Name: Craig and Emily Berman
Location: Logan Square, Chicago
Size: 1000 square feet
Years lived in: 1 year in September
You may remember Craig Berman's pinch salt cellar and pepper shaker set from its honorable mention recognition at this year's MDF: Chicago Furniture Now exhibition. We were excited that the local designer opened up his home, with wife, Emily, to reveal a modern rehab with plenty of vintage charm...
1. Our Style… Shabby chic meets modern sleek meets budget conscious new homeowner meets avid crafter meets product designer. We used to have two drastically different decorating tastes, Emily as a shabby chic antique lover and Craig as a black and white modernist, but we’ve both come towards a good middle-ground, incorporating vintage with contemporary and infusing warm modernism with antique intricacy.
2. The Inspiration for our home…
The inspiration for our home comes from intelligent originality, balanced proportions, classic detailing, modern simplicity, art deco, mid century modernism, graphic patterns, lived-in spaces, nature motifs, minimalist forms, food culture, creative culture, handmade touches, and the texture and contrasts of Logan Square!
Photos by Evan Thomas
3. Favorite element… 1930’s compactum, a men’s armoire. Emily’s mother gave it to us as a wedding gift. It has been used for a tv cabinet, linen closet, china cabinet, general storage, and currently proudly houses our wine, liquor and glassware, so we use it nearly every day.
4. Biggest Challenge in designing our home… turning a gut rehab condo into something unique and staying budget conscious without settling. For our first home we didn’t want a generic white box rehabbed condo, so we chose a turn-of-the-century building in the heart of Logan Square that has external character (rounded turrets in the dining area and guest room), but it’s always a challenge to find ways to give character to the brand new dry-walled interior. Another challenge is finding a furniture middle-ground—it’s easy to lust over slightly (or not so slightly) out-of-reach design elements or to settle for a “temporary” fix that may end up being more permanent than planned.
5. What friends Say about our home… Our friends always compliment our style, and ability to mix DIY with store bought and antique pieces. We also get comments on our organization…Emily is a compulsive organizer/tidier.
6. Biggest Embarrassment in our home… the closets! They are jam packed with books, cds, heirloom china, and of course junk that we can’t bear to throw away but can’t really find a home for.
7. Proudest DIY… Craig designed two pieces, a salt and pepper set called ‘Pinch’ and a side table called ‘Perforated’ (in collaboration with friend, George Aye) that were exhibited at the Design Within Reach ‘Chicago Furniture Now’ competition this past winter. Pinch won an honorable mention and has a proud place in Emily’s salt and pepper set collection. Emily has been creating collaged paintings using vintage Audubon prints and will hopefully begin producing and selling some soon, when she finds some free time!
9. Best Advice given or received… We always tell people to not be afraid of decorating. A wall with lots of art or a diy mural project looks worlds better than an empty naked space. Nail holes can always be patched and paint can always be covered up.
10. Dream Source for stuff… 90 minute free-for-all shopping spree at Luminaire, discovering an amazing antique shop in an unexpected place, stumbling across an estate sale of vintage modern design lovers, buying from independent designers/crafters/artists, designing it ourselves and then flying to Milan and selling the design to Cappellini.
Resources:
Appliances
• Everything in the kitchen is Frigidaire, stainless steel de rigeur.
Hardware
• Kitchen and bathroom cabinet handles are Ikea
Furniture
• Sofa: Room and Board
• Coffee Table: CB2
• Dining Table: Crate and Barrel
• Dining Chairs: Jacobsen knock-offs (Sorry Arne, someday we’ll be legit)
• Living Room Chair: Danish Modern antique store find
• Mirror: Thrift Store find
• Bar Stools: Aldi! (Yes the gocery store) Painted white by Craig
• Bookcases: Both Ikea
• Bedroom Dresser/Buffet: Thrift Store, $40
• Bedroom Bedside Tables: Emily’s great grandmother’s
• Bedroom Desk/Chair: Telephone table/chair combo-- yard sale find, $10
• Office Desk: Craig DIY – a hollow core door painted white and IKEA legs
• Office chairs: Magis Easy Chairs from DWR
• Office Side Table: Original Aye&Berman design
• Liquor cabinet: 1930’s Compactum from Emily’s mother
Accessories
• Antique Salt and Pepper collection: various antique/thrift stores, with a few modern pieces mixed in, including Craig’s ‘Pinch’ set
• Eva Zeisel pottery collection: ebay
• Various prints: yard sale finds, Christopher Silas Neal print, Etsy.com purchases, tinyshowcase.com prints, etc.
• Pink planters in kitchen from Sprout home.
• Various ceramics, some made by Emily in college, others as gifts, thrift stores, ebay, hand me downs., etc.
