May 2009

It’s summer, and that means finding reasons to head to Harbor Country. Two good ones in the next few weeks: an event called Revive Your Green Retreat on May 30 at Susan Fredman’s At Home With Nature in Union Pier, and the Heartland Alliance house walk June 6. At the Revive Your Retreat event, speakers throughout the day (including me, talking about green décor trends) will discuss the nuts and bolts of creating a healthy, environmentally friendly home. Learn about eco-color trends, composting, finding tax breaks and home loans for green homes, and creating a green wedding. For the kids: ice cream, and getting crafty with recycled materials. See the full schedule and RSVP on the site. The next Saturday, The Heartland Alliance Celebration of Home & Garden Tour starts at 10 a.m. and features seven impressive Harbor Country homes, from an antiques-filled Normandy-style house to a Hamptons-style cottage. Proceeds go toward the development of affordable housing.

—Jan Parr

Chicago Home + Garden will be at the opening day (Saturday, May 23) of the Randolph Street Market with decorator Laura Soskin, who will pull together a fab room furnished with her favorite finds at the Market that day—and she will do so over the course of several hours! The room will be on display Saturday only on the second floor stage inside the Hall. All items in the room will be for sale (last year, when our stylist Barri Leiner pulled of the same feat, the items sold right off the set)! Look for behind-the-scenes coverage on our blog and a peek at the final product in our September/October issue.

—Gina Bazer