09/30/09

InBox | Transforming the Traditional

The husband-and-wife architectural team Stuart Cohen and Julie Hacker have published a book of their residential work. Transforming the Traditional (The Images Publishing Group, $50), features mostly homes on the North Shore of Chicago, in styles “informed by both modern and classical principles.” Given that some of these homes were built or remodeled as many as 10 years ago, it’s evident that the firm’s work holds up.

—JAN PARR

Posted at 09:57 AM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/29/09

InBox | Another Winner!

Congrats to the winner of our recent contest, Lauren Paradise, who snagged the tiks to see Darryl Carter at the Mart Thursday. She’ll also received a signed copy of his new book, The New Traditional. The three design stores that have opened since June 1 are: Rode Bros, Divine Consign, and Kneen & Co..

—JAN PARR

Posted at 10:05 AM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/28/09

Spotted | Silk Trading Co. Blowout

A colleague who was over at the 900 N. Shops last week spotted a terrific sale at Silk Trading Co.. Lampshades are 90 percent off (lots of pastels and florals but also some bold patterns and neutrals; cool shapes, some pleated, all different sizes). Everything in the store is on sale, including small tables/furniture, lamps, pillows, and tons of silk drapes and blinds. The catch? You’ve got to get over there fast, because the sale ends Wednesday. A spokeswoman at the store says that tons of new merch will be arriving end of the week. Stay tuned for details.

—JAN PARR

Posted at 10:41 AM in Spotted | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/25/09

InBox | Flickr Winner!

Thanks to all who posted cool images to our Flickr page! Our staff loved this fun and sophisticated kid’s room posted by Lepapier Boutique.  The decals are a cool and non-permanent way to add interest to a tyke’s digs. It’s worth looking at all the shots in this room. Keep posting those photos!

—JAN PARR

Posted at 04:39 PM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/25/09

InBox | Win Free Tiks!

Want a pair of tickets to the Darryl Carter keynote at the Antiques Fair, and a signed copy of his book? Enter our contest. Carter, designer and author of The New Traditional, will deliver the keynote address at the Merchandise Mart’s International Antiques Fair at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 2. Regular readers of this blog know that we’re the best source for design news in the area. Be the first to tell us the names of three design businesses that have opened since June 1, and you’ll get the tiks and the book. Email answers to chomeresearch@chicagomag.com. Include your full name and mailing address. We’ll announce the winner on this blog.

—JAN PARR

Photograph (portrait): Simon Upton

Posted at 11:37 AM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/24/09

Spotted | Haute Sale

Haute Living is having a floor sample sale. Save 35 to 50% off regular retail. Rugs, lighting, and furniture are included. See all the sale items here or stop by the showroom at 222 W. Kinzie.

—JAN PARR

Posted at 11:28 AM in Spotted | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/23/09

InBox | High Fidelity

Desginphiles and audiophiles, listen up. The local company Specimen Products, which for 20 years has been building custom guitars, horn speakers, and more for the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Jeff Tweedy, and Neko Case, just came out with these cool Little Horn Speakers. Available in several colors, the horns are made from lacquered fiberglass on a lacquered 8-inch birch plywood cube. Dimensions are: 36 inches high from base to top, 14 inches in diameter (the horn). A pair starts at $1,850.These speakers (in a larger version) have graced many a stage with Chicago indie fave Andrew Bird. Love this melding of graceful design with industry cred. Check out the Specimen Web site for more details.

—GINA BAZER

Posted at 10:53 AM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/22/09

Spotted | Glass with Class

Our art director Megan Duffy Rostan alerted me to some gorgeous glass candlesticks that can be attained at two price points: high and low.  Shown at left, Juliska’s line at Tabula Tua, mouth-blown by artisans in the hills of Prague, with those charming bubbles adding character, starting at $135. At right, the Lumiere collection at CB2, hand-blown in China, very cheap-yet-chic, starting at $3.With the holiday season coming up, each of these options is worth checking out—after all, nothing says festive like an elegant grouping of candles on the table.

