5 Architecture and Interior Design Tips from Chicago Residential Architects Elissa Morgante and Fred Wilson

Elissa Morgante, AIA

Elissa Morgante, AIA
Founding Partner at Award Winning Chicago Architects, Morgante Wilson

Mar 2, 2020 - 5 min read

5 Architecture and Interior Design Tips from Chicago Residential Architects Elissa Morgante and Fred Wilson

After thirty years in the residential architecture business – and marriage! – Elissa Morgante and Fred Wilson have a learned a thing or two about architecture and interior design, including how to stretch budgets, the importance of storage, creating a uniquely personal home, working well with an architect, and setting a white kitchen apart. “Listen in” for some useful tips and ideas!

Let’s start with the basics: What should clients do to ensure a great relationship with their architect?

Fred:

Trust us. I always say it’s the number one thing clients can do to guarantee they get the house of their dreams. Bring us your wish list, tell us what you don’t love about your current house, and then let us get to work solving those problems in a way that will thrill you beyond any solution you might think up yourself.

Elissa:

I completely agree. I’d also add that you should try and loop your interior designer in from the very beginning if you can, so they can work in tandem with your architect to design holistically. When both sides team up at the outset, the results are richer, and better, than when interior designers come into the project after everything’s been decided. By then it’s too late to collaborate on things like built-ins and ceiling treatments that really make a difference to the feel of a room.

What tips do you have for making the most of a renovation or new build budget?

Fred:

I could talk about this for days, but the most important thing, I think, is for clients to make decisions according to schedule to keep their project moving along on time. Once you start changing your mind, or debating about decisions past their due date, that’s when schedules – and budgets – can start to get out of control. Product arrives late, contractors have to be rescheduled…..you get the idea.

Elissa:

I’ll answer this with one really easy and impactful idea from an interior designer’s perspective. You can get more for your money in a bathroom or a kitchen if you use expensive tiles as accent pieces. For instance, use classic, but inexpensive, subway tile in your shower – but dress it up and make it special with a stripe of another tile you just love that’s too expensive to use in the whole space. We do that on walls, backsplashes, and floors all the time.

Okay, let’s talk kitchens: Best tip for personalizing a white kitchen?

Fred:

I’ll let Elissa do all the talking on this one because she’s full of great tips on white kitchens!

Elissa:

That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me all day Fred! But it’s true – I do have lots of thoughts about this, because it’s a question we get all the time. White kitchens will always be popular, and they can accommodate lots of different style preferences beyond the vintage farmhouse look. You just have to know what to do to make a white kitchen feel contemporary, or earthy, or whatever you’re into.

One thing you can do is mix materials, like Fred and I did in our house. We upholstered our base cabinets in woven vinyl and used 3form resin on our uppers. The mix gives our kitchen a really unique, more contemporary feel.

You can use stone to make a kitchen feel more organic. A big slab waterfalling over an island is a great way to do that. You can introduce bookshelves to display cookbooks and collections, and install crystal chandeliers over your breakfast table, to make a kitchen feel more like a living room. These are just a few ideas; we did a blog post on this a while back that talks about other things you can do.

Fred:

I’ll try and keep up with Elissa here! First of all, let me just say you can almost never have too much storage. But of course, no one wants to dedicate all their square footage to closets, so you have to be smart about incorporating it. We like to create window seats with storage below, and flank them with built-in bookshelves. You can line your hallway walls with bookshelves, too, or create a gallery-like feel by incorporating built-in display shelves into a corridor or alongside an entryway door. Your mudroom should have a mix of open and closed cubbies, plus hanging space with hooks, either out in the open or behind closed doors, depending on how accessible you want things to be and your tolerance for mess. (Be honest with yourself about that and you’ll be happier with your house.) You might want to build a super pantry into your kitchen instead of filling it with upper cabinets – that way you get plenty of storage but can also incorporate walls of windows above your countertops. We did a blog post on storage, too – it’s got other ideas you may want to try.

One last question for both of you: what’s the best way to make a new home feel like it’s truly “you?”

Fred:

Think about what you love and how you live. Then talk with your architect about ways to make your new home accommodate those things. If you have frequent out of town guests, you might want to build a bunk room in your basement so you can be that stress-free host everyone aspires to be. If you’re a model train enthusiast – ahem, not that I am – you may want to carve out space for a train room to indulge your hobby (not that I did). If you regularly have the whole team over for pizza after the game, make sure you incorporate a large island into your kitchen.

Elissa:

Those are all excellent ideas. Once they’re in place, you can get even more granular about it. From an interior design standpoint, I’d recommend listening to what speaks to you, like art. It doesn’t have to be expensive or important, to be worth hanging on your walls – if a piece of art moves you and means something to you, buy it and feel that connection every time you see it. If your grandmother’s china cabinet brings back a flood of happy memories, consider painting it or changing its hardware to make it fit your taste, or putting it to use in a home office, and enjoy the good feelings it brings.

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Morgante Wilson Architects provides architectural and interior design services in Chicago, Deerfield, Evanston, Glencoe, Glenview, Highland Park, Kenilworth, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Northbrook, Northfield, Ravinia, Wilmette and Winnetka – along with Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Utah, Wisconsin and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Elissa Morgante, AIA

Elissa Morgante, AIA

Founding Partner at Award Winning Chicago Architects, Morgante Wilson