When Paul and Diane's two sons left the small town where they grew up and went off to college, the smart and sophisticated couple tackled the empty nest syndrome by building a new one in a locale where loneliness would be next to impossible, Chicago's Gold Coast. Their home, located in the landmark, 179 E. Lake Shore Drive, is ideally located between the endless expanse of Lake Michigan and the Magnificent Mile, a shopping district that rivals Manhattan's 5th Avenue.
Initially, the couple (whose son, Matt is a lifelong friend and the subject of a recent Open House) began scouting Chicago real estate for a home away from home, but finding the right place proved to be more challenging than they expected. After a particularly grueling, dark, cold and rainy November afternoon, they decided to tour one more space, a small unit in the lake front co-op building. The lobby, with its elegant black marble and crystal chandeliers, was glowing like a candle and made them forget the rain and feel instantly at home. They bought the apartment and began spending weekends in the windy city.
Continued after photos . . . 
After a few years, Paul and Diane decided to move to Chicago full-time, so when they had the opportunity to purchase two units in the building, they jumped at the chance and embarked on a gut renovation to combine them. The result is an extremely large and graceful residence with generously proportioned rooms, a stunning panoramic lake view and beautiful finishes.
I especially loved the custom kitchen cabinets, the hallway, with its repeating arches and tray ceilings (with lighting designed to eliminate shadows in order to best showcase their art collection) and the balance of masculine and feminine throughout the space.
Seeing the same photos displayed that I remember from my childhood gives the home a wonderful sense of history and continuity. And being a Rear Window fan, the view into the Drake Hotel next door would keep me endlessly entertained.
I wondered aloud if Paul and Diane were settled or if another move might be in their future, and Diane refused to be pinned down but I saw a little gleam in her eye when I mentioned Manhattan, where Matt currently resides.
For all my thumbnails (including some interesting before photos), click here.
Or, for a Flickr slide show, click here.
And to see more Open House home tours, click here.
The shower has a window. Note the interesting custom glass.
Subscribe for weekly home tours and more.
Subscribe in a reader
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Open House Photo Tour . . . Paul and Diane's Lake Shore Drive Dream
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Open House Sneak Peek. . . Paul and Diane's Lake Shore Drive Co-op
Renovation Style
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit a gracious and elegant apartment in a classic Chicago co-op building, 179 E. Lake Shore Drive. The space is spectacular - refined and traditional without sacrificing its currency. Naturally, I took my camera and they kindly agreed to be a part of this week's "Open House".
The tour will be published tomorrow as always, but because there's so much to see, here is a sneak peek of the building's exterior, lobby and lovely lake front neighborhood. Enjoy!
And be sure to come back tomorrow (as always) for the full tour. For past Open House photo tours, click here. And if you have a unique and cool space (or know somebody who does), let me know. Email me (strangeclosets@yahoo.com) a link to photos of your space.
Subscribe in a reader
Friday, June 27, 2008
Open House Garden Tour . . . David and Nancy's Backyard Retreat
Yesterday, we saw David and Nancy's artful home and objects. Today, we look at their tranquil garden space, which starts in the front and wraps all the way around the house, the lush vegetation creating a secluded back yard.
I can easily imagine spending a warm summer evening, sitting around the fire pit, laughing and talking with friends and family.
Don't forget about Nancy's show tonight from 6 - 9 p.m. at the Womenmade Gallery located at 685 N. Milwaukee. For questions, please visit Nancy's website or call 312-738-0400.
Subscribe in a reader
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Open House Photo Tour . . . Nancy and David's Objets d' Art
David and Nancy have so many interesting artifacts that I had trouble simply relegating them to a Flickr set. Enjoy!
I love this little vignette.
Nancy made her kids join sports teams. She didn't care how long they remained a part of the team as long as she got these buttons with their photos. I love that story.
This is one of Nancy's pieces, and I think, stunning.
