Year: 2009

Do you like antiques but don’t fancy living in a period piece? Wondering how to mix antiques with modern/transitional items? To the rescue: three talented local designers we tapped to do room vignettes at the International Antiques Fair at the Merchandise Mart. We challenged Gregory Jagmin of Jagmin Interiors, Julia Edelmann of Buckingham Interiors + Design, and Hillery Estes of Estes Interiors to design a foyer, a study, and a dining room on the spot at The Fair. Starting with a base of some modern furniture and accessories culled from The Mart’s top showrooms, they shopped the Fair to create a mix that works for modern interiors. To see what they’ve come up with, visit the fair May 1–4 (preview night is tonight). And pick up a copy of our May/June issue, on newsstands now, to see a cool cottagey summer home Julia designed!

—JAN PARR

Coverings, the huge tile love-in held last week at McCormick Place, is like a big ol’ candy store. I’ve never used a smidge beyond white hex or subway tile in all my decorating life so a few hours of tile peeping at the show turned into a 9 to 5 adventure. Tile has looked like everything but tile for a few years now, but it’s turned from looking like leather and wood flooring into pony, plush fabric (great as hotel headboards!), faux wallpaper, even stone. I fell for the cerused look of random width planked porcelains in grays. In fact I loved grey everything this show. It felt warm, modern, cool, new… especially for the floor. Tau and Inalco presented ink-jet printing on tile that made porcelain look exactly like marble (the photo above shows Tau in a grained Zebrano wood effect). A quick digital scan of a slab of stone is the newest slight of hand in the biz!  Sparkle grout also caught my fancy—not sure where you’d use it, but a little glimmer in the grooves is way cool. As super-big as tile has been getting, ultra thin (4mm) options can be laid over old tile and floor, is less costly, and more green to ship. Micro mini tile from Frammenti (soon available at Luminaire looks like custom mosaics. Couldn’t get to Coverings? Check out The Art of Tile, a book by Jen Renzi, which includes more than 2,000 tiles and is a great resource.

—Barri Leiner

We made our way to Lake Bluff last week to hear New York–based interior designer Charlotte Moss talk about her latest book, A Flair For Living, and a tour the magnificent 2009 Lake Forest Showhouse & Gardens. The sunny day and gentle lake breeze provided the perfect backdrop for an even more perfect day. “Observe, observe, observe,” said Moss, as she encouraged attendees to see, interpret, and recreate the beauty that surrounds them. Moss provided examples of how she does this all the time: an espaliered vine that inspires a china pattern, the remnant of an 18th-century architectural element that inspires an embroidered drapery, a sea of pansies that inspires the color scheme of a room. “Good design is not about big and it’s not about money,” she said. “It is about caring and it is about vision.” Although Moss has jetted back to New York and you’ve missed your chance to see her, you can still see the Showhouse, which is open until May 6.

—Jeannine M. Bergeron