Located in a vibrant, northwestern neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, this home was originally designed to suit a more formal life style. This 4 bedroom house was furnished with a formal living room, dining room, kitchen, breakfast area, and family room on the main level with an additional reck-room, work out room and wet bar in the basement. Indeed it’s a lot of rooms for a family of two.

 

 

 

 

 

Most of the spaces and rooms were unused; in essence the layout needed to suit a more active, casual life style. The before pictures are below. The kitchen and bathrooms were in excellent condition and since they are fixed rooms, I used them as the ground work for the design.  I always enjoy such challenging aspects of any project.

My first task was to paint; the 1st floor spaces needed to be brighten up. One would assume that the big windows would naturally draw in a lot of light. Well as luck would have it, that wasn’t the case.  The neighboring houses are too close together. As a counterbalance,  I selected a white that was a shade darker than the trim to apply above the chair rail. For below, I selected a blue-grey color.(I kept it neutral because of the sheer size of the space.) It’s hard to decipher in the pictures of the living room but there is a raised white molding detailed below the chair enhancing the formal atmosphere. Since we are wanting to lean away from this type of atmosphere,  I painted the entire area in the said blue-gray color.  What a difference it made!

This space was originally a formal living room that was again never used. And since the fireplace was in an awkward spot, I decided to designate the space for cozy office space and reading area. We selected wall hung shelving as an informal work space.  (Due to the hight of the chair rail, we put the desk at bar height.) This way you can work while being in the family room.

What an entrance! Instead of entering in to a formal living and dining room, you now enter into a bright, spacious family room.

The use of space has changed; I moved the formal dining area to where a small living room was situated. This allowed for a larger gathering space for entertaining family and friends. A small seating area was added next to the kitchen. I used this space as a way for guests to relax while someone is in the kitchen; again creating a communal area.

The bright white continues into the kitchen and dining area, tying the living room and kitchen space together. To add some dimension and help define the dining room and kitchen I added an accent wall of hunter green, that contrasts beautifully with the warm colored cabinets.

 

 

 

 

 

The master bedroom required an update in curtains, which are room darkening and added some texture with the fur and floral rug. Paintings and pictures were removed to simplify the space.

The guest bedroom was a similar situation; I removed the tie backs for the curtains giving it a modern look and swapped out the furniture for a full bed and smaller dresser. Adding the white bedding makes such a big difference.

Voila! I hope that you enjoyed the transformation as much as me.

Cheers!

Unless noted, the photography on this page were taken by VHT Studios in Rosemont, Illinois.