Imagine McCormick Place as a giant Bed, Bath & Beyond, with aisles and aisles of pepper grinders, knives, glasses, toasters, cookware, ironing board covers, and the like. That’s the annual International Home & Housewares show. Overwhelming to say the least, but certain new products always make an impression. For ingenuity, I appreciated the Andrea air purifier system, which uses a real plant to help it function. But for sheer beauty, I loved the new Alyson Fox tabletop line, called “May,” from Ink Dish, which will be available at Hazel on Montrose at the beginning of April (shown here, place setting for a suggested retail of $72); ASA Selection’s simple vases and tableware, which will be sold at I.D., and these new eco-friendly trivets from Epicurean, which you can likely pick up at Chopping Block. Watch this space (and our mag) for more cool stuff we found at the show.