The annual Pagoda Red warehouse sale is coming up this weekend, and owner Betsy Nathan says it’s going to be a whopper. “This year it will be gigantic,” Bets told me, “because we’re relocating our warehouse to be closer to the Bucktown showroom, and we really want to lighten our load before the move.” Expect discounts up to 80 percent on quality... Read more
Like many high-end hotels, every few years the Ritz-Carlton likes to shake things up and renovate its lobbies and promenade, changing out the furniture and accessories. Chicago’s own Ritz is in the process of doing just that, and it has shipped a shipload of elegant, quality goods over to Fort Pitt Furniture Liquidators to sell next weekend at its cavernous Bridgeport location, 1400 W. 37th Street. There are sure to be some great deals... Read more
If you were planning on checking out DreamHome at the Merchandise Mart, wake up and smell the coffee—organizers have put that inspirational, aspirational show to bed, and you’ve snoozed and loozed. (You can keep the dream alive and kill time before the next annual DreamHome opens in April 2010... Read more
This week’s issue of Domestica is coming to you from a very steamy Southern Florida, so grab some SPF-gazillion and a caipirinha, papi, and let me tell you about some happening art and design events that made SOBE the feverish epicenter of the artistic community for a week, and captured international media attention... Read more
Get to Johnathon, swift, if you want to take advantage of a storewide floor-sample sale. Everything in John Gray’s (a former Bravo TV Top Design contestant, don’t you know…) Lakeview home store is half-off, including this linear silver-leafed mirror which has been reduced to $600. The shop is at 3161 N. Halsted St.; the sale runs through Sunday. And remember when I told you about Zella Brown’s big clearance sale a couple of weeks ago? As it happens, Zella Brown’s owner, Trisha London... Read more
Looking for standout holiday gifts that aren’t easy to pick up in the aisles of big box stores? Find the ones that you want (and maybe the ones that Sandy, Frenchy, and Rizzo want, too-ooh-ooh) at this week’s ninth annual One of a Kind Show in the Merchandise Mart... Read more
We all pined when Amy Doehla closed the brick-and-mortar aspect of her Ukie Village boutique Willow last March (the shop went online-only in April), but the stylish home and gift shop has budded anew for a few months in the same location (850 N. Damen Avenue), just in time for holiday shopping. It will be open seven days a week in December, Tuesdays through Saturdays in January, and to spur your spending, Amy is offering... Read more
Renegade Handmade plans to have us all in stitches with a crafty curated exhibit of contemporary embroidered objects this Saturday, 6–8 p.m. The homespun Wicker Park store (which also has an active online presence) has patched together not-your-Nana’s-needlework from 15 international fiber artists who have taken traditional threadery to new levels, in both subject matter and materials. This little charmer is from Florida artist Cindy Steiler, who makes mixed media pieces under the name Mary’s Granddaughter... Read more
Find the finer things in life for a fraction, and gain access to what are typically members’ only floors of the Merchandise Mart at this weekend’s sample sale of high-end furniture, artwork, accessories, fabrics, and a lot more (maybe even a few kitchen sinks). There will be dozens of showrooms participating on floors six, seven, and 15–18, including Baker, Henredon, Melvin Wolf, Betty M., and Holland & Sherry... Read more
The world’s artsiest and craftiest are coming to Chicago for this weekend’s 16th Annual Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair (SOFA) at Navy Pier, November 6–8, with an opening night preview party (a reasonable $50 ticket, payable at the door or here on Thursday from 7–9 p.m. This is one of my favorite art shows in Chicago... Read more