City View: Chicago's Contemporary Design Will Blow You Away
Take a whirl through the Windy City's interiors and you might be surprised — they're not all in the conservative camp
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia. I've been writing about design online for quite a few years over at Hatch: The Design Public Blog.
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta... More »
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Chicago has a wealth of iconic buildings — there are Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, Eero Saarinen's Law School at The University of Chicago, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s 860-880 Lake Shore Drive and Bertrand Goldberg's Marina City, to name a few. But many contemporary Chicago designers are quick to point out that the Windy City often gets shrugged off as being too traditional for an urban area with more than 2.7 million people. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
I reached out to eight design professionals in Chicago to find out more about this city's unique design style. "Chicago might be Midwestern in location, but its design has global influence, like all cities filled with immigrants and influences from other places. Like any big city, each neighborhood has its own flavor and feel, and the people who live there imbue it with added personality and style," designer and Houzz contributor Rebekah Zaveloff says. "There seems to be some debate about whether or not Chicago has 100, 183 or 237 neighborhoods, so you can imagine that Chicago has more than a few styles: elegant and tailored Gold Coast apartments, converted loft living in the West and South Loops, vintage modern mixing in Wicker Park/Bucktown, just to name a few."
Indeed, as a world-class city whose inhabitants travel frequently across the globe, bringing back diverse ideas and styles, Chicago is at the forefront of forward-thinking design. What’s more, breathtaking views of Lake Michigan and the striking urban skyline heavily influence its interiors. And Chicago’s high-rises enjoy way more square footage than their comparable New York counterparts; this has helped the third most populous city in the country explode with its unique brand of style that fuses traditional, modern and contemporary looks.
More City Views
I reached out to eight design professionals in Chicago to find out more about this city's unique design style. "Chicago might be Midwestern in location, but its design has global influence, like all cities filled with immigrants and influences from other places. Like any big city, each neighborhood has its own flavor and feel, and the people who live there imbue it with added personality and style," designer and Houzz contributor Rebekah Zaveloff says. "There seems to be some debate about whether or not Chicago has 100, 183 or 237 neighborhoods, so you can imagine that Chicago has more than a few styles: elegant and tailored Gold Coast apartments, converted loft living in the West and South Loops, vintage modern mixing in Wicker Park/Bucktown, just to name a few."
Indeed, as a world-class city whose inhabitants travel frequently across the globe, bringing back diverse ideas and styles, Chicago is at the forefront of forward-thinking design. What’s more, breathtaking views of Lake Michigan and the striking urban skyline heavily influence its interiors. And Chicago’s high-rises enjoy way more square footage than their comparable New York counterparts; this has helped the third most populous city in the country explode with its unique brand of style that fuses traditional, modern and contemporary looks.
More City Views
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| One advantage Chicago has over some of the other major cities in the U.S. is more square footage on average. "We are lucky in Chicago that most of the rooms in our clients' homes are decently sized when compared to other cities like New York," says Tom Riker of James Thomas Design. "We have the luxury of specifying pieces that are on a grander scale than many residences in other cities." |
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The spacious homes have spurred innovation, too. "The long, narrow lots that distinguish typical Chicago residences present certain proportion and layout challenges," says interior designer Lisa Wolfe. "Our common three-flat condos and single-family homes are often only 20 to 30 feet wide and can feel like one long hallway. We find ourselves creating many custom pieces to accommodate this, most often dining banquettes."
The layouts also encourage opening up the floor plans. "Kitchens and living areas are often open to each other, and families practically live in these busy, compact areas," Wolfe describes. "Squeezing multiple functions into a small space while maintaining that main walkway through the home requires some serious editing and smart design."
The layouts also encourage opening up the floor plans. "Kitchens and living areas are often open to each other, and families practically live in these busy, compact areas," Wolfe describes. "Squeezing multiple functions into a small space while maintaining that main walkway through the home requires some serious editing and smart design."
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"Chicagoans don’t equate square footage with luxury," Wolfe continues. "They have learned to value practical, intelligent and beautiful design over a McMansion sense of scale. We’ve been ditching the established notions of formal rooms for blended, multifunctional zones. Dining and living rooms are often one shared space, delineated by cleverly placed furniture."
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"Because of space limitations in Chicago, we find ways to creatively repurpose spaces for maximum impact," Wolfe says. "For example, in a one-bedroom condo, we knocked down a wall to create a functional and decorative bookcase. This opened up the boxy room layout and created a welcoming hallway between the entry and living room."
