The alphabet has never looked so cool. Lletras i Tipos wallpaper by artist Javier Mariscal for Tres Tintas Barcelona is great for anything from a hip kid’s room to a home office. Washable and easily strippable, it comes in four colorways: orange (shown here), red, gray, and beige, $135 per roll, each 20¾ inches … Read more
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You think you love Barbie? Jonathan Adler loves her more! He has devoted an entire collection to the leggy plastic blonde, including his own glamorous incarnation of her (shown above, $50), which will be available in stores in September. Also shown above, a needlepoint pillow ($165) and pink lacquer cubes ($150-$350), perfect for your grown-up Barbie dream house.
—GINA BAZER
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Restoration Hardware has always had reliable, quality pieces, but this fall’s collection, which arrived this past weekend to stores, has a truly distinct French-industrial style going on, offering dozens of gorgeous large-scale pieces—trestle tables, mirrors, sideboards—made out of distressed salvaged timber, and others made with hand-welded steel. Some items, such as the reproductions of the vintage draftsmen stools shown above, would be ideal to acquire in their original state, but, hey, they look pretty good new, too. The company had me last season with its still-available Brickmaker’s Table, made out of 100-year-old wood planks (once used to transport bricks in Belgium) built into a distressed steel base, but this fall’s catalog really completes the modern French country look.
—GINA BAZER
SEEN IN ACTION at the Museum of Science & Industry’s Smart Home exhibit; msichicago.org Having a hard time finding just the right area rug? Create or customize your own through West Loop–based Organic Looms, an eco-minded company that works one-on-one with clients to design wool and silk rugs that are later hand-knotted in Nepal and … Read more
Q: I’m looking for a hammock that reminds me of childhood summers. What are my choices?
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Frette has a fun new line called Edmond that offers the status of this luxury linen company without the price tags. The styles are also a bit more youthful. Prices range from $75 for a pillowcase to $425 for a duvet cover.
—GINA BAZER
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Now that we’ve got several choices for ultra luxe mattresses in town (Duxiana, Hastens, and Nilson at Haute Living), it makes sense that someone would come up with customized luxe pillows. Jolie Maison in Highland Park has recently added a Pillow Bar, a freestanding “bar” that contains all the ingredients to create a down pillow just for you. Side, back, or stomach sleeper—you’re covered (the pillows were designed with consultations from a neurosurgeon and a chiropractor). In just a few minutes, you’ll walk away with a monogrammed, 300-thread-count, double-stitched 100-percent cotton sateen pillow filled with sterilized and double fluffed 650-fill white Hungarian goose down, complete with a scented sachet.
—JAN PARR
Social networking is a hot topic these days, and Craftsquatsch, a Chicago designer and Twitterer, has launched a line of graphic pillows to celebrate the online phenomenon.
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One of our favorite local designers, Maxine Snider, has introduced four designs for fall. Available to the trade through the David Sutherland showroom here, the pieces (available in different woods and finishes) are clean, elegant, and modern, as we’ve come to expect from Maxine.
—JAN PARR
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Catherine Edelman Gallery, a premier dealer of contemporary photography in Chicago, is holding a workshop called In Focus to educate people about the ins and outs of starting a collection of this increasingly popular medium. Led by Catherine Edelman and other prominent members of the local art community, the class will meet at CEG on four consecutive Saturday mornings from 9:30 to 11:00 am, starting October 17. The fee is $100 for all four sessions. Registration has already started on the gallery’s website. Shown above: “American Gothic” by Julie Blackmon, photo courtesy of Catherine Edelman.
-GINA BAZER
