With a name like “Dream Home,” The Merchandise Mart’s showhouse must inspire the imagination and transport the viewer. Six Chicago interior design firms were put to just this task for the 2015 edition of Chicago's popular Dream Home, which is open for viewing through Dec. 6 on the first floor of The Merchandise Mart. Proceeds from this year’s edition benefit Almost Home Kids, a Naperville, IL-based charity that provides transitional care for children with complicated health needs. Step inside the Dream Home, and be sure to like our Facebook page for additional best-of-year show home inspiration.
Dining Room
The storied and romantic 2015 Dream Home Dining Room by Anne Coyle Interiors evokes British Colonial styling in the spirit of author Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke, who was famously portrayed by Meryl Streep in the award-winning film “Out of Africa.” The room is at once an office, sitting room and dining room. “Here she can write, conduct business, read, nap and receive visitors,” says Coyle. “It is a multi-purpose room, which is how we should be using our dining rooms today. Because of its inhabitant, the room feels very collected and old school, yet it is thoroughly modern in its purpose. Every woman or man should have a room like this in their home.”
Accessories from Maitland-Smith dot the space, which features furniture from the Merchandise Mart’s Mike Bell Inc. & Westwater Patterson showroom, as well as Hickory Chair and Pearson, all against a backdrop of Schumacher’s Sinhala and Valkyrie fabrics and Sinhala.
Study
The “multipurpose” chord strikes again in David Kaufman and Tom Segal’s 2015 Dream Home study, which was designed as both an intimate space for private work and reading, and a lounge space for entertaining guests. Chaise lounges and a console table-turned open bar are put to use for the latter; meanwhile, a monolithic fireplace from Hastings Bath & Tile sets a mood for any occasions.
A wool-and-silk rug from Tufenkian inspired the color palette and tone of the room, which are accentuated by textural wall coverings, specifically grasscloth wall coverings from Maya Romanoff and Kyle Bunting hair-on hide wall panels. The Solaris chandelier, available in the Holland & Sherry showroom at the Merchandise Mart, “encircles” the space with brass.
Foyer
Fringe embellishment is enjoying a moment in the fall apparel and accessories collection, and Marshall Erb anticipates the trend in his 2015 Dream Home Foyer. Inspired by a vintage New York apartment and lived in by art enthusiasts, the Laura Kirar Guernica lounge chair with fringe sets the tone for a foyer filled with original artwork. “The space is full of depth and rich in detail but feels edited, elegant and edgy,” Erb explains.
Living Room
The mood continues to the 2015 Dream Home Living Room by Eva Quateman, a space for “someone who loves to entertain and does it well.” In an homage to the “softer side of the mid-20th Century, curves and rich details abound in the space. Known from her black-and-white and black-and-ivory interiors, Quateman shows a deft hand with a luxury palette that foretells of 2016’s incoming green palettes.
Click here to see 2015 Dream Home Bedroom and Outdoor Dining Room.
