Ad Categories: Home and Garden

The newly introduced mirrored bath cabinet from Urban Archaeology is such a fabulous alternative to a wall-mounted medicine cabinet, especially since it can hold towels and other bath sundries as well (I’m assuming here that most of us don’t have enough actual medicine to fill the whole thing—though those bottles of NyQuil do tend to multiply). It’s 68 inches high by 27.5 inches wide by 15 inches deep, and it comes in 50 colors and a variety of metal trims. Come to think of it, why limit this beauty to the bathroom? It could look cool filled with books or dishes, too. It will set you back $8,500.

—Gina Bazer

In our September/October issue, we asked four shop owners and managers to give us their predictions of what the top sellers would be at their respective stores. The results are in: Steven Burgert of I.D. predicted it would be the balloon stool from Umbra ($300). “The stool did very well,” he reports. “The ones in the shop sold immediately when they arrived and we had many requests for them as well. It is now on an indefinite back-order.” Devin Kirk of Jayson Home & Garden says this about the ram’s skull lamp ($675) on which he put his money: “This was far and away the top-selling new lamp of last year. What a relief, since my reputation was on the on the line!” (Editorial note: Reputations are definitely not at stake here.) Jonathan Goodman of Elements was quite pleased with his bet as well—a monogrammed metal tray for $650. “We sold 12 of them,” he says. “Not bad for a $700 tray.” What recession? The people need trays! The one pick gone awry was Orange Skin’s Graunk Enzenberger’s: the egg-shaped footrest ($987). “We had tons of inquiries but no orders yet on the footstool,” he says. The surprise big seller there was the Pasmore lounge chair (around $5,400 in leather, shown above), which sat for a while on the showroom floor before it got any bites. “A little unusual that it was suddenly so popular since it’s expensive, but that’s how these things go sometimes,” he said.

—Gina Bazer

All three Illinois locations of the eco-responsible furniture store Arhaus—Lincoln Park, Oakbrook, and South Barrington—are having complimentary in-store interior design classes this Sunday, Jan. 11, from 10 a.m. to noon. All you need to do is call and reserve a spot, and the wisdom of Arhaus visual-display experts and managers is yours for the taking (along with a nice little goodie bag, I’ve been told). Topics covered include maximizing space with savvy floor planning, faux painting, wall decorating, clever ways to freshen up for spring, and flower arranging. 

—BRADLEY LINCOLN

PHOTO CREDIT: ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
 

I love antiquing, thrifting, and small, locally owned showrooms. It’s great to mix and match furniture and accessories for that collected-over-time feel. But if I had to choose only one store to furnish my home—the one that best suits my taste and budget—it would be Room & Board. I like it even better when they’re having a sale. The company has swept up all the floor samples from its Chicago-area stores and brought them to its Oak Brook location, where they’re discounted up to 50 percent. Shop through Sunday. I dig this chair, which is on clearance for $699 on the Web site, but no telling if it’s part of the floor sample sale.

—Jan Parr

Le Creuset makes my hands-down favorite pots ‘n pans in terms of heat distribution and oven-to-table sexiness. The distinctive colors are cheery, easy to spot, and often imitated by lesser manufacturers, but it’s well worth investing in some authentic pieces—they’ll last forever. Sur la Table has just announced Le Creuset’s new line of white cookery, in case you’re trying to keep things visually calm in the kitchen or just don’t want anything to clash with your goulash. I dig it. 

—BRADLEY LINCOLN

While cutting into some lovely ravioli the other night, I noticed the simple-but-nicely-done lighting fixtures at the Bristol. How were they made? Co-owner John Ross was kind enough to share:  “We built the boxes [that are attached to the ceiling] and dropped three cords from each,” he says. The key, says Ross, was in choosing just the right bulbs to set the mood. Ross and company got their amber-colored ones through Rejuvenation. The result is subtle and stylish. We also loved the artwork on the exposed-brick walls—acrylic paint on wood, featuring mainly trees—by local artist Evie Ogborn (evieogborn.com). The food and cocktails (try the Apple Pie drink—yum!) was pretty darn good, too.

—Gina Bazer