Ad Categories: Home and Garden

Need a great gift idea for someone with a little more than your average green thumb? The type of person who actually knows the ideal time to plant bulbs and loves to talk about the life cycles of herbs at parties? We’ve found just the thing. Local graphic designer (and self-confessed obsessive gardener) Bob Zeni has created The Obsessive Gardener Disorder Calendar, a fact-filled and beautifully designed piece that helps the obsessed track everything from optimal planting dates to average daily temperatures in Chicago. Plus it looks great on your wall or even flat on your desk, and it’s a steal at $10. The best part: your friend satisfies his inner botanist and you share in the wealth (who doesn’t love free veggies?) To see the calendar close-up and to order, check out the equally well-designed Web site here.

—ADAM MOROSCHAN

Looking for that special something to pull your room together? Leslie Hindman Auctioneers is holding a rug tag sale in conjunction with Oscar Isberian Rugs Friday, January 30 through Sunday, February 8, from noon to 5 at the auction house. More than 500 rugs will be on display in a variety of prices and sizes.

—Gina Bazer 

IQMatics in Schaumburg just started carrying this very commercial-looking furniture line from a UK– and Poland–based company called Tomek Rygalik. If you sorta like the idea of your living room looking like a futuristic airport terminal seating area, the line, called Tremo, is just the, um, ticket.

—Gina Bazer 

The historic Allerton Hotel on Michigan Avenue has undergone a top-to-bottom renovation; local firm New Metal Crafts was enlisted to do the custom lighting fixture in the lobby. Shown here, the fixture is composed of five translucent white acrylic boxes with a decorative cut metal overlay. It’s illuminated by LED strips. Picturing this in your foyer? New Metal Crafts can build it in any size.

—JAN PARR

photo by  Nathan Kirkman

Pagoda Red, purveyor of Asian antiques and artifacts, is having a warehouse sale this weekend (Saturday and Sunday, 10-5) at 1201 W. Washington Blvd. Look for discounts of up to 80 percent. All sales are final.

—Gina Bazer

Bedside Manor, a boutique that sells luxe linens, has signed a deal with Kindel Furniture Co. in Grand Rapids to carry a selected collection of the company’s handcrated pieces. Kindel has been making furniture in the U.S. since 1901 (it is sold locally at Macy’s and a couple other stores). At its four Chicago-area locations starting in March, Bedside Manor will feature a Louis XVI poster bed, occasional tables and chest from the Dorothy Draper collection, and upholstered bedroom chairs.

—JAN PARR

Does your kitchen look like the one at left? Want it to look more like the one at right? Drury Design kicks off a series of kitchen and bath design workshops this Saturday with “Champagne Kitchens on a Beer Budget.” The workshop, which starts at 9 a.m. at Drury’s showroom in Glen Ellyn and includes coffee and breakfast treats, aims to teach you how to prioritize, compromise, or both; how low budget doesn’t have to look cheap; and the basics of how room size affects your budget. Reserve a place by calling 630-469-4980 or email info@drurydesigns.com. See the other workshops here. Ikea, the modern home store giant, is also offering walk-in kitchen planning workshops at 9 a.m. every Saturday at both locations.

-JAN PARR