It takes skill and imagination to design the interiors of a historic home in a way that respects and honors the original details, while creating a contemporary, livable space that reflects the current inhabitants. Such was the task at hand for Lauren Lozano Ziol and Michelle Jolas, co-founders of the design firm SKIN, when they were hired by the owners of a historic home in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. Fortunately, they had what it took to transform the stately mansion into a warm, inviting home.
Their clients “really wanted to adhere to the home’s historic nature, but they wanted it to feel fresh and updated, with a sophisticated modern elegance.” Ziol started by painting the dark wood paneling and molding throughout the first floor, transforming it with a coat of crisp white paint. “You’re still able to see all the beautiful millwork, the design on the stairs, and especially the decorative moldings on the ceiling, but now it all pops,” she says. Similarly, Ziol replaced dark stained-glass windows with leaded glass that let in more light, making the rooms bright and airy.
Working with a palette of teals, blues, and greens throughout the house that would beautifully contrast the white walls and molding, the designers also selected fabrics that would have likely graced the home in previous generations, such as mohair, velvet, and linen with tape trim.
Furniture, meanwhile, is at once inviting and elegant, such as a tete-a-tete sofa from A. Rudin positioned between the living room and adjoining media room, allowing guests to participate in conversations in either room, delineated by a column-lined entryway and contrasting walls: white in the light-filled living room, textured dark-blue walls covered with Phillip Jeffries vinyl grasscloth wallcovering in the cozier media room.
Meanwhile, the glamorous dining room is furnished with a Christian Liaigre dining table over which hangs an avant-garde Sputnik chandelier. Walls are painted black to offset the glossy white trim and to highlight framed Chinoiserie panels, creating a study in contrasts of old-world and new.
This type of juxtaposition and drama continues throughout the house, whether it’s a powder room papered in ornate, floor-to-ceiling Hermès botanical wallpaper, a breakfast nook furnished with space-age molded plastic Verner Panton chairs, or the master bath, with its modern soaking tub beneath a midcentury chandelier.
Transforming the space with paint and carefully curated furnishings, “made it feel like a modern family home with the sophistication of a bygone area,” says Ziol. “It’s rich and regal, with the elegance and architectural details you don’t see in a newly built home.”
Dig deeper into this historic home in our partner publication, Design Chicago.
