Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/861960
140 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM "WE WANT TO CREATE A LOT OF FUNCTIONALITY IN OUR HOME. IT'S OUR LIFESTYLE." —michael miller INSIDE JOB CENTAUR INTERIORS PRINCIPAL MICHAEL MILLER TAKES HIS TALENTS IN-HOUSE FOR A TECH-FABULOUS UPGRADE TO HIS OWN SOUTH LOOP HOME. BY ZLATA KOZUL NAUMOVSKI As principal of high-end residential interior design firm Centaur Interiors (centaur interiors.com), Michael Miller is an expert at balancing the old with the new—and that includes his own recently renovated South Loop home, where he deftly pairs thousand-year-old volcano lava rocks with contem- porary art. True, juxtaposing the ancient with the modern is nothing new in the design world. In the 43-year-old's hands, however, it's done with a firm embrace of decidedly 21st-cen- tury methods. "Technology plays a big role in our design because we want to create a lot of functionality in our home," Miller says matter- of-factly of the 1,400-square-foot space, which he shares with wife, Allana, and a darling Teacup Pomeranian named Sophie (aka "the queen of the castle"). "It's our lifestyle." That lifestyle is controlled by a sophisticated home automation system, discreetly hidden behind wall panels and connected to control pads mounted flush, the better to eliminate visual wall clutter. Take the contemporary art, for example. Yes, there's a gleaming glass wall sculpture by Connie Noyes that looks like it could blind on a sunny day from the perch of Miller's 21st floor. But there are also three cleverly placed large-screen displays in the foyer that, at the touch of an iPad, rotate art depending on THIS AND OPPOSITE PAGE: PHOTOGRAPHY BY TONY SOLURI, 2017 Art effect: In Michael Miller's newly renovated South Loop home, digital art displays rotate pieces from the designer's collection at the touch of a button. SPACE HAUTE PROPERT Y