For some, a particular sense of style is acquired in stages. This is precisely why Chicago interior designer Jean Alan took on helping the owner of this vintage lakefront apartment outfit her home.
“When somebody walks into your store wearing Helmut Lang but says she has (traditional furniture) at home, it’s a dichotomy that has to be addressed,” says Alan.
Indeed, elegant yet cutting-edge European clothing was this customer’s trademark despite being an executive with a conservative oil company.
But, Alan says, “She was too busy climbing the corporate ladder to play catch-up with all the components of her life.”
So the executive hired Alan, a former set decorator who turned to residential design six years ago. She had read about Alan’s Bucktown atelier in a magazine and walked in clutching the article.
After she saw the shop, she hired Alan on the spot to help her turn a newly rented Lincoln Park apartment into a personal refuge.
“She wanted something that reflected her innovative personal aesthetic,” Alan says.
But once the designer was able to assess what her client already owned, she says, she found that “it was all unsuitable. She had very traditional pieces that were purchased 15 years ago for a first apartment, and they were too staid to be used to create the kind of environment she wanted and needed at this point in her life. So we had to start from scratch.”
With one very critical caveat, that is. Everything had to be movable and fairly neutral, so it could be used in another venue if her client had to move.
“So we had to create a foundation to build on that could be used in any context, yet still express a singular and chic point of view,” Alan says.
To that end, the designer began by finding basics that were comfortable, sturdy and classic, yet clean-lined and strikingly designed.
Rather than choosing furnishings of any particular period, Alan assembled pieces with graceful silhouettes or interesting textures or finishes, articulated details and bold yet neutral hues.
Subtly blended old and new upholstered pieces in the spacious living room included a Deco-era sofa and club chair updated in velvety chocolate mohair edged in taupe pigskin. The sofa and chair were placed at one end of the room to play off the warmth of a classically inspired mantel. At the opposite end of the room, trim, contemporary walnut chairs with creamy cushions were perched in front of windows overlooking the lake. The chairs were paired with a sleek modernist lamp by Samuel Marx.
Tying these elements together is a custom-designed wool pile rug in a simple grid pattern in shades of fawn, walnut and cream.
Wood accent pieces, such as a ’50s-era, honey-hued Italian side table on wheels and a cinnabar Oriental cabinet, were placed around the room’s perimeter.
Anchoring all these elements and providing storage is a massive mahogany campaign trunk-cum-coffee table in the center of the room.
A rare set of dining chairs by Italian architect Gio Ponti became the focal point for the dining room. Alan set the chairs, which she found in an antiques store, around a dining table she designed and fabricated of limestone and steel.
She filled the built-in shelves in the room with vintage Russel Wright dishware she purchased at flea markets.
“It was the perfect complement for the space because of the shapes and colors,” Alan says, “and now (the owner) collects it herself.”
But the bedroom was the piece de resistance as far as Alan is concerned.
“By then our client had total faith in us and was willing to get carried away,” she says.
Instead of continuing the sensibly neutral tones that are found in the apartment’s public areas, Alan chose textiles for this room that are what she terms “mellow but breathtaking tints” of topaz, pomegranate and chartreuse.
Against the backdrop of a brass bed and a honey-toned Swedish dresser from the ’50s, opulent silk bed clothes and ornately embroidered vintage linen sheets–which Alan collects and markets though her shop–give the room a sumptuous tone.
The beauty of the apartment with its updated look is that its furnishings can all move to new quarters with ease. Good thing, too, because this on-the-go executive is moving up and on once again, relocating to Manhattan next month.
RESOURCES: Living room detail: Walnut chairs–The Morson Collection, Chicago; Samuel Marx lamp–Jean Alan, Chicago; Roman shades–designed and fabricated by Jean Alan; trunk table and custom wool pile rug–Pagoda Red, Chicago. Living room: Chocolate mohair club chair and silk accent pillow–Jean Alan; Italian side table on wheels–Daniel’s Antiques, Chicago; Oriental pots on shelves–Cielo Vivo, Chicago; orange glass vases on shelves and pieces on mantel–Gene Douglas Decorative Arts & Antiques, Chicago. Dining room: Gio Ponti chairs–Gene Douglas Decorative Arts & Antiques; dining table–designed and fabricated by Jean Alan; work on paper by David Shapiro–Perimeter Gallery, Chicago. Bedroom: Bedclothes–designed and fabricated by Jean Alan; chartreuse silk fabric–Donghia Textiles, Merchandise Mart, Chicago; carpet, framed mirror and hanging Tajikistan antique girdle–Jean Alan; brass bed–personal collection.
