Update: October 5, 2020 We sold the condo and officially closed today. With so many months of Covid 19 and being unable to travel, it didn’t make sense to keep it. We miss our family there and hope to visit as soon as we can. I hope the young man who purchased the condo enjoys it as much as we did! 
Four years ago, we decided to look for a small apartment in the Ravenswood area of Chicago in order to be closer to our two youngest sons and their families – especially our two youngest granddaughters who had just turned four and two years old at the time. Our plan was to spend as much time as possible in Chicago while not giving up our home in Iowa. We knew we wanted something small and vintage but large enough to accommodate all of us there for meals and special occasions. Ravenswood is a very nice area with an excellent school, restaurants and quaint shops. And so, we began looking.
If you know anything about housing in Chicago, then you know it is expensive. You know it also goes fast when something good comes along. We decided to rent in the beginning. My youngest son happened upon an apartment that sounded perfect and met the leasing agent there. We FaceTimed and we saw the apartment while we were at home in Iowa. It was small – 1 bedroom, 1 bath, small entry hall, living room, dining room and kitchen. I loved the arched doorways and all the natural light. There were oak floors everywhere except for the kitchen which had antique pine floors. The building dated from the early 1900’s. I often wondered about the stories that apartment could tell. We created a lot of stories and memories while we were there.
After a couple of years, we decided to purchase a small condo instead of renting, one that would be building equity for us. So, once again, we began searching. We found a 1 bedroom, 1 bath condo in a nice courtyard building. It was two floors up with a lot of windows and natural light. The condo had been freshly painted and the oak floors had been refinished. The kitchen was nice but had been used as a rental unit for a couple of years, so we invested in all new appliances. We cleaned and scrubbed the whole condo and couldn’t wait to move in. We sold the living room furniture that we had purchased for the other apartment and purchased a sofa and two chairs that suited the condo a little better. We found them in Chicago so delivery wouldn’t be a problem. Since the bedroom at the new home was actually smaller, we gave away our king bed and purchased a new queen mattress (the adjustable type) there in Chicago. The rest of the furniture was fun searching for – even though it meant hauling it from Iowa. We searched Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace locally and also found a wonderful “used” furniture business where we found several great pieces of furniture. We both enjoy decorating, so putting everything together was fun. It was all completed without spending a great deal of money.
We love having our family at our Chicago home for dinners, birthdays and other special events. The school is .9 mile away so it’s a brisk walk to pick up the girls or sometimes we drive to pick them up. They love spending time with us at the condo and we have a corner of the dining room set up with a small table and chairs and art supplies just for them. There is also a bookcase with toys and books they enjoy.
This is looking across the courtyard at the building across from us. Ours looks just like this. Several months after we moved in, the condo association had the courtyard beautifully landscaped.
This is a comfortable setting for visiting with family, playing with the grandchildren, reading or watching television. We found the Lane recliner chairs at HomeGoods in Chicago and the leather sofa at a local furniture store there.
We found the buffet through FaceBook Marketplace in Iowa. It is excellent condition and has a lot of good storage. Anytime, you are trying to live larger in a small home, it is all about storage! Doug is an adventurer and loves to travel, so the Pottery Barn prints above the buffet seemed appropriate. There is also a vintage airplane print from Pottery Barn above the television! All about travel.
We found the entertainment center on a very good sale at HomeMakers Furniture in Iowa. Check out the vintage plane picture. The open space on the right of the entertainment center is one of our cat Tiger’s favorite places to snooze!
This Industrial looking lamp (found at HomeMakers Furniture in Iowa) seemed appropriate for a condo in Chicago. The antique table it is on was found at The Attic in Ankeny,
It has been years since I’ve decorated with navy and I’m loving it! Touches of navy, rusty red, gold, green. We ordered the wool Safavieh rugs online and they look really nice against the hardwood floors. I found the paisley pillows at an Etsy shop (PillowThrowDecor).
This has been the scene for a lot of family dinners, birthday parties, tea parties with the granddaughters and lots of arts & crafts! The table has two leaves which we can insert as needed. We found the solid oak table and chairs at The Attic in Ankeny, Iowa. The wonderful Ethan Allen buffet and hutch (with beveled glass which I love) came from a “used” furniture store which, unfortunately, is no longer in business.