Lighting
• Red Pendant Lamp above dining table: CB2. Placeholder for a Nelson pendant lamp that we’ll break down and purchase someday.
Paint
• Main space: Sherwin Williams “Agreeable Grey”
• Master Bedroom: Sherwin Williams “Take Five”
Tiles and Stone
• Puebla travertine marble on bathroom floors, black absolute granite on kitchen counter.
Window Treatments
• 3 day blinds! One of the first purchases for our new home, as we’re on the garden level and our privacy was our #1 priority.
Artwork
• Vintage tin ceiling tile on mantle: architectural artifacts store
• Letter ‘G’ on mantle: ebay
• Silverware print on mantle: a craft fair years ago
• Photo on top of compactum: yard sale find
• Trailer home print in hallway: by Alika Cooper
• Head and house print in hallway: by Christopher Silas Neal
• Blue Bird print in hallway: etsy.com find
• NYC Bench print on bookcase: gift from Emily’s mother
• Brick photograph in bedroom: Craig Berman
• Green bird collage in guest bathroom: Emily Berman
Copyright © 2008 Apartment Therapy
Love your space and your style.
Is your Andre sofa brand new? If not, how do you keep the cushions so tidy and plump?
I have Andre in a light blue, and our cushions are not so disciplined and rigid. Please enlighten me.
view colellis's profile
Great job, Craig & Emily! Your space doesn't feel like a garden unit at all and for that you should be congratulated. I think it's b/c of your wonderful paint color choices and the nice mix of furniture colors. Great Aldi stools! I, too, have purchased some stuff for DIY at Aldi - admitting it is the first step toward acknowledging that...you LIVE ON A BUDGET :)
Thanks for sharing - I'm going to use that hollow core door idea as I've been stumped as to how to do a budget-friendly L shaped unit for my sewing & DIY stuff.
view lfw1031's profile
the apt looks great!!!! just wondering what yours floors are--or more specifically did you install these? are they laminate or wood? thanks
view taracakes's profile
I'm very impressed by the discipline and careful thought that obviously went into every room. It's lovely!
view heps's profile
I love this place.....it's so comfortable and neat but not over-stylized or anything. I love the colors and the furnishings. I absolutely adore the punches of interest from objects and the colors.
And Craig is a hottie!!! BRING ME THE BOY!!!
view Keisha Kornbread's profile
Can I ask how you installed the "Red Pendant Lamp above dining table"? I have the same lamp but I hate the fact that the very bright white cord shows! I couldn't see a picture of the ceiling in your pic so I can't tell if you have the cord exposed or not.
Thanks in advance.
view BklynTee's profile
Oh and btw, your place is FAB! I just love the colors in the bedroom! Overall, it's gorgeous!
view BklynTee's profile
did I miss the source info on the decals in the bedroom? or are those stencils? anyway, i love them. gorgeous place.
view jerseyfresh's profile
I love the colors you chose. very soothing and put together. Also, thanks for including a picture of yourselves! I love seeing how the people 'fit' in the spaces they have created. well done! :)
view pdxcarrie's profile
This is such a beautiful place. One of the most down to earth, livable, and lovely homes I have seen on AT. Kudos.
view ShowLola's profile
i'm jealous of your turrets!
be wary of those frigidare appliances though - we bought the exact same fridge about a year and a half ago and it stopped cooling properly after about 60 days of having it. abt won't take things back after 30 days, but with some haggling they did, and i replaced it with a slightly more expensive kitchen aid. hopefully yours will fare better.
view nattles's profile
LOVE your home and the mixture of old and new. really livens up the whole environment and makes it so warm and friendly.
view bbt's profile
Thanks for all the nice words, everyone!
Answers to your questions:
Our Room&Board Andre sofa is less than a year old-- our previous Room&Board couch was having problems, but R&B has an amazing warranty policy that refunded us the original purchase price to put towards a new sofa. We rotate our cushions often, hopefully this will keep it pleasurably plump.
The flooring is classified as "engineered wood", which means it's a 1/8 inch layer of hardwood over top of plywood. We did not pick it, it was standard for the rehab.
I'm flattered Kornbread, but Emily may have some thoughts on that...
The red pendant lamp still has the white cord (which I actually like) but I chopped off the outlet plug and hardwired it into the ceiling.
The bedroom decals are from Emily's favorite-- Blik.
Thanks for the warning on the appliances, Nattles. Although shrouded in stainless steel, it's become apparent to us that these are fairly basic appliances. They have served us well so far (fingers crossed) and since Emily is a such an active chef, we would surely starve without them.