For her fortieth birthday, David hit every Target in town in order to buy 40 identical frames (he couldn't find them in the same color no matter how hard he tried). He framed little moments from their life together. Aww . . .
Nancy's giant rubber band balls. She made these four years ago, and they are beginning to disintegrate.
Who likes David and Nancy's place?Subscribe in a reader
Open House Photo Tour . . . Nancy and David's Artful Home
David and Nancy have lived in their home for eighteen years and raised three sons there; yet despite its location in Lincolnwood, their house is anything but suburban, its energy far more artistic than parental.
When I arrived at their brick, ranch home, Nancy greeted me warmly, her wavy auburn hair, black tank top and fitted jeans bringing to mind a rock star or celebrity yoga instructor. Or artist. And therein lies the truth. In this ranch, the art and sculpture, the objects Decoratus Absurdum (and not) rule the roost and steal the show. How are we going to reconcile the mixed metaphors? (In case you're wondering, David's got that metro L.A. Producer look - shaved head, trendy glasses, nice threads).
Continued after photos . . . 
Nancy, an accomplished painter, and her hubbie, David value art and as a result, every room is interesting - every vignette provocative. The Nelson chair and the original Eames are, of course, amazing, but they're sharing the stage, they're playing Jan to the art's Marcia (oh God, more mixed metaphors).
The couple's decorating style centers around buying what they love. The result? Interesting artifacts and primitive rugs are paired confidently with Dada-like objects and mid-century furniture. The result is charmingly insane and unanalyzingly eclectic, a notably cool space, even without the strong structural features - spacious rooms, great light, wood paneling and a large, brick fireplace.
Nice house, good energy and a playful, sexy couple - not a bad way to spend a couple of hours . . . or a lifetime.
Check back later today for another post with a more detailed look at Nancy's awesome art collection and interesting "stuff." And tomorrow, Strange Closets presents the second "Open House Garden Tour," with a few photos of David and Nancy's outdoor space.
To see past tours, click here.
For Open House tours every Thursday (and other fun stuff), please subscribe.Subscribe in a reader
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Open House Photo Tour (NY Edition) . . . Matt's Gramercy Park Crib
This week's "Open House" is a New York flat and the first Strange Closets tour outside the metropolitan Chicago area. Matt, whom I met in second-grade (making him one of my oldest friends and the only one I still talk with regularly), recently took advantage of the slight cool-down in Manhattan's white hot real estate market to buy his first place, which is located between Manhattan's Gramercy Park and Kip's Bay; he has lived in a number of neighborhoods, most recently the Upper West Side, and is enjoying the change of pace that his new digs offer.
"My old hood was pretty quiet and residential, but now I feel like I'm in the city. There's a lot of energy around me down there. It's fun. It's also convenient walking distance to midtown
(about a 30 minute walk to my office) or to the downtown nightlife areas. I most often frequent (east village and lower east side)."
The space suits Matt, who likes clean lines and favors a Room and Board aesthetic. Although recently rehabbed, Matt felt compelled to erase all country decor from the kitchen (big thumbs up) and replaced the white appliances with stainless steel. He also had the hardwood floor refinished as the glossy varnish reminded him of a basketball court floor (cue the sound of squeaking sneakers).
I love the light, spacious home, especially the exposed brick walls, built-in shelving and unique circular window (and thank God he didn't decide on a nautical theme, which is always a mistake). The bathroom is classic - cream subway tile in the shower and a marble-topped vanity. I'm looking forward to filing future "NY Reports" from the desk in Matt's guest bedroom.
For past Open House Photo Tours, click here.
For a subscriptilicious time Monday through Friday, enter your email below.Subscribe in a reader
Friday, June 13, 2008
Open House Photo Tour . . . Jim's Garden Oasis
Welcome to the first Open House Garden Tour. If you haven't noticed already, I rarely cover outdoor "rooms." They just don't interest me that much. I mean, they're outside. Even as a kid, I preferred curling up with a blanket next to the air conditioning vent and watching "I Love Lucy" to getting hot, sweaty, dirty and sunburned. But I loved that Jim's back yard really felt like a continuation of his spa-like indoor space.
