Croft End
Chicago, IL
//
2023
Croft End
A light-filled city apartment transformed into a calm and considered sanctuary.
Year
2023
location
Chicago, IL
Size
780 sqft
Working with Constraints
At 780 square feet, Croft End required careful thinking about what the space needed to do versus what it needed to feel like. The client — a single professional who works from home three days a week — needed the apartment to function as an office, a living room, and a place to decompress, all without those functions bleeding into one another.
We reconfigured the layout entirely, removing a partition wall to merge the kitchen and living area, and using a bespoke joinery unit to define the workspace without closing it off. The unit houses a fold-down desk, concealed shelving, and a slim wardrobe on its reverse face — allowing the client to close the day behind literal doors at the end of the afternoon.
Light and Storage
The apartment faces north, so maximizing the sense of light was a central concern throughout. We kept the palette extremely pale — white walls, ash flooring, and linen curtains that pool gently on the floor — and introduced a large mirror opposite the main window to push daylight further into the plan.
Storage was treated as an architectural element rather than an afterthought. Floor-to-ceiling cabinetry lines the hallway, providing generous capacity without interrupting the main living areas. The result is a home that feels twice its size — uncluttered, quiet, and entirely at ease.
