Our Uptown Chicago Condo

When I was growing up, I was pretty tight with my cousins, but now we're scattered from Arizona to Texas to Wisconsin and Illinois and all the way over to North Carolina. It's not surprising, then, that most of them were never able to make it over to see our condo before we moved to The Box House. At a family BBQ last week, I was reminded of that fact, and so I thought I'd share a few pictures here of how it looks since the current trio of tenants we are renting it to probably would not appreciate if we gave a tour in person.

Of course, looking at these pictures, I'm wistful for all the shiny newness of the condo, particularly as we spent our Fourth of July afternoon fixing an electrical problem in the tenants' unit at The Box House and missed out on another family BBQ. (Don't get me wrong, the condo had its own variety of problems, and I really do prefer a vintage building. But it will be a long while before we get The Box House looking how we want it to.)

This is the living room of the condo. It's pretty, but we almost never used this room. (Our couch is not really see-through, we had the mattress in another room when I took the photo.) We left the couches and curtains for the tenants.

This is the fireplace in the living room. It is the one thing I truly, truly miss about the condo. But we'll soon take care of our need to play with fire by building a fire pit.

Hmmm. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I can find on my hard drive of the kitchen (taken five minutes before we handed over the keys) and I'm too lazy to go look for another one on disc. You'll have to be satisfied with this, but please note we were never this clean. All the living room furniture was left for the tenants, as were the kitchen bar stools.

Poor Ted. I finished the Venetian Plaster on his office the day before we moved out of the condo, which is why the book shelves in this picture are empty and the desk is bare. I think I'll paint his office at The Box House the same color. Two walls are made from tongue-and-groove boards, the other two are brick, and I think it will make for a striking room.

This is the master bedroom, done up in terra cotta Venetian plaster. The 1930s deco bed with the marble-top cabinets is one I bought on eBay. Ted and I never got around to getting a proper mattress for it. We need to order a custom-sized one because the bed came from France and the size is non-standard. That's why our mattress is just set in the middle of the frame. At The Box House, we are currently using the nightstands and just the mattress--we haven't bothered setting up the frame at all. *Sigh*

This too-dark picture is of the guest room/my office. I LOVE the red walls, although I doubt anyone else will when it comes time to put the condo on the market. I may have to paint my office at The Box House red, although it may be too dark because it is in a basement. I do have two window, but still. The 1890s bed I picked up at an estate sale northwest of Chicago; supposedly, the house was part of the Underground Railroad.

Oh, and don't be fooled by that guitar. I haven't made it past the first lesson in my teach-yourself book and dvd set. But one day, Ted (who plays some classical guitar) and I will sit on the roof of The Box House, hippie style, and play our guitars under the full moon. One day.

The laundry closet with its stackable washer and dryer is kinda boring, as are the storage unit and the garage. So I'll skip those. But I'm saving the best for last. The bathrooms. Oh, God, how I'd love a reliable toilet right now. The Box House bathrooms will be beautiful after we've dealt with them, but for now I'd give anything to be able to flush the toilet just once and have everything whisked away as expected the first time.

Okay, I'm only going to show you one bathroom. This is the guest bathroom. The master bath has a jacuzzi and shower, but it never seems to look good in photos because I can't fit everything into one frame. The walls in this room were the first I ever tried to Venetian Plaster, and I LOVE this color.

Oops, that wasn't the last picture. I forgot the balcony.

The balcony is particularly nice in the evenings, and during the day has a freakish amount of sunlight because it's on the top floor without another porch above it. Some of the best times we had on the balcony were watching the fireworks from the Saddle and Cycle Club, a show that rivals the downtown fireworks in many ways--and you don't have to fight the crowds.

On the day we moved, we realized that the patio table, which we had assembled on the balcony, would not fit through the doorway. We were tired and crabby at this point, and didn't want to mess with taking the table apart, and couldn't even if we wanted to because we had already moved the tool chest. "Fine, the tenants can have a furnished balcony," I said, a decision I've since regretted. When the lease is up, I may go claim the table back. *Grin*

Schwarzie, the condo mascot. I fed him by hand for two years (once he even walked right into our bedroom from the balcony to look for peanuts) until he got a little greedy and nicked my finger. Ted made me stop at that point. Don't feed the wild animals, kids!

The condo is pretty, and after all the hard work we put in plastering the walls, I wish we could have enjoyed it longer. But I'm so thrilled to be living in a place we have more control over--for instance, we can make decisions on how to decorate the yard without having to go through a committee!

Well, that's the fifty-cent tour. I hope you enjoyed it! We'll be putting the condo on the market as soon as the market changes and people actually start buying condos again. (If any of you random readers are interested in moving to Uptown, let me know! The designer finishes are fabulous, if I do say so myself!)