Nice try, Details magazine. Really, you did an OK job identifying “innovative furnishings and products” that make Chicago “America’s New Design Capital.” (We’re not sure what the old design capital was, or if you meant “new-design” capital. Punctuation is so important, don’t you think?) You listed Luminaire, Morlen Sinoway Atelier (pictured above), Pavilion, Post 27, and The Haymaker Shop. Good start!

Here are a few you missed for cutting-edge design: Orange Skin, Elements, I.D., Haute Living, Space 519, Sprout Home, and WPA. Here’s a list I put together last year (still relevant now) for a design lover traveling to Chicago.

Want more Chicago design? Our coffee table book, Chicago Spaces, Inspiring Interiors, is just $30 and includes a complete list of the Chicago area’s best design shops (modern, vintage, antique, and traditional).

Chicago Home + Garden contributing editor Lisa Cregan stays busy when she’s not writing for us. A frequent contributor to House Beautiful magazine, she has written several books for them lately. The latest? House Beautiful Kitchens: Creating a Beautiful Kitchen of Your Own, ($40).

 “Everyone wants to be in the kitchen,” Cregan writes. Looking through the myriad of designs showcased in the hardback edition, it seems that there really is a style to fit almost anyone’s taste. The book includes 335 pages of style tips, pictures of celebrity-designed rooms and an index of architects to copy your favorite picks.

Designer Jonathan Adler gives tips on using color to create a chic, family-friendly space. Star of Bravo’s Flipping Out, designer Jeff Lewis gives his design philosophy for the ideal kitchen he created one summer for House Beautiful in the middle of Rockefeller Center. Chicago designer Mick De Giulio discusses how to keep an all-white kitchen from being bland, using natural light, varying proportions and a suspended plate rack to bring an air of sophistication to the room.

Cregan also includes “Stalking the Look,” where she breaks down the displayed kitchen into re-creatable elements and highlights trending themes as a lesson style guide at the end of each chapter. She will tell you when to use a marble backsplash instead of tile, what height or style of barstool needed to complete your kitchen look and how flooring can make or break a look.

Cregan is also the author of House Beautiful Blue and House Beautiful Style 101.

Don’t forget to keep an eye out for the fall issue of Chicago Home + Garden, featuring our own picks for kitchen and bath designs.

Dipped—it’s a negative descriptor for pearls and one hot trend for home décor. The two-toned look popping up in the stores and spreading like wildfire with creative bloggers and DIY mavens. From bread boards to bathroom stools, these are a few of my favorite finds embracing this trend du jour.

Stools from Serena and Lily, Baguette board from Terrain, Bamboo “New York” utensil set from Core Bamboo, Spice cellar set from Leif, Arteriors Laura Kirar Lunar short table lamp 

Mother’s Day is May 13. Have you figured out what you’re getting for your mom? Even though she will probably adore anything you wrap up (it is the thought that counts after all, and you are her favorite, right?), here are some Mother’s Day gifts—all from local shops—she’ll love.

Wabi tray, $50

Recycled barn wood bird house, $56

Ayla throw, $110

Honeycomb vases, $48-$65

Sheffield watering can, $38

With Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby this weekend, opportunities abound for fashionably dispensing a drink.

Top row, left to right:

Glass beverage dispenser, $49.95

Square glass drink dispenser, $79.00

Bubbled Beverage Dispenser, $298

Bottom row, left to right:

Mason jar drink dispenser, $69.00

Beverage dispenser with cork lid, $79.95

Metro drink dispenser by Roost, $215

The Design Center at The Merchandise Mart is offering up to 75% off the latest outdoor furniture and accessories at its Outdoor Furniture Sample Sale. Shop hundreds of products from showrooms on floors 15-17; find a full list of those participating on the website. Many showrooms will also work with you to place custom orders at a reduced price through the Mart’s Designer-On-Call program. May 9-11, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Kitchen designer Mick De Giulio has added a gorgeous freestanding cabinet to his signature line. The Metal Boy is an alternative to the traditional pot rack, combining enclosed storage for pots, pans, lids, baking sheets, and dishes. Crafted in distressed nickel silver, highly-polished stainless steel, ebonized walnut, and glass, Metal Boy also has LED lighting to play up the sculptural form of the interior. See Metal Boy at the De Giulio showroom in LuxeHome at the Merchandise Mart.

Clockwise from top left: Leather Magazine Rack from High Street Market; Bronze Industrial Style Pendant from Arteriors; Industrial Tray Cart from Hudson Goods; Hand Towel from Jayson Home; Sheet Barstool from South of Market; Metal Cart Coffee Table from South of Market; Burlap Pillow from Hudson Goods; Industrial Dining Table from CDI.

I loved every summer vacation home in the latest issue of Chicago Home + Garden — they make me look forward to weekends spent dipping my toes in the lake and roasting marshmallows. I was especially drawn to the rustic, yet chic, home in Three Oaks, Michigan. It is the perfect mix of industrial furnishings and the texture of natural materials. If I had to recreate this balanced look, these are the pieces with which I would start.

Tour inspiring kitchens and have lunch with an HGTV celeb. At Designer Kitchens of the North Shore, tour seven gorgeous homes in Winnetka, Glencoe, Kenilworth, and Northbrook, each with a kitchen designed by a prominent builder, architect, or designer, including Susan Fredman. HGTV Design Star Karl Sponholtz (pictured here), an associate of R. Scott Javore & Associates, will speak at a luncheon at the Winnetka Community House (620 Lincoln Ave.). Our very own Jan Parr will moderate. The tour takes place May 4 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tour tickets are $40 in advance; $50 the day of the tour. Luncheon tickets are $15 and must be purchased by May 2.

Post27 is moving to smaller digs across the street May 1 (owner Angela Finney-Hoffman will be concentrating more on interior design projects). To get ready for the move, she’s slashed prices 30-50% on the vintage, repurposed and midcentury furniture, accessories, and art she’s not taking to her new home. Take advantage of the sale now, while there’s still a decent amount of inventory to choose from. It goes through the end of the month. And join Angela at the grand opening party for her new shop at 1818 W. Grand Ave. the evening of May 31.