Ad Categories: Home and Garden

I was a judge for the International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market’s Design Excellence Awards last week. It’s recognition for new product design in the outdoor furniture and accessories industry. I saw some great stuff! My favorites (shown here from left to right–these also ended up being winners): the Janus et Cie Forest chair (we didn’t know the manufacturers when we were doing the judging), the totally fun Emu Re-Trouve chair, the elegant Gloster Elan dining chair, the Neoteric Home chaise with a super-cool hydraulic device that allows a lounger to adjust positions without getting up; and the Rock Wood Cove modular day bed, which I saw in a lovely grey/white weave (shown here in a more typical chocolate brown). Other judges were Julie deLeon, designer and garden division manager of Chicago Specialty Gardens (we just shot one of her outdoor spaces for publication next fall), and John West of JW Landscapes (see a rooftop marvel of his we published here.

–JAN PARR

Dozens of rain-slicker-yellow lawn signs pop up every autumn in my neighborhood, and by now I don’t even have to read them to know that this means it’s time for another Edgewater Home Tour, organized each September by the Edgewater Historical Society. I walk my dog all over the ‘hood and love to look in the windows at night to critique paint colors, window treatments, etc., so it’s great fun to snoop around inside the spacious old houses, picking up design ideas and comparing notes. This year the walking tour is Sunday, Sept. 21 from noon to four, $25 admission, and it kicks off at the church at 6200 N. Glenwood, where you’ll get a map of the participants to lead you around at your own pace. The weather is supposed to rock, so I’m thinking maybe post-tour margaritas on the cute back patio at Cocina de Frida’s.

—BRADLEY LINCOLN

Geoff Daly, who owns a company that sells wine preserving systems to restaurants, called to tell me about his new home system. The N2Vin uses nitrogen gas and temperature control to keep five bottles of wine fresh for up to a month. Open bottles don’t last very long in our house, but we did think this little guy was stylish and practical for oenophiles who like to do tastings or flights at home. The company is based in Holland, Michigan, and is looking for a distributor in the Chicago area. Until then, you can buy from the company direct. 

—Jan Parr
 

I went to a swell cocktail party recently at Lumen to celebrate the first of three finalists Nate Berkus chose in the Basil Hayden’s Tastemakers Design Chicago competition. The event was a joint presentation of Chicago Home + Garden and Out magazines, and Basil Hayden’s bourbon. The gal of the evening was Sarah Tranum (pictured above with her entry), a Chicago design grad student who has envisioned a curvilinear lounge chair that evokes the BH packaging (that’s the criteria for the contest—design whatever you want, but use Basil Hayden’s as the inspiration). The other two finalists will be feted at events coming up at Stone Lotus (RSVP here) and Angels and Kings, before Berkus puts the prototypes up for a vox populi judging on Oct. 16 at Crimson Lounge, over at the Hotel Sax. The bad weather didn’t stop the stylin’ crowd from coming out for fun Basil Hayden’s cocktails and passed pupus. I chatted with Project Runway alum Steven Rosengard, Oscar Tatosian from Oscar Isberian Rugs , Anthony Almaguer and Steven Burgert from I.D., and my neighbor Bryan Lump, who designed a table that earned him one of the other two finalist slots. His wife is hoping he wins, so they can spend the $10K prize on fixing up their basement. 

—BRADLEY LINCOLN

Photography by Frank Failing