Continued after photo . . . 
Jim's entire house felt like a relaxing retreat, and the back yard perfectly punctuates that theme. During my visit, the fountain's trickling water and the rustle of leaves muffled any errant city noise pollution. No doubt it won't be long before screaming kids move in next door, ruining any chance that Jim will be able to enjoy the fruits of his 13 year-long rehab.
If the photos look better than normal, it's because I recently bought a new camera online. But it hadn't arrived by the time I visited, so Jim lent me some photos he had taken by a professional photographer.
What do you think? Did you groan when Chicago Home became Chicago Home + Garden? What do you think of Jim's space?
To see other Open House Home Tours, click here.
And if you have a great space or know somebody with a great space, please let me know.
Have a great weekend.
I took this one. I love these chairs - the perfect pop of color and a great deal (Jim paid $5 each).
Me.
Jim (by Me)Subscribe in a reader
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Open House Photo Tour . . . Jim's Bucktown Dwelling
If there's one thing I learned while spending time with Jim, who is well into his second decade of gutting and converting a Bucktown 2-flat into a single family home, it's that he's a very (very) patient man. And while the space is, as it stands, a fantastic interpretation of Japanese Modernism, it's not quite finished.
But even my idea about what constitutes "complete" belies deeply ingrained cultural biases; we're indoctrinated to see the end product, the goal, at the expense of the process. But life is in the process, the details are the good stuff, a lesson which Jim learned in his extensive travels in Asia, specifically in India and Japan and which he cultivated with his yoga practice and meditation.
Continued after photos . . .
I was struck by how differently Jim and I tackled our respective renovations. When I began to rehab my Edgewater 2 flat, it was full-speed ahead, daily trips to Home Depot (I grew to hate those garish orange aprons) and hasty decisions. While I'm happy with the result, the process was stressful and many mistakes were made.
By contrast, Jim offers the ultimate lesson about the wisdom of slowing down and allowing things to unfold naturally. The result is a space that feels very deliberate, precise yet relaxing, its spacious and airy floor plan, minimal use of color and straight lines offering an almost ethereal experience.
Continued . . .
The basement especially is a surprise. Jim dug into the foundation, creating extremely high ceilings that created a true third level that includes a large bedroom with an entire wall of closets and a nearby bathroom, spa-worthy even without the large adjoining sauna.
The space suits Jim; he seems relaxed, happy and peaceful - there's good energy in that home. Jim recently sold his company, so he currently spends his day doing yoga, working on the house and developing a business plan for a concept forming in his head. He's also planning another month-long trip to India, so no doubt he'll be levitating by the time he returns.
And tomorrow, a Strange Closets first; Jim's yard is so fantastic that I'll be publishing the first Open House Garden Tour. If you have an amazing indoor (or outdoor) space or know somebody who does, please let me know.
To view all my thumbnails, click here.
Or, for a Flickr slide show, click here.
Master bedroom seating area.
Lower Level Bedroom
A wall of closets in the lower level bedroom. I love the pop of yellow on the interior doors.
Subscribe then imbibe (you'll need to).
Subscribe in a readerThursday, June 5, 2008
Open House Photo Tour . . . Mike and Wit's Lakeshore Condo
Mike and Wit met four years ago when Wit left Thailand to pursue a graduate degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After earning his degree, Wit left the Midwest (and sadly, Mike) for a job with a prominent design firm in Manhattan. Despite his instant success, the emerging design star quickly realized that New York's grit, glamor and energy was worthless without Mike to share it with.
Love . . . it ruins everything.
So when Mike, a busy school superintendent, bought a dilapidated 3 bedroom condo in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood with plans for a complete gut rehab, Wit packed his bags and moved back to help.