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| A lot of the residential space in Chicago is many stories above street level. "A huge misconception about Chicago design is that designing in a high-rise is difficult," says Emily Mackie of Inspired Interiors. "I actually think planning a remodel in a high-rise is very straightforward and structured. There are more rules and reqirements, but they help guide your overall design for the space." |
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by Mia Rao Design
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| Interior designer Mia Rao agrees. "The urban view is distinctive. We often design high-rise spaces with urban and high-rise views, which can be typical in other major cities. However, in Chicago, there is often attention paid to Lake Michigan," she says. "Many high-rise condos have some sort of lake view, and people play off the water with regard to color scheme and design." The lake views inspired the condo design seen here. "We worked with grays and cool peacock-green tones, which are both colors that are often present in the color of the lake depending on the daylight and weather," Rao says. "Along with the lakefront, many high-rise homes focus on another unique natural element to Chicago: Lincoln Park. We enjoy playing off these themes and bringing the outside in with our interior designs." |
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| This is a fresh take that honors the past in Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's iconic International style apartment buildings at 860-880 Lake Shore Drive, which enjoy sweeping views of Lake Michigan. The designers used iconic Miesian furniture. A well-placed Barcelona sofa keeps the view open while emphasizing low-slung horizontal lines. |
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| "While the Midwest in general is more conservative than either coast, the design community in Chicago is as talented if not more so than our seaboard counterparts." says interior designer Michael Abrams. "While we are not a city typically known for the of-the-moment look, we are a city of designers with tremendous talent that has continually produced some of the best interiors across the country." Abrams cites this penthouse duplex apartment as a great example of Chicago's "clean, urban, transitional design," as he puts it. |
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| Riker concurs. "We think that there is a misconception that design in Chicago is timid or conservative as compared to L.A. or New York. We find that in our practice, this is not all true," he says. "Most of our clients travel internationally for both work and pleasure, and are therefore open to new ideas and concepts. One of our most popular requests is that our clients want their homes to be unique and not cookie cutter. They are willing to experiment to push the envelope in terms of design." |
by Mia Rao Design
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This is one of Rao's bedroom interpretations of Chicago's sleek urban style.
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| Many designers also note Chicagoans' willingness to incorporate and define their city's emerging trends. "While many of the houses in Chicago lean toward the traditional, I see more and more clients willing to take risks with mixing modern furnishings in traditional homes," Zaveloff says. "People are more open to having fun with mixing eras and styles rather than being rigid. I also have more clients willing to use vintage pieces and, more importantly, willing to wait for the time necessary to find the perfect piece." |
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"A little bit of bling, tempered with a bit of industrial edginess on a traditional base, is also something Chicagoans seem to be more open to these days," Zaveloff says. "Most of my clients aren’t looking for safe and transitional; they’re looking for something that expresses who they are or who they want to be."
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| A new trend in kitchen design in Chicago is refrigerator-freezer columns, according to Mackie. In this kitchen a separate refrigerator and freezer anchor the cabinet wall. "Separating the normal, huge refrigerator into two components makes symmetry and balance much more achievable in the interior space plan," she says. "There is no longer a huge whopping refrigerator visually disrupting your beautiful new kitchen design." |
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| "We are definitely seeing brass — especially antique brass — coming back strong," Riker says. "We are using it for everything from light fixtures to door and cabinet hardware. It is very classic and timeless. Polished brass is a bit harsh and still feels a little '80s, but we love the look and feel of aged, antique brass." |
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| Zaveloff is noticing the same popularity in the material. "An openness to mixing metal finishes and other materials in kitchens is on the upswing. I don’t get wide eyes and nervous twitches anymore when I suggest antique brass light fixtures over an island when the hardware is nickel, appliances are stainless and the bar stools are chrome," she says. See more about how to mix metal finishes in the kitchen |
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| "When designing a Chicago home, I find that most people like to mix things up, using modern pieces along with primitive pieces," says interior designer Jennifer Harris. "Antiques get a fair play too, whether they have sentimental value or are simply a piece that a client just fell in love with." Harris often freshens up antiques with a coat of semigloss paint or by reupholstering them in a wild, funky or ethnic fabric. |
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And Chicagoans are going bold as well. Harris has discovered a fearless, anything-goes attitude toward interior color palettes. "I have seen bright colors, neutral colors and even pastels used as color schemes in Chicago homes. It is all in the way it is put together that makes a pleasing statement," she says.
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| Meanwhile, Wolfe is hearing a lot of requests for cocktail bars. "More and more clients want a bar in their public living spaces — for both function and form. They're a fun architectural feature to play up, and they often set the tone of a room, be it funky or elegant," she says. "In a Chicago three-flat, our client wanted to turn their plain, utilitarian living room into a multifunctional lounge for entertaining as well as everyday living. We turned two underused closets with cheap, ugly doors into the focal points of the room: a glamorous bar and a decorative bookcase that rolls away to expose the electrical panel." |
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| Trends aren't confined to just living spaces, either. Mackie points to the growing demand for vessel tubs in bathrooms. "Who needs ugly tile decking around a drop-in tub when you can have a gorgeous compact vessel tub with air bath and chromatherapy features? This trend saves space while looking supersexy," she says. Learn about colored bathroom lighting |
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| Finally, rooftops and outdoor spaces are a trend that will never die in Chicago. "We get more than our fair share of winter, so come springtime outdoor spaces are Chicago's most coveted real estate, and if you have a view of our world-class skyline, even better," Wolfe says. "Chicago rooftop culture is city living at its best. From our roofs we watch our baseball, cook our dinners in outdoor kitchens and watch the sunset over cocktails." Next: More City Views |
Ideabook updated on Feb. 25, 2013.
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Retractable door and window screens as well as retractable motorized screens are very popular for homeowners who do not want a screen that is visible all the time and that will block their beautiful views.
Retractable screens are the perfect solution as they are hidden in a low-profile housing and when needed, they simply pull out of their housing and latch in place allowing owners to enjoy fresh air.
They can be matched in color to the opening and provide insect and solar protection for the interior of the home. They can also be installed on the inside or outside of the home and blend in perfectly with any opening so they are barely visible from view.
Love the doors that cover the fridge and freezer in the black kitchen, the bookcase that hides the electric panel, the half-inserted shelfs in the bedroom. Lots of beautiful custom solutions.