Instagram story viewer> @goodwanderingsco> Posts

david hopkins

@goodwanderingsco

193

followers

511

following

Chicago-based. Design-obsessed. Airbnb without the cringe. No live / laugh / love, no faux farmhouse.

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

My mother always cautioned me about strong drink. She never addressed the matter of furnishing an entire rental around a vintage neon sign for package liquor, and I am choosing to interpret that silence generously.

It ended up above a little desk. Should you have to answer emails on vacation, you can do it under the supervision of a sign that has a much better idea of how the afternoon ought to go.

#MotherDidNotSpecify #PackageLiquorManagement #OutOfOfficeInSpirit by @goodwanderingsco

1

0

14 days ago

Never would I have thought I’d use a round rug. Round rugs fit squarely into the WTF category of floor fun.

But what do you do with a room that has odd 45-degree walls and, at last count, nine doors entering it? A rectangular rug would spend its life trying to explain which way the room is supposed to go.

Also, please take a moment to admire the original Paul McCobb furniture, freshly upholstered and living in a short-term rental.

#NineDoorsOneRug #RoundRugApologist #PaulMcCobbHasCheckedIn by @goodwanderingsco

4

1

17 days ago

Rental apartments occasionally give us an extra closet. We don’t have to store Aunt Bertha’s wedding china or the journals from 2002 in which you were absolutely certain nobody understood you, so we can put a little desk in there instead.

It sucks to work on vacation. It sucks slightly less when, at the end of the day, you can shut a door on the whole situation.

#AuntBerthasChina #ClosetOffice #TheJournalsKnowWhatTheyDid by @goodwanderingsco

1

0

20 days ago

I made the choice that a giant finger turned ruler was exactly the sort of soul-enriching art a generic influencer lady from Ohio would enjoy. She could stand beneath it in a linen set and tell you the apartment has “such a vibe,” while the man in the portrait quietly asks to be moved.

Since this photograph was taken, guests have liberated my collection of votive candles from the dresser. There’s a bowl of Smarties there now. Those are meant to be stolen. It’s a much less expensive misunderstanding.

#OhioInfluencerApproved #MeasureOfAMan #TheCandlesWereNotComplimentary #TakeTheSmarties by @goodwanderingsco

0

0

23 days ago

Coming out of hibernation over here. God, social media is tedious when there are actual things a-brewin’.

One of those things: we’ve been quietly putting together our new office in Ravenswood, (christened Room For Improvement because, well...puns) and it’s finally starting to feel like home.

We have a two extra desk spots and thought it might be nice to fill them with interesting people doing interesting things. Designers, architects, writers, photographers, creative types, small business people, professional ne’er-do-wells... you get the idea.

Desks are available month-to-month, the music is good, and the office is decidedly not a co-working space with inspirational sayings on the walls.

Ravenswood. Three minute walk from the brown line. A parking lot. Abandoned airstream on the roof.

And a little credit where it’s due: thanks @wrightauction for the Nakashima chair, which I remain slightly obsessed with. And @ikeausa for proving that a room can contain an alarming amount of IKEA without actually looking like an IKEA.

#RavenswoodChicago #ChicagoDesign #ChicagoInteriors #ChicagoCreatives #InteriorDesignChicago #CreativeOffice #DesignStudio #CoworkingChicago #Ravenswood #OfficeDesign #VintageModern #Nakashima #IKEA

DM me if you want more info. by @goodwanderingsco

12

2

a month ago

Winter is when I start staring at these rooms and asking what we’re actually doing here. The answer is not perfection. It’s authenticity.

These are slightly awkward, very real Chicago apartments. Original woodwork. Gas lines that wander across the wall towards the stove. Layouts that would never survive a flip. They’re not pretending to be boutique hotels, and neither am I.

Most guests don’t want shiny. They want a place that feels like it belongs to the city they’re visiting. This is what Chicago considers a perfectly normal vintage apartment.

Also, there’s a giant strawberry to sit on.
You can pretend you’re Strawberry Shortcake. I won’t stop you.

