EAST

In the kids' room, toys can be easily tidied away into large cabinets.

Thanks to its all-encompassing custom cabinetry and sliding door system, no square foot in this compact apartment has gone to waste.

After: Now, Sim-Plex's trademark use of custom built-in cabinetry lends the room a visual coherence while making the tight footprint go further.

After: Now clean and structured, the twins' space carries the same functional elegance as the rest of the apartment.

When online meetings demand peace and quiet, a concealed sliding door turns the space into two again.

The wood takes a warmer turn in the light-flooded study-kids' bedroom hybrid space, allowing Mary, who works from home, to watch the kids while they play and she writes.

Landscape studio Moody Graham collaborated on the garden design, planting mostly edibles and a riot of flowers. The steel trellis crowns the built-in limestone bench and lavender-filled planters.

The Jerusalem limestone extends from the inside out, creating continuity between the great room and terrace.

After: The marble-clad primary bath evokes Zeke's childhood. "I grew up in a house that had been owned by a prizefighter, and I distinctly remember the shower being slabs of marble, floor-to-ceiling,

The bookcase ladder was one of the most challenging aspects of the design. "It gave me heart palpitations for a long time,

Mystery novels line the shelves that conceal the hidden door, hinting that there's more than meets the eye.

After: The soaring new living and dining space benefits from an abundance of natural light from every side, and they spent a lot of time trying to find the best lighting for the kitchen. The final choice: long, narrow copper pendants from Denmark suspended by ultra thin wires to not disrupt the visual flow of the room.

The bookcase in the great room holds about 3,500 books. Several hundred more can be found in the living room, and on the floor-to-ceiling shelves in Zeke and Teasel's offices.

After: The living room overlooks the great room below. Now when you walk in the house, you can see clear out to the trees in the back—an idea sparked by an interior designer friend who commented that the most important aspect of a design is what you see when you walk in the front door.

After: The renovation, led by Fowlkes Studio, rebuilt the house from the inside out. When the team presented the plans to the neighborhood historical society for approval, "everyone was thrilled,

For Chicago’s new Fulbrix Fulton Market apartments, the Prado sofa uses a modular design and low, tufted, weighted cushions to create artful arrangements that can suit almost every space. “It takes on the idea and feel of ancient Romanesque or Turkish use of a divan or resting armless sofa bed, yet in a modern, minimalist way,” says Vijayan.

“Canaletto is a modular bookcase plus storage system with preset configurations, with which our customers can get creative with its useability within the available options,” says Vijayan. You can use open or closed modules, and the cubby features also allow for more visual interest than traditional shelves.