This Home’s Furniture Is Twice as Old as the Owner (and Absolutely Gorgeous!)
Bumpy Wilson and his fiancé, Aubrey, pay $2,800 a month in rent for this 1,100-square-foot apartment in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood. “My fiancé and I signed the lease six days before our previous lease was due to end; it was a whirlwind,” Bumpy begins. “This current space is significantly smaller than our previous apartment. Determining how our furniture and lives were going to fit was a challenge that makes Tetris seem elementary.”
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Bumpy describes himself as a “goofball artist, and I would like to think those two traits are reflected in my design choices.” He describes Aubrey as being the analytical and realistic one who “is always putting up boundaries, too. THANK GAWD. Otherwise it would be too much.”
The couple shares a passion for original vintage furniture, and say they try to avoid buying new retail pieces when they can. But they say the most important thing about their home is that they needed it to feel welcoming. “There is nothing worse than walking into an apartment and feeling uncomfortable, feeling uneasy, and not at home. Both of us grew up in homes that had an open-door policy so we want people to be able to walk in and feel comfortable,” Bumpy writes.
“That is another reason why I opt to buy vintage furniture that has already been used. It is totally okay to spill, to bump a corner, or whatever. The furniture has been around for 40 years, and nothing is pristine. Eat on the couch, tell a wild story holding a glass of red wine, pull out the blankets, and push things around to make space.”
Along with their enviable vintage furniture collection, the couple has also tackled a few small DIY projects around the rental to bring their personality into the space, like hanging up pendant lights and installing shelves and closet storage accessories. “We signed our lease several days before the move-in day and painted almost the entire apartment in eight hours,” Bumpy writes.
Resources
LIVING ROOM AND DINING ROOM
- Sergio Rodrigues leather lounge chair — Inherited
- Warren Platner coffee table — Spot!
- KAWS sculpture inside coffee table — Scout
- ’80s Bernhardt hexagonal couch — River Otter
- ’80s vintage dining chairs — Mish Mash Mod
- ’90s wood dining table — Golden Triangle
- Two paintings — By me (Bumpy Wilson)
- Rugs USA rugs — Facebook Marketplace
- Two Karel Appels — Hindman Auctions
- Contemporary table lamp — Facebook Marketplace
- Two Grete Jalk lounge chairs — Estate sale and reupholstered by us
- Cupcake cookie jar — Andersonville Antique Store
- Giraffe and clock — Spot!
- Componibili storage unit — Chancellor Davis
- Vintage space age floor lamp — Lincoln Antique Mall
- Memphis style pedestals — Mish Mash Mod
- Lilly Carr print — The Other Art Fair
- Cement planters — Gifted
OFFICE/WORK STATION
- Vintage teak credenza — Spot!
- Custom mirror — Spot!
- Room divider — Facebook Marketplace
- Roy L poster — Inherited
- Vintage Chinese wool rug — Hindman Auctions
BEDROOM
- Joseph Raffael lithograph — Hindman Auctions
- Pendants — IKEA
- Vintage teak bedside tables — Circa Modern
- IKEA full length mirror — Facebook Marketplace
- Vintage rug — Inherited
- Bed frame — All Modern
Thanks, Bumpy and Aubrey!
This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
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