City dwellers often have to get creative to take advantage of Chicago summers. For Carrie Woleben-Meade, design principal of Mariani Landscaping in Lake Bluff, that meant transforming one family’s barren rooftop into a full-blown living space — ornate fireplace, museum-quality art installations, and all. “They really wanted it to be a place to get away to,” she says. Some takeaways from the project:
1 SURFACE APPEAL
If you have a blank wall to work with, find ways to add drama. The copper installed here lends a beautiful patina.
2 FIRE POWER
A plain brick fireplace was enhanced with a carved limestone inlay. It was also converted to gas to be more functional.
3 POP OF ART
Even without walls, you can create a gallery feel. The homeowners found these sculptures on a vacation to France.
4 AQUA AID
A water feature like this cascade can act as white noise to cancel out street sounds. You don’t need a massive waterfall; a smaller fountain will gurgle and bubble away some of the din.
5 TAKE A SEAT
This furniture is lightweight teak, so it can be moved easily, and the weather-resistant cushions don’t need to be taken inside each time it rains.
6 BLOOM ROOM
Instead of a railing, try box planters. It gets hotter the higher you go, so for rooftops, use perennials that are tough as nails, like ornamental grasses or aromatic herbs like catmint (shown here).