Tour a Museum-Like Loft Filled With Beautiful Things

Birmingham, Alabama, is home to many wonderful things, but Chatham Hellmers and her eclectic home full of unique found and collected items have to be near the top of the list.

“It’s immediately very impactful and hopefully very transformative,” Chatham says about the effect of her space on her guests. It's easy to sense how passionate she is about the story her home tells.

Ever since she was 13, Chatham has dreamed of living in a spacious loft. “I remember seeing a converted grocery store in Chicago that was just basically a giant room and thought it was the best thing since the invention of peanut butter.” She adds that when she first toured her current space, she lay dramatically on the floor, turned to her husband and said, “If we don’t get this place, I’ll die.”

The architect-owned space was minimalistic when they first moved in, and in desperate need of a Chatham-style makeover. She describes her initial inspiration for the space as “1970s-Scarface-ultra-modern,” and laughs as she mentions how quickly those ideas went out the window.