CASSIDY ALLEN CREATIVE

Welcome to Our Home for the Summer!

I have been super stoked about sharing our little Chicago studio! But first, a little history…

Our place is located in Old Town, a historically registered neighborhood in Chicago. The area began its construction in 1872, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. This means the buildings in the area can be repaired and renovated (with restrictions), but not torn down.

We found this little gem on AirBnB back in January. It’s actually a guest house that was turned into a duplex behind the home of our hosts! The photo below is the view of the studio when you walk into the front hallway.

From there, you’ll see double doors that bring you to a walk-in closet. When we got here, in no way was I expecting our closet to be larger than our bathroom…

This next space serves as a living room, dining room, and bedroom. What you may not be able to see is the base of the bed frame. On top of our large closet, there are a total of six spacious drawers in the base of the bed. I love, love, LOVE the use of space here!

Next, you will see our little kitchen. I can’t tell if the oven is just that small, or the sink is that large. But to answer the question you’re all thinking, we do actually eat at the little table. Andrew sits on the leather chair on the left and eats on the corner, while I sit on the chair in the kitchen. I’ve really enjoyed being able to cook our own meals (when we’re not exploring restaurants in the area). I do wish there was more counter space, but at least our pantry is massive!

Finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…the bathroom! If you’ve followed my Instagram since we moved in, I asked for some assistance in naming the toilet-sink. With a very close 80 to 76 vote, we have decided to call the contraption a tink. I would show you the rest of the bathroom, but it’s too narrow to get an angle where everything fits in the frame… I assure you, all you’re missing out on is a shower that Andrew would argue is too small.

On the tink, you will notice two buttons on either side of the faucet. One is for solids, one is for liquids. Whenever you press either of them, the toilet will flush and the faucet will start running at the same time. The faucet runs for a few minutes so you can wash your hands while it is also refilling the toilet. Not only does this tink save space in a small studio, but it also saves water!

We’ve only been in the studio for two weeks, but we’ve already had an Old Town experience. We’ve needed a series of repairs already: Our kitchen sink clogged and a pipe leaked earlier this week. Then, a fuse blew in the middle of the night, turning off the A/C, all light fixtures, and a majority of our outlets. That next day, the pilot light on the gas stove went out, the shades fell when Andrew tried closing them, and we discovered some ants.

As frustrating as some of these events have been, we couldn’t help but laugh them off. Saturday marked three weeks of marriage, and a cozy, imperfect studio has been the most fun. The little broken things have not changed our opinions on the studio or the area in general. They’re just things we have to deal with, and Old Town is so worth it.

We are three blocks from a diverse strip of restaurants, bakeries, boutiques, and bars on North Wells Street, two blocks from Lincoln Park, and a mile away from North Avenue Beach. We are less than a mile away from anything we could ever need. Groceries, convenience stores, coffee shops (though we enjoy coffee at home more), dry cleaners, greenhouses, you name it. The train to downtown is a five minute walk away, and the ride is only about twenty minutes. The best part about being in the city is the proximity to everything, but being nestled far enough into a neighborhood that it’s quiet and peaceful…usually.

We’re excited to spend the rest of our summer here. I would be happy to answer any followup questions, or comments about the area, the studio, and/or how we found it! I hope you enjoyed reading this little post as much as I enjoyed writing it.