Living room with red sofas, a black coffee table with books and decorative items, a stone fireplace with a guitar on a stand, a tall white floor lamp, framed artwork on an exposed brick wall, a window letting in natural light, and a mix of modern and rustic decor.

Where old refuses to leave

When our client moved from a smaller apartment into a former 19th-century bakery in Lincoln Park, she brought most of her life with her. What she needed was a plan for the larger space and someone to help her see what was already working.


Generations of renovations meant that the building already had its own personality, with its original brick walls, high ceilings, and a strange floating room off the main level. It got the best light in the house and had an intimacy the second larger living room couldn't match. We converted it into a secondary living space with a Ligne Roset Kashima sofa, and that was that. Her two miniature poodles took to it immediately.

Downstairs, the sunken living room came together around what she already owned: a vintage Herman Miller Chadwick modular sofa in its original red upholstery, a 19th-century Louis XVI chair, antique vessels from Burma and China that she'd collected over the years. New additions completed the room: a 110-inch projection screen that rises from the floor when it’s time for movie night and marble side tables sourced from Facebook Marketplace. 

The design problem wasn't starting from scratch—it was figuring out where each piece’s home was. 

A black Yamaha digital piano with a matching bench, a vase of yellow tulips, a framed artwork of a woman with a colorful dress, a wall-mounted lamp, and a brick wall in the background.
A cozy living room with a large window, brick wall, beige sofa, green potted plant in a yellow pot, white and gray curtains, a white wall clock, and a dog sitting on the sofa with a blanket.
A bedroom with a bed, a wooden side table, and a black and white abstract artwork on the wall. The room has large windows with white blinds, and a pink rug on the dark wood floor.
A modern kitchen with white marble countertops and backsplash, wooden cabinets, and brick wall accents, featuring a stainless steel exhaust hood above a stove, and decorative plants in containers.
Living room with a brick accent wall, red sofas, a black coffee table, decorative items, and wall art, illuminated by natural light from a window.
A modern metallic lamp with a disc-shaped shade and a wooden table surface. A decorative green dragon figurine rests on a dark wooden sideboard below. A patterned fabric is partially visible in the foreground.