Doug and his son Jeff installed this new industrial light fixture with Edison bulbs. Initially, there was just a flat light fixture which did nothing for the room. We like this much better!
We found this adorable table with four chairs (two are downstairs in the storage room) at HomeMakers Furniture in Des Moines, Iowa. It is extremely sturdy and the girls love it. Perfect for all the art they love to create.
I saw an ad for these dishes on our local Iowa FaceBook Marketplace when we were in Chicago. A set of 6 for a good price. I asked if I could pay him via PayPal and pick them up when we returned to Iowa. Thankfully, he agreed. I love these dishes! They are Churchill fine china from England in the pattern “Out of the Blue”. I have found other pieces on eBay and ordered them to add to the set. The granddaughters love to have tea parties with these dishes! I would love to find a tea pot and some more serving pieces but those are expensive! I’lll keep my eyes open for a good price.
I really enjoy cooking in this kitchen. Even though it’s much smaller than our kitchen in Iowa, it’s more fun to cook here. When all of our Chicago family are together here, there are eight of us around the table and it’s fun to get together. We did invest in all new Maytag kitchen appliances so that’s a good thing.
I love Polish dishes! I ordered these online – just can’t remember where at the moment!
The copper canister set is one of my favorite things in the kitchen. My now six and eight year old granddaughters love to cook with me in the kitchen. They love to scoop flour and sugar out of the canisters. Each one has a small stool to stand on to reach the counter just fine. So far, we’ve made pies, breads, cookies, chicken pot pie and a few other things. I love to cook with them and know we are making memories.
Our coffee nook. The first place we head each morning.
The large CHEFS utensil crock is one of my favorites. We have the identical one in red in our Iowa kitchen!
What you can’t see behind the chair on the left is an antique desk and chair that we found at The Attic in Ankeny, Iowa. I’ll have to add a photo of that. It’s one of our favorite pieces of furniture
We were searching for a piece of furniture with drawers for clothes and shelves for towels, sheets, sweaters, etc. The bedroom is small and we have to make the best of the space available. We found this armoire at the “used” furniture store and it’s perfect for the space.
The bedroom is small but very cozy. Found the new Tommy Hilfiger bedding and matching drapes on eBay. We found the small bedside tables at an import store in Chicago. The store is called Nadeau – Furniture With A Soul. Very interesting place!
I really like this Steve Hanks watercolor print. We found it at The Attic in Ankeny, Iowa. Beautifully framed. I think we paid $40 for it and had no idea at the time what a fantastic buy that was!
The front entry door. There’s a small entry hall. What you can’t see around the corner beside the buffet in the living room is the hall tree that we ordered online to hold all our coats. Think Winter in Chicago! There are also a few hooks and an umbrella stand in the entry hall. This is a secure entry building. There is also a back door in the kitchen which leads out to our outdoor porch which is about 6 x 8 feet. We have a few pieces of outdoor furniture and lights strung across the top.
We have one wall of the entry hall painted in a navy blue. The bench is perfect for putting or taking off boots and shoes. We still haven’t found the perfect Chicago artwork to go above the bench.
There is only one bathroom but it’s more modern than the totally vintage one we had at the apartment we rented for two years. That bathroom had a lot of vintage character! This bathroom had a new vanity and nice large tile in the shower. There is a small radiator in here (the whole condo has radiator heat). If you place your towel there while you’re in the shower, you’ll have a nice warm towel! As soon as we finish our showers, we put the small tower fan in the bathroom to dry out the shower. I don’t want to battle any mold or mildew. We ordered the sturdy shelves below from a shop on Etsy.
We went with navy towels in the bathroom. There are hooks on the back of the door. Again, in a small space you have to think outside the box for everything. There is one closet in the bedroom and then a utility closet just outside the bathroom that houses shelving for cleaning supplies, etc. and the small stackable washer and dryer. We did not have a washer and dryer in the apartment we rented for two years. This meant a trek down the back stairs to the basement where the washer and dryers were. This was usually Doug’s labor of love! I was thrilled with the stackable washer and dryer even though it means more loads since they are smaller. Of course we and our neighbors are careful not to do laundry too late or early since the washer is noisy!