Uncategorized – MY CHICAGO HOUSE.

Antiquing in Calistoga (and I bought a mirror)

Some of my best friends threw me the most beautiful bachelorette in Calistoga, California this weekend and we had the best time! We got to spend a full half day antiquing in downtown Calistoga and had some very good finds between the group of us.

It was love at first sight when I saw this gorgeous mirror hanging in the back room of Lincoln Street Market in downtown Calistoga. The mirror is approximately 4 feet in diameter (our guess) and beautifully carved with flowers and leaves.

The origin of the mirror was unknown, but it was on consignment and marked down from $275 to $175 (!!). The price was unbeatable and I bought it on the spot. It will be shipped (yes, come to find out, the shipping did cost more than the mirror for everyone who may be wondering). We took a closer look at the mirror off the wall and it is in great condition.

The mirror is painted and glazed and may actually be made of plaster, or a light wood, but in either case it is going to look great in this pre-war apartment and $175 is tough to beat for a mirror of this size. I can either hang the mirror above the fireplace in the living room or the dining room. The pictures here are the listing photos of the apartment.

If it isn’t the right size for these spots, I am sure I can find the perfect home for it. If not, I will list it for sale on Chairish.

The “before” photos

the listing photos

I have saved all of the listing photos of this unit so I never forget where this project started. The apartment is beautiful and the prior owner kept this apartment so clean and took such impecable care of it.

astor entry — Circular entryway with Scalamandre Ming Circus wallpaper

Double living room with wood burning fireplace

I have a lot of ideas to breathe some new life into this place and am excited to start. The goal is to make smart updates that have big impact. The plan is to paint the majority of the rooms, selectively introducing wallpaper for the guest, front entry and back console. While gray has been a very popular color, I don’t care for it now and am excited to shift to neutral white and cream to showcase artwork.

astor dining — Dining room with second fireplace

astor den 2 — What will be a den, with third fireplace

First I will work with my favorite paint expert to select Farrow & Ball colors and get to work on carefully painting and stripping this wallpaper.

A rental loft: my first Chicago project

a breezy loft gets a post-modern rental makeover

With their open floor plans and soaring ceilings, lofts are one-of-a kind residences and why this loft stood out among a sea of rentals. Interestingly, I had come across photos of our loft online when I lived in New York, before we moved to Chicago, when browsing the internet. This was before I had ever contemplated living in Chicago, so to end up in this exact building by chance is either an amazing coincidence, or a great example of the powers of the internet on predicting consumer choice!

Coffee table: Molteni, Chaise: Room & Board, Chairs: InMod, Bookcase: Sapien / Amazon, Art: designers own

The furniture chosen for this loft was intended to be low profile and transitional so it could move out of the rental someday and into a more permanent spot. This explains the lack of a full couch, which would have been a big commitment, expensive, and potentially hard to incorporate well in a new space. This couch is perfect because it can just as easily serve as the main seating as it is here, or divide a large room.

Chairs: InMod, Couch: Room & Board, Barstools: Eric Trine, Coffee Table: Molteni

The chairs from InMod have custom cushions that were made by Patio Lane with Ralph Lauren fabric. The original InMod cushions were very low quality but the chairs are solid walnut. The Molteni coffee table was purchased off the floor as a sample for 50% off.

Monkey painting: designer made, Woven chair: designer made, Bookshelf: Sapien Amazon, Chairs: InMod with Patio Lane custom cushions, Table Lamp: Neiman Marcus

What made this apartment fun was I had to start from scratch. This provided a lot of fun challenges to get the best deals and make the most from the least. So many elements in this home were made by hand such as the dining room table, the dining chairs, the woven leather chair, most of the artwork and the bar cabinet.