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Ad Categories: Home and Garden

Out-Marted!

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River North continues to be a hotbed for new, freestanding design showrooms, and with the recent opening of the Kinzie Design Center across the street from the Merchandise Mart, more and more trade-quality options are available to the public. Here’s a look at the Mart’s newest neighbors.

Leontine Linens

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It’s spring (officially). In a matter of weeks we’ll be cleaning out our kitchen drawers, preparing for Kentucky Derby parties, folding up wool blankets, and laying out bright tablecloths. And what better way to usher in the new season than with heirloom-inspired customized bedding, towels, and tabletop from the Old South? Leontine Linens was founded by Kentucky native Jane Scott Hodges in New Orleans and is best known for its bespoke bedding and 20th-century Southern style. We love Leontine for bolstering the monogram trend we’ve been tracking for the past year, but make no mistake—Leontine is no passing fad. In fact, all of its offerings are made-to-order so you can pass down the family heirlooms you never inherited from your waspy great grandmother.

Alas, since Leontine Linens is represented exclusively by Bergdorf Goodman in New York and its only showrooms are located in Atlanta and New Orleans, it’s been rather hard to get our hands on these divine linens here. That might be why we’re a little too excited about the company’s Chicago trunk show. Stop in to see the entire Spring 2008 collection April 1 to 4 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 73 East Elm St., 4A; 917-513-9579, hosted by the local sales rep for Charlotte Brody, a high-end women’s fashion outpost known for its luxurious threads. How appropriate.

—LIZZIE GARRETT

To Paint or Not to Paint Wood Moldings?

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My husband and I have been shopping for a new house for months and if we ever find a home that we both agree upon and that we can actually afford, it will be a miracle. Here’s one issue. While we both want a vintage place, we are divided on our preferences for original wood trim (husband likes; I don’t). All the real estate ads make a big deal about “original woodwork,” and I when I arrive at these places I feel the weight of history pressing on me the second I walk through the door. If I buy this place, am I morally obligated to carry on this torch of originality? In wanting to paint the woodwork white, am I as evil as all those developers who destroy old buildings to put up hideous new construction?

I turned to two interior designers, Laura Soskin and Jessica Lagrange, to get their two cents. Both were adamant: Paint it white! “Just because that’s how they used to do it doesn’t mean that’s how it should stay,” said Soskin. “White is modern—your house doesn’t have to look like grandma’s!” Lagrange added, “Many times, the wood itself is nothing special—just stained pine.” That made me feel better. Now I just have to find the house.

—GINA BAZER

Living room photo from Jameson Realty.
Soskin’s home photographed by Nathan Kirkman.

Glass Backsplashes

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A graphic designer here wonders if there’s anyone in the area who manufactures and installs solid pieces of glass for backsplashes. His research has turned up only companies outside of Illinois. Anyone? —JAN PARR

Fabric Fantastic

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1154 Lill Studio’s fabric offerings are as stylish as their totes.  Jennifer Velarde, owner of the popular design-your-own-handbag shop 1154 Lill Studio, is getting back to her interior decorator roots, introducing a house line of some 150 fabrics, formerly available only to the trade, called Lill by the Yard. Also on deck: a variety of … Read more

Upstairs at Hermès

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Chicago designers Kara Mann, Jessica Lagrange, Nate Berkus, and David Grout of Gary Lee Partners hit the second floor of Hermès to give their clients’ homes a touch of patrician, equestrian-inspired luxury. That’s where this famous purveyor of silk scarves and leather goods keeps its tight selection of home goods. While the company’s exquisite hand-painted … Read more