYou know how some couples are simply fun to be around and some homes are simply happy homes?

Name: Sarah and Brian Meeks Location: Homewood, Illinois Size: 1,000 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years; owned Nearly everything in Sarah and Brian’s house – from the credenza they found on the side of the road right down to their three cuddly shelter pets – has been rescued or re-purposed.

Name: Brad and Joe, plus Lilly (dog) and Olivia (cat) Location: East Lakeview — Chicago, Illinois Size: 420 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; Owned Brad and Joe’s Lakeview apartment is a wonderful lesson in making the most of a small space. This 420 square foot apartment is home to two men, one sizable dog and a cat — and yet it actually feels spacious, clutter-free and comfortable. Joe and Brad have made great use of every inch of space in their small apartment.

Name: Bert Fox & David Pickett + Sophie the PugLocation: West Lakeview, Chicago, IllinoisSize: 830 square feetYears lived in: 1 year, 10 months; Rented When Bert and David rented their first apartment together, they enlisted the assistance of a friend and interior designer to help them turn it into a home. With a mix of vintage furniture and rich colors, they’ve managed to turn a standard issue Chicago apartment into a comfortable and stylish home.

Name: Kelly and MichaelLocation: Hyde Park, Chicago, ILSize: 1,480 square feetYears lived in: 3 years; rented The last word that one probably wants to use in reference to one’s home is “clinical,” but according to Kelly, that’s what the space felt like when she and her husband Michael moved into their university-provided housing three years ago.

Name: Elizabeth Krueger & Brent SandersLocation: Ukrainian Village — Chicago, IllinoisSize: 1,250 square feetYears lived in: 1.5 years — rented The downturn in the housing market has left many high end, new construction apartments and condos sitting empty.

Name: Dean Fisher (and Bunny, a corgi-beagle mix) Location: Logan Square — Chicago, Illinois Size: 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom Years lived in: 1.5 — rented One of the first things Dean said to me was, “I love old things.” A glance around her apartment will confirm this statement, as the eye readily falls on vintage furniture, taxidermy, and old copies of National Geographic. The place is full of antique treasures, but make no mistake: this is no fusty lair.

Name: Cory and Kristine HankinsLocation: Bucktown — Chicago, IllinoisSize: 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom + denYears lived in: 9 months — rented In a short amount of time, newlyweds Cory and Kristine Hankins have managed to turn their one-bedroom rental into a calm, inviting space. Kristine tends to favor a classic look, where Cory’s style is more modern, but the two have come together to form a cozy, surprising mixture.

Name: Jess ConstableLocation: East Lakeview — Chicago, IllinoisSize: 725 square feetYears lived in: 1 year — rented Jess has striven to turn her plain-Jane rental into a lovely comfortable home. Along the way, she often referred back to Summer Thornton’s house tour, which we posted way back in 2008. (Further proof that traditional elegant style is timeless.) Jess is one busy lady.

Name: Nicole ZieglerProfession: Graphic Designer/Art DirectorLocation: Wicker Park, ChicagoType: 700 sq ft rented 1 bedroom brick townhouseYears lived in: 9 months >> A lot of Nicole’s finds come from family and near her Scranton, PA roots, creating what she calls her “vintage comfortable” apartment.

Name: Emily BallardProfession: Gallery Assistant/ Appraisal SupervisorLocation: Lincoln Park, ChicagoSize: Roughly 300 sq ft rented studioTime lived in: 7 months >> With solid bones and some interesting history, Emily has been able to make her Lincoln Park studio an open, light, whimsical yet thought-out home in just a few months. In a building that used to be a hotel, the (small) floor plans of each unit replicate those of vintage hotels.

Name: Summer and Josh ThorntonProfession: Summer – Owner, Summer Thornton Design, Josh – AdvertisingLocation: Lincoln ParkSize: 700 square feetYears lived in: A little over 1Type: 1 bedroom condo in 1890’s brick and greystone >> Those of you who joined as at our last Design Meetup know Summer. She was one of our guests, giving us the scoop on what it is like to run her own design business in Chicago.

Name: Amy (and Janis, her Maltese)Profession: Editor & Founder of Venus Zine and venuszine.comLocation: Humboldt Park, Chicago Size: About 500 square feetYears lived in: 1 year, ownedType: 1920s brick apartment building-turned-condos >> Amy is a wiz at working from the ground up. In college, she started a black-and-white stapled fanzine that evolved into Venus Zine, an internationally distributed full-sized glossy that covers women in pop culture.

Name: Andreas Location: Greektown, Chicago Size: 1,000 sq. ft. Years lived in: 8 months I’m inspired by the Danish Modern movement, specifically Grete Jalk, Arne Jacobsen, Hans Wegner. I really wanted my home to look different than any place I’d seen before. I wanted it completely different than the way it was when I moved in…and it is (see the “Before” photos). And I love good chairs!