Kitchen Switches
The new issue of Chicago Home + Garden is out, and for July/August it’s all about kitchen and bathroom ideas. There’s a profile of The Chopping Block’s owner, Shelley Young, with gallons of tips on setting up an efficient cookery, and good advice on the age-old dilemma of refacing vs. replacing kitchen cabinets. And I’ll venture to guess you’ve never seen a place quite like the East Pilsen loft of Jeffrey Moss, a filmmaker and photo stylist with a flair for quirky display. Pick up a copy at newsstands, or save yourself the shoe leather and subscribe here.
Revival Re-Relocates
On my way over to see the restored print of Breathless at the Music Box the other day, my own breath was taken away a little when I saw empty, dark windows on the corner of Southport and Irving Park, where the architectural salvage shop Revival has been for the past few years after moving from its original Near Southside location (which is now set up as the chic event space Chicago Illuminating Company.) No worries, however—owner Mark Steinke has once again moved locations. Visit the new space at 1924 W. Armitage Avenue for rustic salvaged structural elements—mantels, grates, and marble columns—and a nicely curated selection of kitschy-kitschy-cool vintage furniture and mirrors.
Dorian Gray To Go
Flattery won’t get you anywhere at crafty Wicker Park’s Renegade Handmade shop this Saturday, July 3, when the Misanthrope Specialty Co. rolls into town to trample egos with “unflattering portraits” by the artist known as Reverend Aitor. I’ve never been on board with caricature sketch-artists, so I’m having a hard time imagining who’s up for sitting down and having their worst features exaggerated, but it’s such an intriguingly squeamish concept that I’m thinking I might have to check it out. If you would like to see what you’d look like if you weren’t so darn pretty (or a reminder of what you’ll be facing in the mirror if you keep up with all that hard livin’ and wicked ways!), appointments are available from noon till 5 p.m., and the 30-to-50-minute sessions are pay-what-you-want.
Paper Resources
I stopped at the River North Paper Source the other day to get some greeting cards (they have a really clever collection of cards and stationery—it’s one of my favorite places for mail bonding), and was sidetracked by an impressive display of new wrapping papers. This marigold pattern is inspired by wedding and festival celebrations in India, and is archivally printed on recycled paper. A sheet or two could be framed and hung up as decoration, as could quite a few of the other new, exclusive designs. At $2.50 a pop, art doesn’t get much more affordable than that. They also sell clear plastic templates in five sizes, to make envelopes out of gift wrap (or any old type of paper—how about road maps—who needs those anymore in the age of GPS?). Paper Source also has interesting classes and workshops lined up at all five of their Illinois locations, including an intro to the new Silhouette cutting machines, which hook up to computers like printers and allow for intricate designs and word-slicing. (I wonder if they work on pumpkins.)
Imagine That
Choosing window treatments is one of the most overwhelming steps in the home design process, given that there are so many possibilities of materials and installation options. The Hunter Douglas company just made things a little easier with its new iMagine computer feature, recently added to the blinds manufacturer’s kaleidoscopic website, which allows you to upload photos of your room, select any of thousands of lines, products, and colors, type in the dimensions, draw in the shape, click a button and voilà—a visualization of how those energy-saving honeycomb shades or motorized wooden shutters are going to present at home. I’ve been playing around with it and find it so simple to navigate, and fun. Pick the sheers you find genius, and order online or check out the goods locally first at Thybony, Jerger Draperies, Regent Window Fashions, Urban Environments, or lots of other dealers.