River City Apartments - Part One

We are so excited to be sharing the behind the scenes tour of the renovations we designed for the newly minted River City Apartments here in Chicago.  Today, we're sharing some before and afters and walking you through our design for these updated units.

THE CHALLENGE:

There's no use in sugar-coating it, these units were in ROUGH shape when we started.  Most units had original finishes, fixtures and layouts, which were very compartmentalized and felt crowded, dark and impractical.  

I felt like everywhere I looked there were doors. Areas were divided and closets were tucked everywhere...even when they weren't practical to access.  Our first priority was to clean up the layouts and make them feel more spacious and efficient for users.  From there, we aimed to brighten up the space and introduce more modern, warm finishes. 

THE PROCESS:

The entire team agreed we wanted to honor the existing modern architecture of the building but brighten up the units with warm, natural textures.  We immediately gravitated towards inspiration images that pulled in white walls, concrete textures and warm wood tones.

From there, we created a moodboard, highlighting the finishes and textures we wanted to incorporate into the design.  We primarily focused on natural and organic textures, pulling in  the lines from the concrete structure and curves from the serpentine design of the building. 

The palette that emerged included concrete tiles and counters, wood accents and floors and sculptural wall tiles.

We cleaned up the floorplans, taking advantage of the existing large bedroom and living space and cleaning up the closet layouts to make the space more efficient and practical for today's standards of living.  The Junior 1-Bed units have an open concept kitchen spilling into a large living room with the iconic curved windows.  A sliding barn-door separates a huge bedroom, large enough to fit a king-bed comfortably.  The custom closets along the back wall provide plenty of space for one or two people to share.  The front area includes a washer/dryer space, a coat closet and a large bathroom opening up off the kitchen.

THE REVEAL:

We completely opened up the kitchen and incorporated modern, clean lines into the cabinets to really brighten up the space.  Wooden upper cabinets tie in with the light wood floors and add warmth to the white lacquer lowers and concrete-looking countertop.  We incorporated a unique, sculptural backsplash, imported from Spain to add a dramatic texture and tie in to the fluid forms of the building.

The kitchen opens up to a bright, large living room, featuring the iconic curved window.  We styled the living room with retro-inspired modern furnishings and created an area that users can unwind in at the end of the day or comfortably entertain in.

A barn door separates the living room from the bedroom where we styled a modern king-bed along with a full-sized dresser and accessories to tie the space together with the living room.

The bathroom off of the living room mimics the kitchen with a modern wood vanity, concrete-look floors and a white quartz countertop.  

I hope you guys enjoyed this tour!  If you're interested in learning more about the River City Apartments and want to schedule a showing, check out their new website here.  At the end of the week, we'll be sharing a behind the scenes look of one of the duplex townhouses next!