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A 1,500-square-foot Ravenswood condo in Chicago pairs classic furniture with colorful art, books and keepsakes collected by its owners, Sophie Kihm and Jacob McCarthy. In an Apartment Therapy home tour, Kihm describes warm white walls and clean-lined furniture as a shared foundation for their different tastes.
Apartment Therapy has published a tour of a 1,500-square-foot condo in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood, where writer Sophie Kihm and architectural designer Jacob McCarthy combine colorful collections and vintage keepsakes with classic furniture. The home offers a specific example of how the couple’s different preferences—Kihm’s love of color and pattern and McCarthy’s more minimalist taste—share a common base of warm white walls and clean-lined pieces.
Kihm and McCarthy have owned the two-bedroom condo for about a year, according to the Apartment Therapy report. The building dates to 1935, when it was constructed as rental apartments, and was converted to condominiums about 50 years ago. Kihm describes its recurring arched entrances, original trim and flamed oak doors as details that give the apartment slight Gothic styling.
The couple used warm white paint throughout the home to provide a neutral setting for their collections. In the large living room, a Moroccan rug marks out the main seating area, which includes a vintage Chinese Deco sofa that belonged to Kihm’s family and vintage chairs from McCarthy’s family. Objects with personal histories appear throughout: mannequin heads from Kihm’s childhood home, family art, a refinished dining table inherited from her mother and a sculpture linked to McCarthy’s grandparents.
The tour also highlights pieces chosen or found for particular rooms, including a 1930s Art Deco rug Kihm won at a local auction and a Lego-style portrait she assembled over roughly 18 hours. The couple bought a neighboring resident’s rug for $50 after he put it up for sale, Kihm said. McCarthy and his firm, Misiuna / McCarthy, carried out work to bring the apartment back to life, the report says.
The tour’s central point is practical: Kihm and McCarthy say their styles can coexist when the rooms have a consistent foundation. Warm white walls and classic furniture give the couple room to add patterned textiles, vivid art, books and collections without making every element compete for attention.
The apartment also shows how furnishings can carry personal and family histories alongside decorative roles. The sofa, dining table, sculpture and artwork connect the rooms to both owners’ families, while the couple’s account of refinishing the table shows one way an inherited piece can be kept in use. These are details from one home tour, rather than evidence of a broader design trend or a guarantee that the same approach will work for every space.
From Rental Building to Condo
The building was built in 1935 as rental apartments in Ravenswood, a neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side, Kihm said. It became a condominium building about 50 years later, and she described it as having a high share of long-term residents.
The previous owner had held the unit for more than 30 years. According to Kihm, the apartment had bright yellow walls and large French provincial furniture when the couple took it over. She said the former owner had renovated the kitchen and bathroom about 15 years earlier, giving the new owners a foundation for their own updates.
“Our styles may seem contradictory, but we’ve found that they can complement each other.”
— Sophie Kihm, as quoted in Apartment Therapy
Details Beyond the Tour
The source is a home tour based on Kihm’s account; it does not provide an independent assessment of the renovation or detailed information about its scope, cost or timeline. The report also does not specify which updates the couple made beyond the painting and work attributed to McCarthy and his firm. The couple’s design description is their own, and the article does not establish how widely their approach is shared by other residents or designers.
No Further Project Update
The Apartment Therapy report presents the condo as a completed home tour and does not announce a forthcoming renovation milestone or project. It is not clear whether the couple plans additional work. The immediate development is the publication of the tour and Kihm’s account of how the couple furnished and personalized the apartment.
Key Questions
Where is the apartment?
It is in Ravenswood on Chicago’s North Side, according to Apartment Therapy.
Who owns the condo?
The owners are Sophie Kihm, a writer and Nameberry editor-in-chief, and her fiancé, architectural designer Jacob McCarthy. They had owned it for about a year when the report was published.
How do the owners bring their different styles together?
Kihm says the couple used warm white walls and classic furniture as a shared base, then added collections, color and patterned textiles.
What personal objects appear in the home?
The tour features a family sofa, mannequin heads from Kihm’s childhood home, her mother’s refinished dining table, family artwork and a sculpture associated with McCarthy’s grandparents.
Source: rss
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