At Home With: Phil in Ravenswood

I work with Phil. And when I first started my job back in August and my co-workers discovered BackGarage, Phil started obsessively checking the Craigslist Roundups for new furniture, as he was moving later that month.

It paid off. After a few weeks Phil not only found a lovely canary yellow retro ’50s formica dining set for $200, he scored a Danish modern (in style anyway) chair for $50. (He plans on replacing the cushions eventually.)

Add that to all the other things he’s inherited or scored from eBay in the past few years (plus an eye for just the right wall color), and it equals a pretty sweet one-bedroom apartment in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood.  (The room-size Persian rug was a $25 eBay purchase.  Of course the shipping brought the grand total to about $200, but still.)

Porcelain design shrine: Phil’s bathroom is an homage to Eames and the Chicago transit system.

Phil’s rockin’ some pretty bold choices in this apartment.  One: he covered the entire north wall of his living room with these floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.  When I asked him if he’s afraid they’ll come crashing down in the middle of the — “Constant fear,” is what he replied, anticipating my question.

Two: I never would have thought to pair an Eames lounge (another one of Phil’s eBay scores — albeit a repro, but who’s checking?) with a Persian rug like this.  But it works.

Another bold choice: Phil had the canary yellow dining set and the charcoal rug, and he asked his friend Debbie what color to make the walls. “Salmon,” was her answer. I’m pretty sure she was right. (Breuer-esque chair from Target. White credenza from Ikea.  Photo collages by Jeff Klapperich.)

There’s a lot of art in Phil’s apartment.  A lot.  Much of it is auto-biographical, like these posters from shows Phil’s worked on and concerts he’s been to, and an entryway filled with reprinted photographs from Phil’s life — everything from “first haircut” to “last year’s road trip.”  To stick them up, Phil suggests, “Double-sided tape.  It takes forever.  Make sure to do all four corners or they’ll curl up.”

Phil bought this brass bed on eBay for $100 — to match the quilts his grandmother hand made.  Stellar choice.

Amidst all these amazing thrift scores, I asked Phil which one was his favorite.  It’s this small tin box from a Russian flea market (!!!).  Phil paid around $7, which his guide thought was exorbitant as these boxes are fairly common in Russia, but Phil has never regretted the purchase.  “What do you keep in here?” I asked him.  “My keys,” he says.

You can find similar boxes by searching “russian tin box” on eBay.

To see more pictures of Phil’s fabulous Lincoln Square apartment, check out the Flickr set, or click on the individual photos above to leave comments on Flickr.

Also — if you would like to offer Phil a job or marry him, he’s in the market for both employment and a long-term relationship. Contact me and I’ll get him the message.