Va-Va-Vintage
Our experts did the legwork—driving 446 miles and scouring the racks of dozens of shops—so you don’t have to. The payoff: a guide to the best vintage vendors in town
Year: 2009
For Immediate Release
A public relations pro lives by his own rules of decorating
Inside Job
An old-fangled Chicago home gets a dramatic new lease on life with a complete gut rehab
Pro's and Con's of Stone Countertops?
Q. We can’t decide what countertop material to use in our new kitchen, though we’re leaning toward stone. What are the pros and cons?
Redmoon on the Block; Lighting Deals; Antiques
Redmoon Theatre is known for wildly inventive productions staged all over the city, from the Jackson Park Lagoon to the façade of the MCA. The shows always have great trompe l’oeil sets and props, and now you can bring home some fakin’ (as well as other donated artwork, vacation packages, etc.) courtesy of an online auction. View the lots and bid online from now until March 11. The live event will be held at Spectacle Lunatique, their annual fundraiser, March 13 at Redmoon Central, 1463 W. Hubbard St., but absentee bids are welcome. This three-foot puppet, used in Cyrano, reminds me of something from designer Julia Edelman’s house that we profiled recently. Other auction co-stars include a Tony Fitzpatrick painting, colorful Mardi Gras headpieces, props from Moby Dick and The Golden Truffle, and outsider art.
Dean’s List
Dean & Britta*
Andy Warhol begat the Factory, which begat The Velvet Underground and Nico, which begat Dean Wareham, an indie rocker who has made a career of emulating the Velvet’s chiming songs—first with bands Galaxie 500 and Luna, then with his Luna bandmate and wife, Britta Phillips, playing Nico to his Lou Reed. Now the couple comes full circle…
Design S.O.S.
The folks at Refined Rustic just emailed us about a new service they are offering: The Creative Handyman. “Whether you’re looking to install light fixtures, window treatments, artwork, or tackle something a bit more complicated, our all-in-one decorating team and handyman service has the experience and creative eye to get the job done right.” Talk about killing two birds with one stone!
—GINA BAZER
Housing Bulletin: Giving Up the Ghosts
Together, the many empty, unsold builder houses sprinkled around Chicago and the suburbs constitute a kind of scattered-site ghost town. But in the past few weeks, there have been signs of life—in the form of short sales and huge preforeclosure price cuts that have put living families into some of those homes, and that may do the same for many more in the near future…
Mother and Son Open Vernon Hills Salon
Spa On
Chicagoans in the northern suburbs have a new destination for spa services—Zaza Salon and Day Spa (1101 S. Milwaukee Ave., Suite 101, Vernon Hills; 847-793-1111, zazasalon.com). “We’re not here to only make you look good. We want to enhance your quality of life,” says co-owner Leo Zarovsky, who opened the salon with his mother, Helen, last December. Zaza features both basic services—such as haircuts and styling (from $55 for ladies, from $30 for men), manicures (starting at $20), pedicures (starting at $36), and spray tanning ($40 for full body)—as well as more intricate…
To the Min
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Attention bargain hunters, HomeGoods, owned by the same off-price retail company that owns Marshalls and TJ Maxx—and also the dirty little secret of at least a couple interior designers I know—is opening its first downtown location on March 8 at 2731 N. Elston Ave. With 18,000 square feet worth of merchandise to choose from, you just might find something you like.
—GINA BAZER