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My Houzz: A Victorian Home in Chicago Gets an Industrial Update
Repurposed finds, vintage treasures and some urban-chic touches create a polished yet laid-back home with a talking point in every room
Garrett and Courtney Anderson knew their Victorian home in Chicago was in need of a major update when they bought it. ‘It had been a rental home for a number of years and was in poor condition. The entire place had a dank, dark feeling,’ says Garrett.
He and wife Courtney, both professional dancers, moved to Chicago after spending three years in Antwerp, Belgium, at the Royal Ballet of Flanders. They wanted to renovate this home with the prospect of renting it out short-term, so they got to work with Mike Shively of Morgante Wilson Architects and contractor Abel Marin of Pro-Done Remodelling. The couple drew on their experience with modern European style and their love of vintage furnishings, and natural surfaces and textures, to give the three-bedroom home a cool refresh with an industrial edge.
He and wife Courtney, both professional dancers, moved to Chicago after spending three years in Antwerp, Belgium, at the Royal Ballet of Flanders. They wanted to renovate this home with the prospect of renting it out short-term, so they got to work with Mike Shively of Morgante Wilson Architects and contractor Abel Marin of Pro-Done Remodelling. The couple drew on their experience with modern European style and their love of vintage furnishings, and natural surfaces and textures, to give the three-bedroom home a cool refresh with an industrial edge.
‘We kind of have a chair addiction,’ says Courtney. ‘We’ve always collected chairs in all the cities we’ve lived, and therefore have a random collection of chairs that all seem to go together.’ The couple acquired these wood and black pleather dining room chairs when they lived in Belgium. ‘A local coffee shop owner was taking a refurbishing class and was selling his class-project chairs,’ says Courtney.
Vintage finds mixed with travel mementos provide a personal touch in their decorating. A vintage record player is tucked behind the dining table. ‘The sound quality is horrible, but it works, looks cool and is the perfect practice record player for our 2-year-old son,’ says Courtney.
The stairwell wall is painted black, and the dramatic colour continues up the stairs through the landing and into the upstairs bathroom. ‘We wanted to do black but were nervous, and finally we just decided to go for it. I’m so happy we did,’ says Courtney.
Stairwell wall painted in Onyx, Benjamin Moore. Deer head, HomeGoods.
Vintage finds mixed with travel mementos provide a personal touch in their decorating. A vintage record player is tucked behind the dining table. ‘The sound quality is horrible, but it works, looks cool and is the perfect practice record player for our 2-year-old son,’ says Courtney.
The stairwell wall is painted black, and the dramatic colour continues up the stairs through the landing and into the upstairs bathroom. ‘We wanted to do black but were nervous, and finally we just decided to go for it. I’m so happy we did,’ says Courtney.
Stairwell wall painted in Onyx, Benjamin Moore. Deer head, HomeGoods.
Architect Mike Shively came up with the idea of exposing the ductwork from the kitchen through the dining area to showcase the archway, one of the original features of the house. ‘We chose to keep and highlight its structure by running the spiral duct we installed for central air right above at the apex, and flanked this duct throughout the space with pendant lights,’ says Garrett.
Garrett designed the pendant pipe lights and got assembly help from Courtney. Combined with the exposed ductwork, they add industrial appeal.
Metal pipes and fittings, The Home Depot. Black and white digital art print, Matthew Atabet Parrott.
Garrett designed the pendant pipe lights and got assembly help from Courtney. Combined with the exposed ductwork, they add industrial appeal.
Metal pipes and fittings, The Home Depot. Black and white digital art print, Matthew Atabet Parrott.
With the prospect of short-term rentals in mind, Garrett and Courtney wanted to keep their kitchen simple and inviting. To help their guests feel at home, they store appliances where they can be seen, and the clear-fronted cabinets leave no question as to where to find dinnerware. Ikea cabinets are topped with a walnut work surface and repurposed stone salvaged from some of contractor Abel’s other jobs.
This kitchen is never short of a few boxes of macaroni and cheese – Courtney is seen here preparing some with Rowan.
Walnut worktop, Lumber Liquidators. Units, Ikea. Appliances, Abt.
Read these tips to prepare your house for a holiday home-swap
This kitchen is never short of a few boxes of macaroni and cheese – Courtney is seen here preparing some with Rowan.
Walnut worktop, Lumber Liquidators. Units, Ikea. Appliances, Abt.
Read these tips to prepare your house for a holiday home-swap
This ground-floor master bedroom used to be the kitchen with a bathroom coming off it. ‘We decided to relocate the kitchen,’ says Garrett. ‘With the kitchen in the centre of the space, everything felt more balanced, and the space more usable.’
Garrett made the headboard by piecing together planks from an old door. ‘I love the textures that antique and industrial elements lend,’ he says. ‘Rusted metal, rough-hewn wood edges… I enjoyed the parts of the house that came from old things.’ The metal side table from Pier 1 Imports and upholstered vintage chair from Yearbook add to the mix of materials.
