Rehab and Revamp: Chicago 2-flat

While not a gut rehab, rehabbing this building has consumed the past two years of my life. I’ve learned a lot (about listening to my gut mostly), but it’s coming together, and I have a sense of satisfaction that we brought an old building back to life while (mostly) preserving its floor plan and character.

Although this is obvious to many people, it’s amazing what a can of paint will accomplish. Here’s the living room fireplace area before we moved in. The walls and moldings are painted the same color and its a cluttered mess.

And here it is now.

The room basically needed a coat of paint, just paint and merciless editing. Taking down unnecessary window treatments also helped to brighten up the space.

Email me your own before and after photo projects, and I’ll post them online. Or, tag your Flickr photos to “strange closets”.