For an interior designer, few things are more satisfying that taking a sorry-looking space and helping it to realize its full potential. Matt Nardella, the principal of Moss Design, recently completed an overhaul of a 2,200-square-foot loft at 375 W. Erie St. in River North, and shared these before-and-after photos with us. Many folks probably first heard of Moss Design through the Lakeview Area Master Plan, which Moss put together, but the firm also does interior design work for restaurants and private homes. With this place, Nardella encountered a space that "suffered from a haphazard layout of rooms breaking the loft into several small spaces," as he writes on the firm's blog. It looked like one of the countless impersonal condo-lofts that can be found in Chicago. Nardella took out some drywall to expose the brick walls, covered the fireplace in framing lumber, sourced from the ReBuilding Exchange, added some doors from a Chicago Montessori school, and completely rearranged the kitchen. And here's a clever touch: to let more light into the lower level, the hallway floor on the second level was replaced with glass panels. The entire budget for the job was about $200,000. For more details on the renovation, check out the Moss Design's Strawville blog.
· Erie Street Loft [Strawville]