Flux Design - the work

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Dig Magazine: Homes in Flux
Remaking Your Interior

So you’ve moved to Milwaukee from suburbia and purchased a sharp condo in a happening neighborhood, but when you gaze across the polished wood floors toward the expansive windows with their urban views, something’s wrong. Those faux Early American cabinets, the cheap Chippendale and expensive wingback chairs, look as out-of-character in your loft as a black velvet painting in a marble-walled museum. Or maybe you haven’t moved, but something about your home has never seemed in harmony with your life. What to do? Try Flux Design.

The designer-artists at Flux are best known for their public spaces – the curvaceous metalwork of Eve, their blend of sleek construction with old-world brick at Roots and Sauce – but from their start five years ago, they’ve been doing homes.

“We’d make a bed frame for someone or a dining room table. Now we’re often doing staircase and fireplaces and redoing entire kitchens,” says Flux’s cofounder, Jeremy Shamrowicz.

Actually, Flux can do it all for you. Suppose you’re wondering how to furnish a new space or reconfigure your old one. Just arrange an appointment with Flux. They make house calls. In fact, house calls are the best way for them to work. Flux wants to get to know your space and you, the client.

Recently, someone wanted us to renovate their kitchen,” Shamrowicz recalls. “He talked about the kind of wood he wanted for the cabinetry, the kind of countertop he likes. And then I said, ‘Do you mind if I ask you some personal questions? I need to know about you and your family and your lifestyle before I can know whether your new kitchen really fits your needs or whether it’s just something you saw once and liked.’ ”

After learning that the client’s daughters spend a lot of time in the kitchen with friends, Flux designed a space that’s more than a place to prepare food. It’s now the hub of the house, with expansive countertops and bar stools.

If Flux designs an entertainment center for you, they want to know what exactly you’re going to put in it. If you want a fireplace, they’ll ask if you want a mantelpiece or whether you want it to resemble a metal sculpture with fire in its belly. Flux designers are artists, but not the arrogant kind who think they know what’s best for everyone in the world. “We put our egos aside and try to communicate the ideas and needs of our clients,” Shamrowicz says.

By David Luhrssen
Photos courtesy of Flux Design
P8-12

Dig Magazine, Fall 2004