Whole homes
Location Lakeview, Chicago
Year 2026
Faces West
Rooms Seven
Status Completed, February 2026
The house had good bones and bad habits: the family lived in the kitchen at the back because the front rooms were dim until three. The overnight showed me why - the bay windows face due west, and the old curtains were closing them at exactly the hour they came alive.
We painted the living room ceiling a deep forest green so the low afternoon sun has something to warm, gave the dining room oxblood built-ins that hold the last light, and moved the reading chair to the one corner that gets sun at breakfast. The stair hall was left almost empty on purpose. The window is the point.
The dining room: oxblood built-ins that hold the last hour of light
The stair hall, left almost empty so the landing window can do its work
The one corner with breakfast sun, and the chair that lives there now