My Houzz: Heartwarming Vintage Touches in a Cozy Chicago Rental
Original architectural details, the owner’s travels and styles from 3 eras inspire this 660-square-foot apartment
Hazhala is originally from Ukraine and works as a communications specialist. As an interiors, fashion and travel enthusiast, she also pours her energy into The Lokal, a lifestyle and travel blog she cofounded with graphic designer and stylist Julia Latkins. The tufted love seat she’s seated on is a Crate & Barrel piece (the Azure model) that Latkins found for her at a thrift shop.
The nonworking fireplace serves as a wonderful focal point in the living room. Hazhala is also grateful for the storage provided by the built-ins.
Nearly every surface in the apartment is decorated with vintage finds from flea markets, estate sales, antiques shops and thrift stores. Hazhala considers the hunt for these gems a hobby. “I am always confident that I will be able to find stuff drawn by my imagination — sometimes even better than I imagined — and without big damage to my personal finances,” she says. “Joy caused by the hunting adrenaline is a separate subject.”
Blush jute Soha area rug: Cost Plus World Market; Paris Guidebook: Cereal
Blush jute Soha area rug: Cost Plus World Market; Paris Guidebook: Cereal
“This is really my first home that I decided to create to my liking — not just move into a space and have utilitarian things inside,” Hazhala says. “In terms of aesthetics, I adore three eras: the decadence of the 1920s, the modernism of the ’60s and the minimalism of the ’90s. I try to balance those eras in my home with tangible representations — creating a harmony between practicality and beauty, industrial brutality and romantic softness.”
“When I have a chance to spend a day at home, it is my favorite time and I like to make it very slow,” Hazhala says. “Music is my favorite component that sets me in a mood. For my slow Saturday or Sunday, I choose my French pop songs from a ’60s radio station. I brew myself some coffee and choose my favorite cup for it. I like to read a book in my sunroom, seen here, facing the lake and keeping my feet on a warm radiator.”
Hazhala applies two criteria to her interior decor choices. “First, I don’t want any accidental objects in my place. I want each — even the smallest — thing to be special, accurately chosen but darling, with its own history,” she says.
Second, the item must bring her joy. “My special joy is to inspire people around me. Therefore, I wanted to create a home that was welcoming for everyone, where my faraway friends from all over the world can stay while traveling.”
Second, the item must bring her joy. “My special joy is to inspire people around me. Therefore, I wanted to create a home that was welcoming for everyone, where my faraway friends from all over the world can stay while traveling.”
Above a vintage record player in the living room is a gallery wall of original photos and favorite family portraits. Hazhala loves things with a little bit of history to them. “I recently realized why,” she says. “An old piece with history always turns on my imagination, while a new piece is blank and quiet for me.”
The mirror is an estate sale find. “I was attracted to its thin, elegant frame and the darkened glass,” Hazhala says. The lamp on the left is made from an old tripod Hazhala found and topped with an industrial lamp from Home Depot.
The mirror is an estate sale find. “I was attracted to its thin, elegant frame and the darkened glass,” Hazhala says. The lamp on the left is made from an old tripod Hazhala found and topped with an industrial lamp from Home Depot.
The multipurpose table in the dining room is used for eating, entertaining, blog photo shoots and as a place to watch movies on a laptop. “During one of my thrift huntings, I found this amazing butcher block table from one of the oldest woodworking companies in the country, Michigan Maple Block,” Hazhala says. “It was a great find that cost me just a few dollars and some time washing and assembling.”
Her perfect evening at home typically takes place in the dining room. “My friends will come over, I’ll light my candles, put on my records, set out some cheese, meat and veggie boards and we’ll drink wine and chat for hours,” she says. Her most recent guests were a photographer and florist from Saint Petersburg, Russia, a Ph.D. student from Paris and a psychiatrist from Odessa, Ukraine.
