Project Type

A new construction single-family home, designed and furnished throughout.

Scope

Space planning and furniture layouts / fireplace addition / custom 16-foot dining banquette / paint, tile, and appliances / lighting / wallcoverings / window treatments / basement and bedroom finishes / budgeting and project management / furnishings and styling

A Bucktown new build that refused to be basic.

A young couple came to Studio MAK starting their next chapter in their first home, a Bucktown new build with no interest in feeling like one. They wanted something fun, moody, and layered, polished enough to feel grown-up but never so serious it lost its personality.

The house came with a familiar Chicago challenge: a long, narrow lot with one sightline running its full length. Rather than fight the shape, we used it. The front room, which most plans default to a dining room or spare sitting area, became a small lounge and library instead, a true parlor that gives the home a moodier, more intimate first impression. To define the dining area without walling it off, we added a custom sixteen-foot banquette that breaks the long view and anchors the room while keeping the plan open, and a fireplace built in during construction gave the living room a real focal point.

From there it was all atmosphere. Dark colors, textured finishes, layered lighting, and velvet furnishings brought softness, depth, and a little drama to every room, from the main spaces to the bedrooms to the basement.

The finished home is moody, intimate, and genuinely fun. A new construction house with some edge and a lot of texture, and zero interest in being another plain white box.