Maureen and Caitie Smithe were thrilled to be at the WGN Radio studios and headquarters.
Last week was very exciting for two great Chicago establishments- WGN Radio and Walter E. Smithe Furniture. In June, WGN Radio left their longtime Tribune Tower home for a state of the art new studio around the corner on East Wacker Drive. The offices have unbelievable views of the city, river, lake, and Navy Pier. As lifelong WGN fans, we were excited for their new digs and even more excited when they gave us the opportunity to decorate the newsroom and the offices of some of our favorite on-air personalities- including Steve Cochran, Bill Leff & Wendy Snyder, John Williams, and Roe Conn.
Their offices aren’t huge and they definitely could use some warming up and personal touches. While we wanted each space to feel unique and tailored to the talent’s unique personalities and tastes, we also wanted there to be a nice flow since the offices are all in a central area overlooking one another with glass walls.
Our Liza Ottomans warming up Steve Cochran’s office.
To create the unified flow, we selected a couple pieces that were to go in every office. Every on-air personality told us the biggest need they had was for additional seating for when there are impromptu meetings in their office. To meet this need, we selected our sleek Liza Ottomans from our Arbor Home line. We picked out a rich, dark blue velvet to fit WGN’s logo and color scheme. We lined them along the glass windows- their X bases and nail heads added the perfect pops of interest, color, and style.
Our Ethan Chair and Ottoman with Getty Image artwork of the Tribune Tower in Bill Leff and Wendy Snyder’s office. Wendy’s dad used to call her “Wendella,” so we found it cute and fitting that the artwork in her office included the Chicago River!
We also wanted to pay homage to WGN’s roots and longtime home, the legendary Tribune Tower. Built in 1923, this neo-Gothic skyscraper is a Chicago icon. We found framed Getty Images of historical photos featuring the Tribune Tower. Each office has their own unique framed photo- we love them all and honestly cannot pick our favorite! It’s pretty amazing to see how much our beloved city has evolved over time, while the Tribune Tower has remained a distinct mainstay.
The Faye Dining Chair made for a chic and comfortable accent in Steve Cochran’s office. We love it underneath the cool old picture of the Tribune Tower!
In addition to the benches, the larger offices had space for chairs. For Roe and Bill & Wendy’s offices, our Ethan chair and ottoman warmed up the spaces with extreme comfort and style. We love the channel stitching throughout the center of it that continues on the ottoman. Our Fritz Black Stone drink table provides a stylish spot to place whatever beverage you’re serving- and it looks so elegant next to the cognac leather on the Ethan chair. Since Steve’s office is slightly smaller, we placed our wonderful new Faye dining chair near the entrance. Don’t be fooled by the words “dining chair”- this chair is so comfortable and stylish that it absolutely be used as a decorative accent chair.
We were incredibly excited to surprise the WGN crew with our amazing hand painted pillows from local bedding and window treatment manufacturer Eastern Accents. We will save the story behind these for another blog post! Stay tuned!!
Roe’s new Canarable Wagon!
We had a big, important request from Roe Conn: a new “Canarable Wagon!” Every Roe fan knows that Friday is famously “Canarable Wagon” day on his show. His notorious “Canarable Wagon” was a beloved bar cart that sadly was broken beyond repair during the office move. But, fear not, Walter E. Smithe can take care of that! After “test driving” many bar carts, we ended up using our Fulton Market bar cart because it’s, for one, very stylish, but also very functional. It can be rolled around the office easily, it has raised sides to keep everything on it intact while rolling it around, and it’s very well built, so we are confident it will last for many, many “Canarable Wagon” Fridays to come.
Hanging with Judy in the always exciting WGN Radio newsroom. How fun are our Palisades sofa and Carina Bone Inlay Chests?!
While we had a blast designing the spaces for the on-air personalities, we also loved working with the fun newsroom crew! They were very helpful in identifying how to best use the space of a very long, boring, unused wall in their room. Their needs: storage and, with the long, continuous hours in the news cycle, a comfortable place to sit down- and even lay down. Our gorgeous Palisades sofa is extra long with four cushions- plenty of space to lie down! We added a pair of our favorite Carina Bone Inlay chests and put classically chic Alabaster lamps on top of them. We were so excited with how the space turned out- and the news crew definitely shared in our excitement! Longtime newswoman Judy Pielach was so cute- she immediately claimed “her” drawer and moved her personal items right in! As an added bonus, we were told that the large Palisades sofa and pillows absorbed the sound in the room nicely- always good for radio!
We would like to thank our friends at WGN Radio for entrusting us with the space they use everyday…and, since its radio, its not just everyday- it’s all day, everyday! We had a blast with the team and we are honored to work with them!
John Williams modeling our ultra-cool Walter E. Smithe sunglasses! Grab your pair today in any of our 10 showrooms while supplies last!
Interested in any of the pieces we used at WGN Radio? Visit one of our 10 showrooms or contact your favorite Walter E. Smithe Furniture designer today! Don’t have one? Let Walt select one for you here.
Roe looking comfy in his new Ethan chair and ottoman with our Fritz Blackstone drink table.