Kalvakota Project Reveal!

The Kalvakota project has been over a year in the making – from dark to bright through the magic of paint, organization and keepsakes.

It’s Reveal Day!

I’m thrilled to (finally!) share the Kalvakota’s first floor project, over a year in the making! As a bit of backstory, Nithin and Rachel Kalvakota are our dear friends and neighbors. They live in an eco-box, a style of Chicago home that maximizes its city footprint with modern efficiencies, tall ceilings and a street-facing wall of windows. These homes are long and narrow, coming in at about 20′ wide, and the main living space is an open floor plan. 

Just tuning in? Follow along with this project from the beginning: Meet the Kalvakotas + ALL the befores | How we made an L-shaped credenza | How we made a mudroom with a blank wall | A big project update

After moving into their home in 2018, they laid down the furniture they’d collected from various apartments over the years. If there was a nail in the wall from the previous homeowner, they would hang a family photo here, a painting made by her grandma there. And… that was it. The previous homeowner painted the walls in stripes and bold colors, with modern light fixtures throughout. In short, they were living with the style of the previous homeowner.

They craved change but were paralyzed with indecision. Rachel felt that the home weighed her down; she craved a brighter, more fresh aesthetic. She wanted it to reflect their family, inclusive of their two young girls. She wanted it to feel joyful and calm. Can you do that?, she asked. Yes, we can!

You can see all the before photos of their home in this post. If you haven’t seen it yet, please click over before reading the rest!

Before + After

Before we dive into all the afters (and I’ll let the photos do most of the talking!), I can’t help but share two before and afters that showcase the power of paint and wallpaper. I can’t help but feel like the original paint color is making the room feel squat, which by the way, it is not! The ceilings are upwards of 10′ tall, but the color was creating a harsh contrast that took away from that important feature in their home.

Living Room | Before

All the walls were painted Sherwin-Williams Greek Villa, a creamy white, and in an instant, the ceilings feel tall again!

Living Room | After

The back half of the first floor leads to a door that takes you to the backyard and garage. It’s also where the dining room is located. There were no systems as they come and go, and often times, shoes, hats and gloves would collect in a pile.

Dining + Mudroom | Before

We added this wallpaper, which we also mimicked in the front half of the house (more on that in a second!). We also created a mudroom on the right, and spruced up the dining room on the left.

Dining + Mudroom | After

The Entry

Now let’s take a tour throughout their first floor! (And again, check out all the before photos if you haven’t already.) The wallpaper was repeated in both the entryway at the front of the house, as well as the mudroom in the back. I love that it creates a beautiful bookend that can be seen throughout the first floor without feeling overwhelming. We also had enough room to add the Maribo storage ottoman to hide away shoes and seasonal items. This commercial grade doormat fills the space between the front door and coat closet, yet blends away completely against their hardwood floors.

Entryway sources: door color is Valspar Sunset Curtains | wallpaper | doormat/rug | storage ottoman | vintage mirror (similar) | gold frames

The Living Room

I love this room for them. It fits their personalities so well! It feels youthful yet elevated, and the pattern layering is so grandma-chic. Speaking of which, the large framed photo above the sofa is of Rachel’s grandma! She was an artist, so we had a lot of fun sifting through her travel photography, as well as a handful of paintings Rachel inherited. You’ll see the latter throughout the rest of the first floor!

I spotted the plaid chairs on consignment at Alapash, texted the photo to Rachel, and she promptly called the store to pay for them over the phone. They are in pristine vintage condition and they MAKE the room!

Living room sources: light fixture | rug | coffee table + tray | vase + faux stems | weighted throw | sconce | plaid pillows | floral pillow

The Play Space

The play space is just beyond the living room, and before giving it a purpose, it was essentially dead space. Now, it’s ALL storage for toys, making clean-up a snap! After exhausting every nook and cranny on the internet for a nice-looking L-shaped storage unit and coming up empty handed, we decided to make our own. We used two Dako sideboards, and we commissioned Norman Leigh to create a matching top to bring them together. The new ‘top’ is simply laid on top of the credenza top! We also asked Norman Leigh to make a matching floating shelf to display family memories and keepsakes.

Play space sources: sideboard | braided rug | faux fur | infant bike | chinoiserie lamp (similar)

The Kitchen

The Kalvakota kitchen was already a well-functioning machine, but it lacked dimension and organization. What you can’t see is how we decluttered and tidied the inside of all the cabinets. Aside from that, we added a blue tile backsplash and swapped in a new touch faucet and counter stools. You’ll also see a photo of the staircase that leads down to their basement. We hung another one of Rachel’s grandma’s paintings, and we grouped that with these swappable kids’ art frames!

Kitchen sources: light fixture | blue tile | counter stools | kids’ art frames | touch faucet | amber soap pumps

The Dining Room

Behind the kitchen is the dining room! Nithin and Rachel already owned this vintage table and chair set, and we topped it off with this linear chandelier and laid this washable rug below. The wall of cabinets was left by the previous homeowner, and now it stores additional pantry staples, art supplies and work-from-home components. It was Rachel’s dream to have it lined with greenery, but after a trial run with real plants that, um, didn’t quite survive, I switched to mostly faux! (You can see all the faux plants we picked up here.)

Dining room sources: chandelier | washable rug | wallpaper | candlesticks | faux plants

The Mudroom

Last but not least, the mudroom! It’s common in the city to have your garage behind your house, so a lot of people will use the back door to come and go, whereas visitors will use the front door. With this in mind, we needed to get some systems in place as they head out for the day! A storage bench, jute rug and several hooks did the trick. They already owned the dresser which hides away keys, masks, lotion and any other last minute grab-and-go items.

Mudroom sources: door is Valspar Sunset Curtains | wallpaper | storage bench | jute rug | jumbo hooks | vase

Thank You!

Really, thank you! We’ve been working on this makeover in real time, which means that it took well over a year to complete. I like to think it was worth the wait! Throughout it all, you DMed me to check in on progress, cheered us on as we hung art, tiled, rolled out rugs and sneaked into their home with little surprise touches. Most of all, I’m grateful that we could do this for our closest friends – and that we get to enjoy it, too! To conclude, cute family alert in 3, 2, 1…

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