Christopher Kent’s clients, a retired couple from Indiana who had purchased a second home in downtown Chicago, were eager to hear the designer’s ideas. Their new apartment, a 2,200-square-foot unit inside the iconic Palmolive Building, which was completed in 1929, really lent itself to an Art Deco theme. But Kent, founder of the Midwest-based interiors firm Studio CAK, wanted to take things a bit further. His pitch went along these lines: “If you’re going to be spending time in a relatively large city, let’s push the boundaries: Let’s pretend we’re in Paris.” This was quite a departure for the clients, whose permanent residence in Indiana is a sprawling house filled with Americana, yet they readily agreed. “Being our third project together to date, we have the rapport to trust him implicitly,” says the wife. “We wanted to be heard, but also pushed; in the end, we were taken on a design journey that one can only dream of!”
After a gut renovation that included the conversion of a second bedroom into a family room and the construction of distinct dining and living spaces (“to respect the Art Deco style of the building, we ended up doing away with an open-concept layout that had been created in the early 2000s,” says the designer), Kent began to envision a European pied-à-terre infused with color and texture. In the living room, which was painted a dusty pink, he paired a curvilinear midcentury sofa with two Art Deco poufs upholstered in damask-patterned jacquard and a gilded “sheaf of wheat” coffee table, creating a feminine, nostalgia-tinged atmosphere. Steps away, behind a set of double doors, is the family room, whose vibe is more masculine and energetic; it features mossy green walls, bright artworks, and an oversized ottoman covered in an impossibly thick coyote fur that begs to be touched.
Spring Sale: Become an AD PRO member today andsave $100on an annual membership.
Elsewhere, there are deep reds (seen in the striped bergères used as dining chairs), moody teals (on the master bedroom walls and velvet bed), and even blazing fuchsias (on the custom kitchen cabinets). While most of the furnishings are from the 1920s, Kent included a handful of antique and midcentury pieces to add nuance, refinement, and a certain je ne sais quoi. ”When I enter the space, I feel as if I’ve been transported to Paris,” says the wife. “The textures, patterns, and colors, mixed with the ornate architectural details, evoke the sophistication of a hôtel particulier.”