Thanks all.
view fueledbycoffee's profile
great job -
i like that the bikes are out and visible. i keep mine out too.
view jens's profile
Wow, just beautiful. Definitely bookmarking this tour for my inspiration file.
view J's profile
Thanks for answering my question Craig!
Why I hate the white cord so much is because it goes across my ceiling, down the wall and into the outlet!! lol
I'm going to see if I can get someone to hardwire it for me as well! I wouldn't mind the cord just hanging straight down from the ceiling! Thanks again! :)
view BklynTee's profile
I'd have to agree with ShowLola, this might be the coolest, comfiest, most welcoming cute home I've seen on AT Chicago. Thanks for letting us see it, and thanks also for coming clean about the closets.
view carlene's profile
Thanks for the tour. I really like the colors you chose. I'd really like a salt and pepper set as well. Can I order from your site?
view art's profile
Thanks again for all the praise, it's honestly flattering.
Bikes: I'm surprised that photo was included, but also think it speaks a lot to who we are as a couple. We have been car-less for over three years, and we take pride in that fact. Having our bikes in the back hallway speaks to that priority in our life.
Lamp cord: It's really very easy to wire the lamp up yourself, provided you have an old ceiling fixture that's pre-wired. We removed a ceiling fan and within a few minutes had the new lamp wired up.
Salt and pepper sets: They are slowly heading towards production... unfortunately I do not have my own studio, so I have to rely on a very generous friend for his time and expertise in ceramics, so getting a large batch produced is somewhat difficult. Stay tuned-- I really want to see them in stores by the winter.
view fueledbycoffee's profile
where can I get the white tree branch necklace holder in the bedroom?
view kellybeegee's profile
kelly, I don't know if this is exactly the same, but it's darn close:
http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=2053197722154132850&itemdescription=true&itemCount=-1&id=13213251&parentid=A_FURN_PRETTY&sortProperties=&navCount=4&_D%3AnavCount= &navAction=poppush&color=&_DARGS=%2Furban%2Fcatalog%2Fcommon%2Fitemlink.jsp
view melanie's profile
Why no area rug underneath the sofa/coffee table? Why?
view patrick (the other one)'s profile
Love your style! May I ask where you got the glass flasks with cork stoppers that you are using to store cinnamon, bay leaves and other spices?
view thepeoplescortney's profile
love the round dining room and the way the table and orange fixture echo the shape... fabulousness, guys.
view matchjames's profile
I love how it is so cozy and yet simple.
Has anyone seen the barstools anywhere else besides Aldi? I don't have one near me.
view JulieD's profile
Love it love it love it! I'm wondering what sort of shelf you have your books on next to the bed. It appears that they're floating there. Lovely idea for the stack of books on the floor next to my bed!
view shaldeman's profile
Beautiful, love your style! Could you please tell me where you got the two different bedroom lamps? Thanks.
view mykull's profile
gorgeous apartment! i have a jewelry armoire that is almost identical to the one you have- that my mother gave me from when she was a child (1950s!). The decals in that photograph are really pretty as well.
view Leslie216's profile
Love love it all. The blue-gray in the bedroom is what I wanted, but ended up very blue.
Question - what camera did you use for these? I can't get over how crisp and bright the pictures look.
view silverwatch's profile
craig you made it!
view lookaroundguy's profile
open and light, hospitable. not enough angst for me to live there, but very nice.
view godsfool's profile
Beautiful place. I love how the two of you synthesized your styles. You've achieved something very beautiful here, and I can see the love everywhere. Love the salt and pepper collection and your lamps.
I like that there's no rug. I'm funny that way - I guess I should design rugs, because I really just can't find a rug that I like. Was this intentional or are you waiting for something perfect?
Such a gorgeous couple too. Love the his and her bikes. Thanks for sharing!
view peggy's profile
thanks to everyone for the praise! a few answers to your questions:
-the tree branch jewelry holder was indeed from urban outfitters.
-no area rug for three reasons: 1) craig hates rugs, 2) haven't found one that is both affordable and complimentary to our taste and style, and 3) we have two cats and i don't like to vacuum.
-glass flasks are from course salt and whole peppercorns purchased from various cooking stores. i've also seen them at tj maxx!
-barstools can also be found here: http://www.surprisesurprise.com/products/Bent_Wood_Stacking_Stool.330.html
-bookshelves are called the "invisible bookshelf". google can probably help you find them!
-the silver lamps were from target many years ago. we got them as wedding presents, actually. the white shade ones are from ikea.
-camera - our friend, an AT photographer, Evan Thomas, took those photos with his professional equipment. not sure exactly which camera was used.
view emyduck's profile
Where is your bedroom comforter from? Your place is fabulous!
view lnshanklin's profile