If this escalates into an actual stay, the logistics will be well handled. by @goodwanderingsco

8

1

9 months ago

Every year I say I’m going to carefully dust and organize all my vintage ornaments before the next Christmas tree goes up.

Every year…(well, I lie)

Instead, they emerge like this…half-sorted, fully glorious, and slightly glitter-dusted from last year’s chaos. At least 15 are broken. And yes, that big pink one still has a bit of sap on it from my mom’s tree back in the 80s. Tradition.

This year I bought some vintage inspired led c9 lights from @trutonebulbs which I’m so excited to try out.

#airbnb #airbnbchicago #vintagechristmas #midwestmodern #designwithfeelings #holidayhoarding #ornamentoverload #nostalgiaheap by @goodwanderingsco

9

1

a year ago

It’s cozy, it’s moody, and it’s one throw pillow away from whispering “We are the weirdos, mister.”

Come sit, stay a while, and pretend you’re not the main character.

(sitting here may feel like a minor event of some consequence)

#airbnb #airbnbchicago #goodwanderingsco #grownupsandrooms #designwithfeelings #interiorstory #moodyinteriors #slightlyferal by @goodwanderingsco

7

1

a year ago

First snowfall hit Chicago this week. I briefly considered making snow angels, but there’s a suspicious amount of yellow snow out there (and I’m just hoping it’s from dogs, not neighbors.)

So instead, I’ll be here, basking in filtered sunlight like a well-fed houseplant, pretending winter’s not real.

Also, please acknowledge the majesty that is the circa 2024 $4 Monstera from the parking lot at the home Depot.

#airbnb #airbnbchicago #goodwanderingsco #grownupsandrooms #designwithfeelings #hostlife #midwestmodern #winterlight #plantsandsunlight by @goodwanderingsco

10

0

a year ago

It’s Tuesday, and I started the morning by dropping my child off at school. The one that’s closed for the federal holiday.

To my credit, he did not realize it either. And I was only about a block away when he called me to say the school doors were locked.

Last year I tried to write his name on a cake and produced what can only be described as frosting sad.

(how did my mum manage to pull off such perfectly coordinated birthdays?)

#parentingishard #birthdaychaos #airbnbchicago #goodwanderingsco #grownupsandrooms #designwithfeelings #hostlife #midwestmodern #13goingon30 by @goodwanderingsco

7

0

a year ago

I took a break from my normal nonsense and created a space titled 'Fifty Shades of Greige.'

Somewhere along the way, I also started collecting old beakers…hand-engraved, slightly cloudy, the kind that look like they’ve seen things. I don’t know what’s more embarrassing: how many I own, or how genuinely happy I get when I find one in the wild.

They look great on a shelf, but I do occasionally worry a guest will pour orange juice into one and perish.

#airbnb #airbnbchicago #goodwanderingsco #grownupsandrooms #designwithfeelings #midwestmodern #greigeisthenewblack #collectorsanonymous by @goodwanderingsco

6

2

a year ago

Am I the only one who grew up with a seafoam-colored beauty-shop hair-dryer chair in the basement?

The kind with cracked vinyl and a built-in ashtray, like someone planned to do a perm and have a nervous breakdown at the same time.

Ours sat beside a massive Zenith color TV (the kind with faux-walnut trim and a wired remote control), because apparently wireless was for people who didn’t respect tradition.

My dad outfitted it with a first-generation rotary-dial cable box, so changing the channel felt like calling the future from a landline.

I’d sit under the dryer, watching Dynasty, waiting for my life to acquire the same kind of soft-focus lighting and slow-motion betrayal. In retrospect, it makes sense that my entire design aesthetic could be summarized as “mid-century domestic melodrama.”

#airbnb #airbnbchicago #goodwanderingsco #grownupsandrooms #designwithfeelings #hostlife #midwestmodern #vintagetherapy #suburbanrococo #ashtrayadjacent #dynastykid #rotaryglamour #wiredremoteenergy #formicadreams #artdirectedchildhood by @goodwanderingsco

6

1

a year ago