High ceilings, brick walls, smooth surface of furniture items are components of a somewhat careless, industrial style in the interior of the Dave and Mollie Code apartments.

In Chicago, they are the owners of Studio Code, a company engaged in the restoration of houses, the main goal for them is to preserve the historical elements of the interior and create a functional space. Their apartment fully reflects the main principle of their company, while remaining comfortable and modern.

This is how Mollie writes about her apartment:

My husband Dave and I have been living here for a little over a year. Before moving, we completely renovated the interior of this apartment. Initially, this house served as a factory, but later it was converted into a living room (just imagine – wooden cabinets and dark granite countertops are all around).

We wanted to update the space in such a way as to show the amazing history of this place, so we chose contrasting materials – decorated the kitchen in cold gray tones, bleached the walls and floors and added wooden and brick elements of warm tones to the interior. Together with my husband, we like to develop new designs and discuss ideas about renovations.

About design:

Style: I love comfort combined with ostentation. I am inspired by different design movements, but most of all I like the contrast of details, whether it is the contrast of colors, textures or styles.

I love unexpected combinations in the interior, such as a mixture of a rough barn table with Danish sliding chairs. Maybe I don’t always have grandiose design ideas, but I prefer to include in the interior those things that do not leave me indifferent.

Inspires: I draw inspiration from any architectural works and design blogs, in particular Scandinavian ones. We are also happy to live in the West Loop area of Chicago, where you can be inspired by various elements of old and new buildings.

Favorite interior item: We love spending time on the roof. This is the kind of place where you feel yourself floating above the city, and we like this feeling!

The main task: To demonstrate the true beauty of the space. The apartment used to be part of the factory. We wanted to update the space in such a way as to show the amazing history of this place, so we chose contrasting materials – decorated the kitchen in cold gray tones, bleached the walls and floors and added wooden and brick elements of warm tones to the interior.

What friends say: Many people speak positively about our apartment. They find it unusual for Chicago – it looks Western, in an industrial style. I really like that it was created in an excellent style, unusual for the interiors of other apartments in the city.

Minus: The laundry room – we did not present her photo, as we store all sorts of junk in it. There is usually complete chaos going on there.

A point of pride: I love watercolor drawings and pictures and I write them myself, they are hung all over the house. My favorite is a huge painting depicting the Church of Santa Costanza in Rome, it can be seen at the entrance to the apartment.

Our weakness: Our weakness is, perhaps, our dining table and chairs. We have been trying to choose a suitable option for a long time, and, in the end, we did not choose one of the cheap ones. But we were satisfied.

Tip: Review the things that are in your apartment. Dave and I try to leave only those things that are really useful, meaningful to us or really beautiful.

Sources of inspiration: Favorite sources of inspiration are websites and companies that produce hand-made products.