Interior design is such a creative industry… and nothing makes me feel more creatively inspired than bright colors, bold patterns, and meaningful design stories. So while other workplaces were choosing to forgo their office spaces and embrace a fully remote working style, my team and I chose to take the opposite approach…

Team AKD has spent the past nine months designing, installing, and perfecting each and every corner of our brand-new Chicago studio, located in a hundred-year-old building in the heart of the city. While I’ve been offering peeks and snippets over on my Instagram, I’m so excited to formally welcome you inside and tell you the story of our studio. Come on in!

Finding the Perfect Space

AKD has previously found homes on the North Shore and in a converted space on Wells — but as our team grows and our needs evolve, it’s become clear that we need a larger, brighter space, with plenty of room not only for creative collaboration but also for our boxes (and boxes and boxes) of samples and fabrics.

I’m an absolute sucker for an older building with lots of charm, and this space certainly delivers. While the floor plan offers a few quirks (hello, load-bearing columns in the middle of a room), we chose to embrace them – because with quirks comes charm. I mean, look at the doors and archways!

We rearranged and renovated just a bit, moving the kitchen into the great room to allow for better ease of use and more functional storage.

The First Impression

Speaking of the great room, this residential-inspired “living area” was imagined with the family homes we design every day in mind. We knew we wanted an area for entertaining visitors, clients, partners, and friends, but we also wanted it to function as a secondary workplace, where one of our team members could put up their feet while solving a specific design problem.

Arguably my favorite feature of the entire studio lives in this room, and it’s easy to see why I love it so much. We sourced this 120-year-old ceiling from India (thanks to our amazing friends at The Golden Triangle), and we turned it into the piece de resistance of our sitting area. Along with the vintage tables from Florence, recovered furnishings in bold, comfortable fabrics, and statement-making Oscar Isberian rug, the resulting room feels like the living room at your chicest friend’s house.

The Recipe for Success

Even though it’s our workspace, we knew we wanted the majority of the space to feel just like our residential projects — which of course meant including a kitchen beautiful enough to hang out in. Thanks to the open concept of the sitting and kitchen areas, the design blends together to form a homey space for our team to lounge, host, and whip up snacks.

I’m actually obsessed with the hardware in our kitchen. It was handcrafted in Hawaii, and it brings me so much joy to see the moments of craftsmanship we added throughout the space. Who says you can’t have green cabinetry…? Not me! Paired with stunning counters and a backsplash from Calia, the result feels high-end yet livable — aka the bread and butter of AKD.

Getting Down to Business

Of course, the bulk of our time is spent between my office, the team studio, and the conference room. While it was important to me to have a space to call my own, I often find myself sitting with the team in our larger studio space, where the big windows, magnetic paint (used for hanging up samples and renderings), and open floor plan allow for maximum inspiration and innovation. Each piece of office furniture was selected with both beauty and functionality in mind, ensuring that our team could get some serious work done while also feeling comfortable and inspired.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that each room is also packed with art — both in the traditional and nontraditional senses. While you know sourcing and collecting art is one of my greatest pastimes, I also had so much fun infusing artistic elements into every decision we made. If you ask me, the rugs throughout the space function as art on the floors, and don’t even get me started on the wallpaper.

All in all, it’s a dream come true to work from such a vibrant, exciting, and colorful studio. We approached this project less like we would a commercial space and more like a home away from home… and I think it’s safe to say we succeeded. Thanks for stopping by, and come back anytime!