As if a cross-country move, cohabitation and a major rehab weren't enough , Wit decided to start his own business, Open Air Studio. (Wit, where's your ambition? No pet? No baby?)
Continued after photos . . .
The sunken living room. Begging for a key party?
The rehab took three months (if you've ever undertaken a project like this, you know that's lightning fast). And the space is fantastic, the layout, tile choices and paint relate to the view - a seamingly endless expanse of Lake Michigan blue. With east and west exposure, the apartment feels light, open and airy all day. Wit retained sixties design elements like the sunken living room, which is groovy baby.
While happy with the result, Wit is desperate to replace Mike's furniture (but please keep that to yourself.) He likes what's there, but he's a designer, after all, and his creativity is shackled only by his budget.
If you're interested in Wit's design expertise, you can contact him through his website. In addition to design, he specializes in space planning and can help with anything from a living room interior to a gut rehab.
For all thumbnails, click here. Or for a Flickr slide show, click here.
The Social House - Las Vegas (and one of the projects Wit worked on while living in New York)
When I reach 1,000,000 subscribers, I will be giving away nearly $90 in cash and prizes. Sign up now for your chance to win BIG.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Open House Photo Tour . . . Janis's Lakeview Abode
Janis is a rarity in Chicago these days; she bought her house in 1980, paid it off, plans to live there for as long as she's in the city and doesn't really think about what it's worth. And unlike well . . . me, she's never gutted it or thrown out everything to decorate a room from scratch.
"Nobody decorated back then," she explained to me as she described how her house came together . . . slowly and over time. Janis moved to Chicago as a teenager and first settled in New Town (now more commonly referred to as Lakeview) when it was a hippie enclave. After stints living in East Lakeview and Andersonville (when the Swedes still lived there and there was nary a gay in sight), Janis settled into her current home.
Janis is a fan of antique and second-hand stores, preferring to buy items that she finds more interesting and less expensive. Her shelves are full of delicious eye candy and other curiosities, things she collected over the years.
I love Janis' house because she makes decisions based on what she wants, not on what's "in" or how a decision will impact the resale value of the home where she's spent the past 28 years. For example, when she first moved into the house, the floors were damaged and she didn't like the idea of carpeting (which if you will recall, was all the rage in the eighties), so she painted the floors white, an inspired choice that very few of us think of, let alone have the guts to do.
Talking with her is like being deprogrammed by an expert. "Why don't you get white marble counter tops?", I asked her when she started talking about remodeling the kitchen. "Because I like formica, and it's cheaper", she said. Huh? But after a hundred conversations like this, I realized that one doesn't actually need marble to prepare food - it's possible to cook without them.
The point is that Janis has been innoculated against the B.S., and that's what I so value about our friendship - she doesn't conform to expectations, she doesn't bow to corporate culture and she's the first person I met who liked the city better in the eighties, before it was transformed by gentrification run amok. Her tale of meters bountiful and grit majesty sound like a fairy tale now, a better time when the city was really cool, when apartments were cheap and money so besides the point. The city was about families (natural and intentional), it was about art and culture and conversation. And hanging out with Janis makes you believe that maybe, just maybe, her Chicago isn't just a long time ago, but perhaps her (and our) happily ever after.
For a full set of thumbnails, click here. Or, for a Flickr slide show, click here.
Janis subscribes and she's cool. Are you?Subscribe in a reader
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Open House . . . Beth's Lincoln Square Pied a Terre
When Beth and I met during one of my Svenska Mobler lunch sojourns, she surprised me by engaging in a conversation about the nature of good design and the question of what's lost when iconic designs become ubiquitous. Sensing that her place might turn out to be as interesting and smart as she was, I timidly asked her if she'd be open to a Strange Closets house tour. Pleasing me greatly, she said yes and even surprised me with a lovely lunch.
