Ad Categories: Home and Garden

I just ran into an old… um, friend? What do you call a person who mercifully pulled over and offered you a ride home when, four years ago, you were walking along North Avenue in the dark, in the about-to-start-pouring rain, holding two overflowing bags from Whole Foods while trying to balance an umbrella under your armpit, because the bus was JUST driving off as you approached the gosh-darn stop?! I think that person is called a friend. (Normally, I don’t hitchhike, but this woman had “good person” written all over her face—and let’s face it, I was desperate.) I ran into Evelyn Daitchman at the studio of artist Michael Thompson (whose super-cool and interesting space will be featured in our November/December issue). She is a massage therapist and has all sorts of celebrity clients, but she’s also a collector of vintage clothing, fabric, and dishes. She sells her wares (the home stuff has a fun Anthropologie feel) out of Thompson’s loft space and at the Randolph Street Flea Market. Look for the name Jackie Ono. Here’s to the kindness of strangers!

—Gina Bazer
 

C’est Moi, a delightful shop in Vintage Pine, is closing. The owner says no reasonable offer will be refused on rugs, bedding, candles, oilcloth bags, David Fussenegger throws (shown here) and lots more. 904 W. Blackhawk St., 312-944-2116.

—JAN PARR

Pillows are the T-shirts of the home design world.  (Funny—in our last issue, I recall writing that “pillows are the shoes of the home design world”… OK, so the fashion and design worlds have some crossover, and I like to point that out… repeatedly! No big deal.) Anyway, I say this because pillows (like shoes and T-shirts) provide a relatively inexpensive way to express yourself. You can easily tone down a formal room by tossing in a vibrant or, in the case of Jonathan Adler, cheeky pillow. Enter Adler’s latest line of needlepoint pillows, shown above. They may be too precious for some, but I think if you don’t overdo it (like throw the “drugs” AND the “hugs” pillow on your sofa), the look is kind of fun.

—GINA BAZER 
 

How much do you love your house? Enough to have a portrait of it painted by a professional artist? If you like the idea of having your casa immortalized in watercolor, you’ll be happy to know it doesn’t cost all that much. Send Jim Pinto a photo of your precious and he will deliver a 12-by-18-inch rendering for $350. It’s a little kitschy, maybe even sappy, but sort of sweet, too. Pinto sells gift certificates as well, so you could get your parents a portrait of the home you grew up in before they sell the empty nest and head to Arizona. Most of the photos in his gallery are of traditional homes, but I think it would be fun to shake it up and have him do your ranch. Or an interior shot? What do you think? I think it would be even better if you could get a paint-by-numbers kit of your house. Business idea, anyone?

—Gina Bazer