Lamp, Ikea.
Garrett made the headboard by piecing together planks from an old door. ‘I love the textures that antique and industrial elements lend,’ he says. ‘Rusted metal, rough-hewn wood edges… I enjoyed the parts of the house that came from old things.’ The metal side table from Pier 1 Imports and upholstered vintage chair from Yearbook add to the mix of materials.
Lamp, Ikea.
Garrett constructed a unique clothing rack for each of the bedrooms. The couple quickly learned that when they rent out rooms in their home, guests tend not to use enclosed wardrobes, so they went with these exposed clothing racks.
The stained-glass fanlight window seen here is original to the home, and a second, similar window was removed and is used as decoration in the kitchen. ‘The fanlight windows became a jumping-off point for the décor, in that the colour palette became blue and gold anchored with simple black, white and grey,’ says Garrett.
The stained-glass fanlight window seen here is original to the home, and a second, similar window was removed and is used as decoration in the kitchen. ‘The fanlight windows became a jumping-off point for the décor, in that the colour palette became blue and gold anchored with simple black, white and grey,’ says Garrett.
The couple’s contractor provided all the marble and granite finishes, including the countertop seen here in their bathroom. ‘He had a storage room overflowing with remnants from other projects and just wanted to clear out his space,’ says Courtney. ‘That’s why our shower is pieced-together shapes and sizes, as is the kitchen splashback. But his guys did such a beautiful job piecing them together, you’d think it was planned.’
These open shelves in the hallway, that hold everything from bestsellers to dance books, are more of Garrett’s handiwork. ‘When a walnut tree fell on my friend’s family farm, he milled it into slabs and drove it to Chicago for me to use for shelves,’ he says. Wood from the same tree was also used to create the shelving above the trunk-turned-bar in the living room.
A vintage lime-coloured chair from Yearbook adds a nice jolt of colour to an otherwise neutral room. The side table was picked up in a second-hand store.
Bed lamps, Ikea. Artwork, Hilary Williams.
Bed lamps, Ikea. Artwork, Hilary Williams.
The walls are kept unadorned on this side of the room, with just a large graphic rug adding a hint of pattern.
Garrett and Courtney love the look of natural surfaces – like this wooden upholstered Ikea stool – combined with neutral, black and white designs. ‘We juxtapose very clean, minimal modern lines with antique and industrial elements to create a sort of dichotomy in the space,’ says Garrett. ‘I love the dialogue between these elements, and I feel like they complement well.’
Desk, Ikea.
Check out some ways to create an industrial look
Desk, Ikea.
Check out some ways to create an industrial look
The painted onyx-black wall that started in the stairwell ends in this bathroom. Though not shown here, the mirror has a backlight feature. ‘We had done a mirror with back lighting at our first home in Chicago and loved the effect, so we repeated that in this bathroom,’ says Courtney. ‘One thing we didn’t plan is that the light doesn’t show as well against the black paint, so the effect was kind of lost. It definitely worked better in our first place against the white wall, but it’s still cool nonetheless.’
Basin, Ikea.
Basin, Ikea.
The painting of the woman in this room has a special meaning for the couple, painted by ‘an old dance friend of ours from our San Francisco Ballet days, Miriam Rowan,’ says Courtney. ‘We always loved her last name and thought 10 years ago, “If we ever have a son, Rowan would be the perfect name.”’
Lights and headboard, Ikea.
Lights and headboard, Ikea.
Rowan tries his hand at cooking some macaroni and cheese in his play kitchen. His own artwork is displayed above. This bright, sunny room is also home to the washer-dryer.
The family relaxes together in their living room.
TELL US…
What’s your favourite part of this house’s eclectic industrial décor? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
TELL US…
What’s your favourite part of this house’s eclectic industrial décor? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
Who lives here Garrett and Courtney Anderson and their 2-year-old son, Rowan
Location Wrigleyville, Chicago
Year built 1888
Size 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Architect Mike Shively of Morgante Wilson Architects
Contractor Abel Marin of Pro-Done Remodelling
The Andersons constantly have guests in their home, since they rent it out through Airbnb, so a bright and inviting living space was a must. The living room originally had a large stone fireplace and an exposed radiator, both of which were removed for liability reasons and to open up the space. ‘I love the light it gets now,’ says Garrett.
The two watercolour pieces seen above the sofa are by Alice Klock, a dancer colleague of Garrett’s from Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, where he currently works. ‘Those paintings were actually the colour inspiration for the rest of the room,’ says Courtney. Pops of blue and mustard yellow are seen in the cushions, rug and sofa.
The couple repurposed a vintage trunk and made one corner of the living area into a minibar using second-hand finds. The chair was another vintage find – at eclectic store Yearbook – while the wall shelves are slabs that came from a fallen walnut tree. The floor lamp is a rare modern buy, from Pier 1 Imports.
Sofa, Ikea.
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