—GINA BAZER

Posted at 09:48 AM in Spotted | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/21/09

Happy Hour | Winners!

The American Association of Interior Designers (Illinois chapter) and i4Design magazine presented the annual Design Excellence Awards Thursday night. Two of my favorite winners: A sophisticated kitchen by Barbara Ince and Sarah Davis of Susan Fredman Design Group [susanfredman.com] (which won Best of Show) and John Robert Wiltgen’s lovely bathroom, inspired by his clients’ trip to Florence. Frank Ponterio also won awards for his room in the 2009 Lake Forest showhouse—it appears in the September/October issue of Chicago Home + Garden.

—JAN PARR 

Photos: Ince (kitchen):  Novelli Photodesign; Wiltgen (bath): Wolfe Photography

Posted at 11:21 AM in Happy Hour | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/18/09

InBox | Toms-Price Sale

Toms-Price is holding a warehouse sale Saturday and Sunday in Bloomingdale (279 Madsen Dr., 630-924-2070). Find lots of furniture, including truckloads of special upholstery purchases, at 40 to 70 percent off retail.

—JAN PARR

Posted at 11:12 AM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/18/09

InBox | Introducing Kneen & Co.

Mary Jeanne Kneen, head of Nymphenburg Store USA and Au Coin Du Feu (a source for antique fireplace surrounds and accessories) has renamed her operation Kneen & Co. and has expanded her offerings. In addition to Nymphenburg and the fireplaces, she’s now carrying Lobmeyr crystal, James Robinson sterling silver, and bespoke and boxed stationery from The Printery. To celebrate her new venture, Kneen is planning events in her River North showroom this fall. The first is a trunk show featuring The Printery stationery and cards on September 30.

—JAN PARR

Photo courtesy Pathway Creative 

Posted at 06:56 AM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/17/09

InBox | Photo Finish

The designer Michael Abrams alerted us to a great deal on gorgeous art photography by Chicagoan Stephen Bullock. He’s dissasembling a show in Dallas and would rather ship the work directly to you, kind reader, rather than storing it. All pieces are 40 inches by 40 inches and are going for $1,900 (instead of the typical $3,200).

—JAN PARR

Posted at 11:31 AM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/16/09

Spotted | Going Grunge

Yesterday I blogged about how grain sack upholstery can make an antique chair more casual. But if you want to be really casual, go for patched-up old truck tarps on your cushions, like the ones on this steel and teak Cargo chair by CS Basics which I saw while I was at ABC Carpet & Home last week in New York. At $1,200 a chair, this is the interior design equivalent of really expensive torn denim. Yet there’s something appealing about it. Perhaps it’s that there’s no reason to worry about ruining it—it’s already ruined.

—GINA BAZER

Posted at 01:17 PM in Spotted | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/15/09

InBox | Got Grain Sacks?

The curvy European antique chair reupholstered in vintage grain sacks is becoming the new “It” chair, following a fun run with the same-style chair reinterpreted in shiny patent leather. See Jayson Home and Garden’s take at left and Maison Suzanne’s at right (shown with another funky fabric option—a blue antique Japanese “boro,” or mended rag). I like how these casual, utilitarian fabrics makes these formal chairs feel so much more down-to-earth.

—GINA BAZER

Posted at 10:29 AM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/14/09

InBox | Transformer

I’m a sucker for furniture that does tricks. The Swiss Army Knife Kitchen Island at Sawbridge Studios works as a chopping block, marble pastry slab, breakfast bar, and computer work station/desk. There’s also extra storage space from two drawers, and bottom shelf perfect for cookware. Closed, it’s a mere 30”wide x 30 long" x 36” high. Designed and built of cherry, maple, and marble by husband-and-wife woodworkers Mike and Emily Kincaid of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, the island is $3,995. For more furniture perfect for tight spaces, see our story here.

