At Home With: Brad & Sarah in Ukrainian Village

As it turns out, I have some friends whose apartment equals shelter porn.

Before I left to photograph their apartment last Sunday morning, I thought their place might inspire the same jealous anxiety I get after reading ReadyMade articles about couples who live in lofts.  But in fact quite the opposite occurred.  Because Brad and Sarah have spent such a significant amount of time collecting the furniture and items in their home, and such an insignificant amount of money (comparatively – they don’t buy new), I left feeling inspired.  Inspired that any of us could take our all-consuming obsession with mid-century furniture, combine it with our unique desire to not spend a penny more than we have to, and turn our living spaces into awe-inspiring abodes like the one Brand and Sarah currently call home… without going into debt.

The floating wall unit was an eBay purchase. Brad spent years hunting for mid-century wall units at online auction, then watched this one close without any bids, only to get re-listed at 1/3 the price — and that’s when he bought it.

Blue chair = $3 at the Village Discount on Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago.

Marquee ‘Y’ and arc lamp = $25 and $80, respectively, from the Lake Avenue Bazaar in Woodstock, Illinois.

The Bertoia chair is authentic and another eBay find.  The blue door was salvaged from an alley.

Vases = Ikea.

The darkroom clock = hand-me-down from Adrienne.

Door lights = Ikea.  They plan on hanging one decrepit ornament from the branch for Christmas.

What I like about the windowsill: the mix of modern and rustic — Ikea pots and terra cotta, steel and wooden boxes.

The couch was a Craigslist find, albeit with different upholstery.  But it had good bones, and Brad spent a considerable amount of time researching suppliers of organic fabric and foam, until he had it re-covered in a completely environmentally-friendly way at hundreds less than you’d pay for a similar sofa.

The hallway entrance is one giant Ikea hack. Pieces of the Norrebo and other storage systems are suspended from the wall to create a stowage area for sunglasses, hats, scarves and keys.

Mirror = salvaged from an apartment building.

Robots from Bennett Robot Works (Brad’s dad).

More Ikea hacks in the bedroom: storage boxes planters mounted sideways on the wall make for nice mid-century style bedside tables. And Ikea kitchen shelving takes the place of a dresser.

Wall mural from JustMurals.com.  Professionally drymounted on foam core at April Sevens on Chicago Ave. in Chicago.

The retro pendant lights came from a neighbor who abandoned them in an apartment building Brad used to live in.

Stay tuned for Part 2, coming soon….

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If you like the At Home posts, check out Allison’s Ravenswood Bedroom, or Lauren & Tom’s Ukrainian Village apartment.

Are you living expansively on a small budget?

I would love to hear about YOUR fabulous BackGarage-style living space.  Email me.