Contemporary art from the owners' extensive collection provides splashes of color.
URBAN HAVEN
A former ink factory hides a masterpiece of modern living Written by Neil Charles / Photographed by Adam Gibson Kevin Kinder of Studio 342 and Indy Craft Painting is perhaps best known as a meticulous decorator and, more recently, as the maker of highly innovative printed wall coverings, featured in these pages in the September/October 2017 edition. A 30-year veteran of the building industry, Kinder also enjoys a career as a project manager on high-end builds and renovation. One of his latest endeavors is this modern home east of downtown Indianapolis, where the gifted artisan has devoted much of the past 18 months to overseeing the conversion of what had once been a serviceable abode into a nowluxurious modern residence. The home’s owner, Emily Young, a longtime resident of downtown, recalls how she first encountered the building when it went up for sale. “It had been an ink factory in the early 1900s. At first, I didn’t realize it was a home,” she explains. “The architect who converted it had done renovations a decade ago to make the 66 slmag.net
space livable, but I felt it still needed work to make it my own.” She and her husband placed an offer, but negotiations quickly stalled. Having more or less forgotten about the property, Emily was surprised by a phone call several months later. The sellers were ready to talk; a deal was struck, and the work began. Hiring New Orleans-based Chad Graci of Graci Interiors to oversee the design, Emily was referred to Kinder initially as Indy Craft Painting, a role which, given his abundance of experience and industry contacts, quickly morphed into project manager. Initially, the timeline for the renovation was of little concern, as the couple still owned a condo off Park Avenue, but when that sold a couple of months into the renovation, they needed to move into the new place, even though work had only just begun. “We got the master suite finished first, so at least they could move in,” says Kinder. “It took almost a year to finish the interior.”