—JAN PARR

Posted at 10:40 AM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/11/09

InBox | Scavenger Hunt

Elaine Matsushita, a former Tribune editor, celebrates the launch of her The Snoopster, a home- and design-centric Web site, with a party and scavenger hunt in Andersonville tonight starting at 7 p.m. Get your instructions at Urbanest, 5228 N. Clark St., and then head to one of many participating Andersonville home shops to gather clues and win cool prizes.

—JAN PARR

Posted at 10:42 AM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/09/09

Happy Hour | Road Trip: Iowa

We spent the long weekend in Iowa City visiting friends, and then heading north to a Usonian-style Frank Lloyd Wright house, Cedar Rock, on a bluff overlooking the Wapsipinicon River. The Walters, a wealthy couple, had the house built for them in 1950 with the intention of leaving it to the state as a tourist attraction. The result is a time capsule from the 1950s: everything has been left as is. It is considered one of FLW's most complete designs—he designed and dictated everything in the house, from the furniture to the dishes and flatware and accessories.

My friend Bob, a city planner, also took me to a great new design store in Iowa City run by architects, Akar, a cross between the Museum of Contemporary Art store and I.D. I bought  some Marimekko potholders. Chilewich, Eva Solo, Blomus, Built NY, Iitala, and other iconic brands are represented here. Also in Iowa City is Design Ranch, a source for Artemide, Knoll, and other design greats.

Iowa City is four hours west of Chicago; the FLW house is another hour and a half north.

-JAN PARR

Posted at 10:09 AM in Happy Hour | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/08/09

InBox | Summer Home Lovin’

Just because summer is over doesn’t mean your summer home doesn’t need you anymore. Sure it does—it needs you to buy it gifts and make it feel better about the fact that you won’t be coming to visit as often anymore. Seagrass is a wonderful spot for outfitting your beloved second home with an East Coast cottage vibe, and it’s having a big sale through October 15, including floor samples.

—GINA BAZER

Posted at 07:59 AM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/04/09

InBox | Who Shot J.R.?

Wait a minute… that’s not the question. The question is, who decorated the Green Room for the Daytime Emmys? Of course you know from reading this blog that Chicagoans Christopher Michiels and Sheri Zeman did! They just sent this snap of Sheri (left) in the room with Bobby Ewing and an associate. They’re standing in front of Sheri’s textural art panels. Toto, we’re not in Southfork anymore!

—JAN PARR

Posted at 01:14 PM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/03/09

InBox | Green Goodbye

The eco-friendly Roscoe Village shop A Cooler Planet, part of our green shopping round-up is closing its doors at the end of the month and offering deep discounts on organic bedding, mattresses, bed frames, and more. It’s so sad to see a passionate independent shop with such good values say adieu. Stop in for healthy, earth-friendly good deals.

—GINA BAZER

PHOTO: ERIC HAUSMAN

Posted at 08:44 AM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/02/09

InBox | We Scream For…

These porcelain cones ($20 each) from Grasshopper 510 are so cute, whether used for display or a vase or serving ice cream. The non-toxic, lead-free glaze makes them good for kids, too. Of course the kid will be bummed he can’t eat the cone.  And you’ll be bummed if he drops it. Size is approximately 2¾  inches by 2¼ inches.

—GINA BAZER

Posted at 11:25 AM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/01/09

InBox | Magni-fique

Kara Mann’s showroom is home to new pieces in the James Magni’s Home Collection. Magni, named one of Architectural Digest’s Top 100 Interior Designers, takes his inspiration from fashion (note the “cufflinks” on the armchairs, the “stilletos” on legs, and the use of metallic—a big fashion trend for fall/winter. Shown here: the Sting-Ray chair and the Jewel Table. The table is solid polished stainless steel with a hand-cast slab tabletop made from recycled glass. It’s mounted like a precious stone in a jewelry setting. Gorgeous!

—JAN PARR

Posted at 03:17 PM in InBox | Permalink | Comments (0)