Beth, who shares the flat with her housemate, Hilary, has made a number of interesting interior design choices, which offer tantalizing snippets of information about her life and past. There's a theory that, like a holograph, which holds the entire image in every pixel, a grain of sand contains the entire universe.
In actuality, that theory applies best to people. While Beth's no longer goth or rock-a-billy or an active cog in the political machine, her apartment and the objects she collects reveal that they're all still there inside (alongside) her current incarnation as a design and style maven.
Beth's pied a terre, even absent her possessions, is a fantastic
Trend or not, I love the antlers; seeing them interpreted not with ironic spin, but just displayed authentically made me appreciate them in a new way. I was especially impressed with the way she mixed the taxidermy, leather rhino footstool and the more "cheeky" elements with beautiful art and Swedish furniture and not only made it work but made it work so elegantly. I've been there twice now, and both times, I leave envious and ready to derive until my head explodes (not that duplicating somebody's space ever really works).
Beth's moving out this weekend, and I have very mixed feelings. Although I'm already nostalgiac for "that cool place in
For a full set of thumbnails, click here.
And for a Flickr slide show, click here.
And for more Open House home tours, click here.
Subscribe in a reader
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Open House . . . Hilary's Chicago Riverfront Town Home
When Hilary Bailes of Hilary Bailes Design agreed to open her home for us, I was excited for a few reasons:
1.) She's an interior designer in Chicago, so I was thrilled about the prospect of befriending her and all the fun shopping trips that we would have together at the Mart.
2.) I've been driving by the riverfront town homes for years and my curiosity was awakened with a vengeance when I realized that she lived there.
3.) Hilary is British, and after visiting London last summer (where there are a surprising number of British people), I was looking forward to listening to her accent while I daydreamed that I was once again on vacation in the U.K.
When Hilary opened the door, I didn't know where to look because everything was spectacular (including her sharp outfit and knee-high boots). I immediately noticed the Lucite umbrella holder and from there, my eyes darted around the room like a pinball - to the soaring windows, the entryway art gallery, the hot pink-painted stair risers and on and on.
And then, I settled down and we chatted a bit, and she was so lovely and I spied her 4 year old daughter, Margo's toys, and the superficiality of my first impression morphed into a sort of awe that Hilary had so beautifully integrated Margo's "stuff" into the space without sacrificing high style and drama and glamor (and don't get me started on Margo's bedroom, because frankly, I'm a bit jealous).
Margo's room. See what I mean?
Hilary's got design in her blood; her father was an art historian and antique dealer who brought the family to America in 1978. As a little girl, she exhibited her creative side by designing and sewing her own clothes using her grandfather's vintage upholstery patterns. "You can imagine me walking around in my full length cape in an English chintz pattern," she said.
Hilary wanted a career in fashion but at her father's suggestion, she enrolled at Harrington and soon after graduating, began designing carpet and textile patterns before moving on to designing interior spaces for law firms, startups and many Fortune 500 companies. She started her own interior design business in 1997 and has been growing her client base ever since.
After living as an urban pioneer in Wicker Park (where there were bullet holes in the steel front door) and sinking good money after bad in a dilapidated 3-flat, Hilary moved to the fabulous town home where she replaced the upstairs carpeting with wood, added lighting and gutted the bathrooms and kitchen. So what does Hilary like about living in this space? In her own words:
"Sometimes I think living here is like being on a boat. Every day is different, the water, the wildlife, the large open expanse of space and light. In the summer the old men fish and people sometimes swim, the boats and canoes go by. The rowing teams go by at 6am and 6pm each day, Margo waves. In my last house everything was directed inward, here with the windows, light and space the outdoors is part of my experience. You see it as soon as you walk in the door."
It's a really special place. Thanks for allowing us to tour your home, Hilary (and Margo). If you are interested in meeting with Hilary to discuss your home design needs, you can contact her at 773-489-7100.
For a full set of thumbnails, click here.
For a Flickr slide show, click here.
