Open House: Leo Designs’ ultra-mod project (PLUS! A call to action!)

10. Jan, 2010 2 Comments

The new Chicago Home + Garden’s on newsstands now, and it’s a terrific issue that includes the Best of 2010 Design Guide, a colorful and sophisticated apartment designed by Nate Berkus and a project that’s very near and dear to Leo Designs co-founder Stephanie Wirth’s heart – her house. Stephanie, who negotiated full decorating control before agreeing to marry her husband Mark Rasmussen, mixed European antiques upholstered in black velveteen and ivory linen with lacquered modern pieces by Kartell and Christian Liaigre. The result is black and white luxury reminiscent of a European salon.

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The mix is a personal choice for Stephanie, but she and her Leo Designs business partner Georgeann Rivas’ work closely with their clients, and their portfolio includes a wide variety of styles: A few traditional spaces, a couple French Country houses and the gorgeous, contemporary home I wrote about one year ago for CS Interior’s Winter 2009 issue. The owners of that space, a couple with four children, were referred to Leo Designs by a friend and former Leo client. After a brief consultation, the couple essentially turned over the keys to the designers while they went back to the business of being a family. It was Stephanie and Georgeann’s dream project.

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Leo Designs co-founders Stephanie Wirth (left) and Georgeann Rivas.

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But it was also an all-consuming one. Stephanie and Georgeann devoted their lives to transforming the former nail factory into a home. As you can see from my scouting shots, the result was stunning, and the family’s extremely happy. Despite the home’s sleek, high-design, it’s surprisingly kid-friendly, and the kids enjoy the rooftop basketball court, the nearby indoor pool, a study room (with a fun Eero Bubble Chair) and a large, comfy, windowless media room. Not to mention their bedrooms, which are radically awesome. Mom enjoys the built-in ebony wood storage lockers Stephanie and Georgeann designed for the mudroom, which make it easy for the kids to pick up when they’re finished playing.

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Click here to download both the CS and Chicago Home articles from Leo Design’s website. And click here to subscribe to Chicago Home + Garden (for only $9.95). It’s a rocky time for magazines and newspapers. Thanks to the Internet and the recession, print advertising revenue has declined rapidly. Unfortunately, blogs, mobile content and social networking don’t kick off enough cash to fill the gap – yet. But it’s only a matter of time before innovative new revenue models kick-starts things. Until then, subscribing to your favorite magazines makes a BIG difference, and it’s one of the best ways you can help your favorite publication chart uncertain waters until things pick up.

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Chicago Home + Garden – January / February 2010

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A SPECIAL ANDY ROONEY-LIKE COMMENTARY

Are we so buried in our IPhones that we forgot about magazines? My favorite design magazines offer a ton of information, gorgeous photography and a healthy dose of inspiration for a ridiculously low price. As Elle Decor Editor in Chief Margaret Russell points out in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue, an annual subscription to most magazines “costs less than a taxi ride and a couple of cappucinos at Starbucks.” Amen. Magazines not only provide hours of delight, they also help to balance the unrelenting flow of bills and snail-spam in my mailbox – a nice perk.

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Click here to read a now classic Strange Closets tale featuring Stephanie Wirth’s six-year old son Reed. Last but not least, if you’re looking for artistic, talented, interesting, friendly and fun designers, click here to contact Stephanie and Georgeann at Leo Designs.

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