On Wednesday April 14th at 7PM join us here at LivingRoom for “How Your Home Works 101″ with Jeffery Wadsworth from Residential & Commercial Inspection Service LLC.
Jeffrey will be giving a crash course for current and prospective homeowners about the major home systems we all depend on. Roofs, boilers, HVAC, water heaters, windows…the list goes on and on! From general systems maintenance to warning signs, cost of repair or replacement, including cost and energy efficient options, this lecture should prove to be entertaining and amazingly informative. Whether you already own a home or if you are just looking to be a better budgeter before making the leap, there is always more to know.
And as an added treat, local organic delivery service Fresh Picks will be providing the brain food in the form of fresh fruit and veggies. We are all very excited about this presentation and we hope to see you there!
We are so excited about the upcoming Green in the Loop tour featuring Dave Hampton as tour guide. Follow Dave around the city hub as he shows you the green buildings of yesterday and today. The tour is two hours long and leaves at 10AM from the Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza. Below is some introductory information from Echo Studio. Don’t forget to buy tickets in advance as space is limited!
Green in the Loop 1910-2010 architecture walking tour
While Chicago makes strides toward the future to become a green city, what did green mean a century ago?
In the early 20th century, architects and engineers did not depend entirely upon the highly advanced technologies we take for granted today. While newer advances such as electric light, elevators, and steel were increasingly used, buildings still relied heavily on tried and true engineering, design, and planning principles – locally-sourced materials, balancing structural redundancy with efficiency, on-site or local power generation, naturally lit and ventilated spaces, and civic responsibility.
Learning from past achievements will help illuminate the way toward truly sustainable cities.
Featured in the March Issue of Chicago Architect is an great article about Jeffrey Sommers from Square Root Architecture + Design and his quest to bring well designed, energy efficient, environmentally sound, code compliant and well priced prefab housing to the city of Chicago. We here at LivingRoom are proud to have helped Jeff’s clients Kathy and Michael find the lot that will soon house this ground breaking home!
Come out to LivingRoom and learn about buying opportunities for rehab in a mindful fashion. These include conventional properties as well as distressed properties (i.e.: short sales/foreclosures/etc). We’ll discuss advantages & disadvantages of various property types, condition of major home systems & potential investment value.
Meegan Czop from the ReBuilding Exchange will talk about deconstruction, creative reuse, & repurposed materials.
Domenic Gianonne from Guaranteed Rate will be on hand to discuss various financing options for buyers in today’s market.
The fabulous Swim Cafe will be providing hot cups of Just Coffee and we will be making fresh homemade donuts!
Saturday March 20th at 10AM at LivingRoom Realty, 1530 W Superior St.
Space is limited, please RSVP!
Like honey? Want to learn how to produce it yourself (with the help of several thousand bees)?
Please join us at 7PM on Wednesday March 24th at LivingRoom for an introductory presentation by Kevin Dick on keeping bees in the city of Chicago.
Kevin and his wife have kept a hive in their backyard in Chicago’s Roscoe Village neighborhood for the past 4 years and produce 14-20 gallons of honey a year, which they jar as Sticky Dick Honey (and will be here for tasting!).
Kevin will discuss the trials and tribulations (and joys!) involved in such a task, bring equipment for show-and-tell, and hopefully leave you with enough information and optimism to undertake it yourself!
Kevin Dick is an environmental scientist and naturalist with expertise in many aspects of sustainable living. Several of Kevin’s passions are related to human relationships with the natural world, and when not
working or volunteering, Kevin’s hobbies tend to gravitate toward working with nature in an urban setting, including volunteering with the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Plants of Concern program. Kevin’s experience
with native plants through his botany and gardening interests eventually led to an interest in keeping an apiary, and a pursuit of learning about the biology of bees to better manage the apiary has led to four
successful years of productive honey harvesting, happy neighbors, and interested friends.
When not thinking about bees, Kevin is the Director of the Delta Institute Weatherization Program, and has consulted on green building and LEED projects around Chicago. Past and present research has centered on distribution and diversity of street trees in the City of Chicago and the importance of the private landowner in protected species conservation. Kevin has a BS in Environmental Studies from the
University of Cincinnati, and an MA in Geography & Environmental Studies at Northeastern Illinois University.
Points of Entry, New Work by Alysia Kaplan
Opens Friday March 12th, 6-9PM
Friday March 12th, 2010 – Saturday May 1st, 2010
“We take almost all the decisive steps in our lives as a result of slight inner adjustments of which we are barely conscious.”
— W.G. Sebald (Austerlitz)
For her installation at LivingRoom Gallery, Alysia Kaplan draws upon cultural signifiers of domestic space to investigate the personal experiences embedded in and the historical antecedents imposed upon a dwelling.
Alysia Kaplan is a Chicago-based artist whose print and photographic work explores the varied themes of home and place. Her work draws from the methodologies and histories of design to create a cultural critique of the home as commodity and signifier.
Alysia recently completed a residency at the Frans Masereel Centrum in Belgium where she has an upcoming exhibition. She has also exhibited at the Chicago Cultural Center; the International Print Center in New York, NY; Columbia College, Chicago, IL, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA and at Art Basel Miami, Bridge Art Fair with Orleans St Gallery, Miami, FL. In 2009, she produced limited edition prints for Bailliwick. Kaplan is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Libby Lowe wrote a great article (yes, we’re biased) about LivingRoom Realty and our Micro Grant in the newest issue of Mindful Metropolis. Check it out!