Her perfect evening at home typically takes place in the dining room. “My friends will come over, I’ll light my candles, put on my records, set out some cheese, meat and veggie boards and we’ll drink wine and chat for hours,” she says. Her most recent guests were a photographer and florist from Saint Petersburg, Russia, a Ph.D. student from Paris and a psychiatrist from Odessa, Ukraine.
A vintage teapot and photos decorate the top of the original built-in hutch in the dining room. “I purposefully have not varnished the wooden surfaces of my tables — I don’t want to protect them from everyday damages. I prefer to see those coffee spots, knife cuts, paint traces, etc. on the wood,” Hazhala says. “Those marks bear the history and remind me that objects in the house are not museum pieces but living and breathing participants of our lives. They are the language of the everyday living.”
Dried eucalyptus branches decorate the original dining room chandelier.
Eames-style side chairs: 2xhome, Amazon
Eames-style side chairs: 2xhome, Amazon
On one side of the dining room is a vintage bistro-style chair next to a milk can from RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) that Hazhala uses as a planter. “It reminds me of my childhood summers in Ukraine at my grandma’s and times when I ran away to the neighboring pastures,” where she would watch the cows and calves “in complete awe” for hours.
In the corner of the dining room is a gold bar cart, another thrift store find. A serving tray, one of many vintage jars Hazhala has collected and a bundle of dried herbs are displayed on the bottom shelf.
Inspired by a beautiful industrial-style desk she saw at a store, Hazhala decided to build one herself for the living room using wood and pipes from Home Depot.
How to Make an Industrial-Style Shelving Unit
How to Make an Industrial-Style Shelving Unit
She also built this breakfast bar in the kitchen to add more counter space. In this photo, it holds a crème brûlée pie she baked. “It’s my very Ukrainian urge to feed people who come to my home,” she says.
Hazhala’s bedroom is also a refuge. “I like opening heavy curtains in the morning and greeting the light, reading a book before going to bed under my warm blanket or just listening to music and daydreaming,” she says.
Bed linens: H&M Home, Restoration Hardware and TJ Maxx
Bed linens: H&M Home, Restoration Hardware and TJ Maxx
Hazhala added her own design touch to an Ikea Tarva dresser by staining the pine with a dark oil and adding old library pulls to the drawer fronts, along with hairpin legs.
Floor lamp: estate sale; stool: TJ Maxx
Floor lamp: estate sale; stool: TJ Maxx
The custom London poster above the dresser is from Grafomap. “While choosing which map to print, my final three were Florence, London and Oslo —cities that have left special memories in my heart,” Hazhala says. “I chose London because London is like a dream lover. It may not be easy to live with but is oh-so-gorgeous, well-mannered, cultured, provocative and intelligent,” she says. “It’s my first city-love, and it inspired me to travel.”
In the evenings, Hazhala likes to light candles and listen to records. “Home is where I pour tea into my best-loved cup in the mornings,” she says, “where I light a favorite candle, enjoying its aroma; where I read a book, tucked in a cozy plaid; and where I bake a pear tart for my dear friends.”
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My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
In the evenings, Hazhala likes to light candles and listen to records. “Home is where I pour tea into my best-loved cup in the mornings,” she says, “where I light a favorite candle, enjoying its aroma; where I read a book, tucked in a cozy plaid; and where I bake a pear tart for my dear friends.”
See more of this home
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
Who lives here: Nina Hazhala
Location: Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago
Size: 660 square feet (61 square meters); one bedroom, one bath
When built: Early 1900s
Nina Hazhala has been living in her apartment in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago since 2015, and she still remembers how she felt about the space when deciding to move from nearby Evanston, Illinois. “When I first came to see the building early in the morning before work, the lake was across the street, the sun was sending its soft rays through the fall leaves and the whole building was covered with creeping vines,” she says. “When I entered the place, I knew right away that I wanted it. I actually had to calm down my emotions in order to be rational and check all the important components.”
The open layout, large windows and warm light are some of her favorite features of the living room. “I have my favorite couch there, am surrounded with greens, and I light all my candles at the fireplace and just enjoy it,” she says.