Ad Categories: Home and Garden

I popped into The Golden Triangle over lunch today and was completely blown away. While we covered the shop’s move/expansion in the mag, I personally hadn’t been there until today. I often stopped by the old location to browse, but this is something else entirely—a truly gorgeous space (23,000 square feet; they rent it out for parties). I love the dark paint and reclaimed wood on the walls, and the way Art Deco and contemporary pieces are mixed in with the store’s signature Asian collection. The vast space keeps things airy and uncluttered. Also, did you know that Golden Triangle does kitchens? I certainly didn’t. You can have yours re-done out of reclaimed elm from demolished buildings in Beijing. (The showroom has one on display.) If you are in the market for a coffee table (which I am—particularly the one pictured above!), they have plenty to choose from, and can make one for you out of reclaimed wood. Look for great deals at the sidewalk sale (40 to 70 percent off) August 15 to 30.

—GINA BAZER

Since Hejfina’s opening day, I’ve swooned and saved my coin to shop the well-edited selection of well-cut and oozingly cool clothing lines for men and women, and the small, artful selection of furniture by the likes of Carson Maddox and Michael Koehler that was in the front of the store. While she is no longer representing the furniture makers, shop owner Heiji Choy Black has caught the home bug harder than ever. The front of the shop now boasts a carefully curated cache of tabletop goods and art, including a sustainable line from Denmark called Mater (see white pitcher above) and Lexon clocks (see clock radio above). This month, Chicago-based artist Noelle Allen’s window display kicks off the shop’s collaboration with local artists, whose work will be shown throughout the space.  Look for a new artist every month, with photographer Doug Fogelson and multimedia artist William J. O’Brien coming soon—as well as more homewares.

—BARRI LEINER

 It’s that back-to-school time of year again, and even though I haven’t seen the inside of a classroom in a while I still think about grade school shopping lists of Pink Pearl erasers, number two pencils, and Mead spiral notebooks every time the dog days of August start barking. (Maybe it’s the tree-and-a-half’s worth of circulars that slips out of my Sunday papers every week.) Kids have a lot more options these days, though. I saw some great, stylish school/office supplies the other day at Staples. No kidding. Who’da thunk that this utilitarian supplies chain would come out with a quirky line of stationary and office products that rivals Target in its creativity and sophistication? The line is called M by Staples, and it’s available at select Staples locations (4610 N. Clark Street, for one) with limited online availability. I especially like these pushpins and binder clips that are made to look like old typewriter keys. They’re $5.99 for a set of eight, and they’ve taken my cubicle to the head of the class.

—BRADLEY LINCOLN

I recently returned from my vacation to Germany, Austria, and Croatia, and my head is still swimming from cultural overload (or am I just detoxing from all of that great beer?). We spent most of our time driving through Southern Germany and then took a train to Salzburg, Austria, by far my favorite place on the trip. What struck me the most were the painted houses and buildings: pinks and grays were neighbors to yellows and greens—and for some reason they all seem to get along quite nicely.

     One interesting color factoid emerged from our tour through the countryside (The Sound of Music tour; don’t laugh—I initially resisted, but it turned out to be a great way to see the city) and a stop at Hellbrunn Palace, a striking yellow-gold summer home built for the Archbishop of Austria in 1613, which you can see from a mile away. Our guide informed us that “Schonbrunn Gold” was the favorite color of Archduchess of Austria Maria Therese and thus became the standard for her palace buildings, garden walls, and just about any administrative built under her rule. The color is also supposed to have the unique characteristic of repelling mosquitoes. Interested in trying it out for yourself? The closest thing I can find is Farrow & Ball’s “Babouche 223.” Luckily, it’s not available in exterior masonry paint (I don’t think your neighbors are quite ready for your Austrian bungalow), but it is available in exterior eggshell-perfect for doors, gates, large flower pots, or even your old picnic table. Just add a stein of beer and your palace is complete.

-Adam Moroschan

I’m a sucker for the words “Paris flea market” or “Paris café.” Use them in the description of your product and I’m like Pavlov’s dog with measuring tape. Yes, I’m very nostalgic about the several months I spent living in Paris after college (though I don’t miss stepping in Pavlov’s dog’s poo every day as perfectIy dressed and irritatingly smug Parisian women looked on pityingly). Anyway, I love these chairs not only for how they look, but for their associations. The white one, described on the Willow website as “styled after a 1940’s Paris flea market treasure,” caught my eye yesterday while I was checking out Willow’s new offerings online. The galvanized steel chair has been on my radar for a long time. It’s available at DWR and through the Sundance Catalog, where it is described as follows: “First manufactured in 1934, these ever-stylish steel chairs were designed to withstand the wear-and-tear of bistro and brasserie patrons while remaining ever-recherché.” They are still made in France today. Oh charming chairs, take me away!

—Gina Bazer

Photos courtesy of Willow and Sundance

Nothing is more fun than decorating a kid’s room… that is until that scary moment when the munchkin becomes aware of his own tastes and interests (carefully nurtured by the likes of Disney) and suddenly, his darling little nursery turns into a shrine to Thomas the Tank Engine, Dora the Explorer, and the movie Cars. But let’s focus on the sweet window of decorating opportunity that occurs before all that.
    Foursided, as I discovered recently, is not only a great place to buy gifts, cards, vintage educational maps and charts, and original collages by local artists (including shop owner Todd Mack) but also kid-appropriate art. Whether original, reproduction, or vintage, the options have a soft, nostalgic appeal (I was drawn to the vintage alphabet pictures shown above). A few doors north of Foursided’s Andersonville location (the other one is in Lakeview), the new eco-friendly kids’ clothing store Green Genes (opened by a former Red Ballon Co. staffer) also has some fun tot art. Both the owner and I agreed that if the kiddies don’t like the old-fashioned circus posters, we’ll take ’em!

—Gina Bazer