Paper furniture? Yep. When used in multiple layers (just like that papier-mâché Gumby you made in junior high art class), paper has the strength to hold some serious weight. With a little help, that is: The buffet and stools shown here have metal skeletons, while the side table gets its durability from sheer heft; it weighs some 70 pounds. All are treated to be water-resistant.
Let it snow! A formal garden on the North Shore is gaze-worthy year-round
Q. I’m looking for the perfect reading lamp. What’s out there?
New Era, New Outfit LuLu’s at the Belle Kay (3862 N. Lincoln Ave.; 773-404-5858, lulusbellekay.com), a North Center boutique focused on vintage clothing and accessories. “As soon as Barack Obama was elected, people started coming in looking for gowns,” says the boutique’s owner, Laurie Demma Davis, who reports that she has sold six dresses, along with jewelry, destined for…
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In the don’t-really-need-it-but-want-it department, I spotted these cute little cases at Paper Source. Prices range from $8 to $42, depending on size. Cute for an office, kid’s room, or whatever. Just cute. Nuff said.
—Gina Bazer
Mass production? It’s for the masses. We prefer surprising, amusing, beautiful, functional (sometimes), human-made (always) objets d’art
This story appears exclusively on Chicagomag.com and not in the print magazine.
THE SCENARIO: It’s been a little more than 100 days since President Barack Obama moved into the White House. So far, he’s been tested by the worst economy in 65 years, two wars, and a thicket of other international and domestic crises. One Sunday in May, the phone rings once again at three in the morning.
(Warning: contains adult language)
As the behemoth that is the greater Wicker Park/Bucktown nightlife scene continues its crawl southward, spreading its mission of martinis throughout West Town and Ukrainian Village, much of the activity has been centered on and just off Chicago Avenue, where new watering holes pop…
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So I’m flipping through the new CB2 catalog that just arrived, okay, (they obviously got the memo that bright yellow is the color of the year—it’s all over these pages), and came across some wack room set-ups that have me all kerfuffled. I can’t figure out what’s going on in this living room scenario—there’s a rotary phone, receiver off the hook, no phone cord. Was someone having a chat with her imaginary 1970s friend when she smelled fire from the kitchen? (“Hold on a sec, Willie, I’ve got cookies in the oven!”) And what’s that for dinner on page 11—a big plate of raw squid tentacles and about three pounds of lemons? Mmm, chewy. Just the thing after a hard day at the office. You’ll need a lot more than that wee carafe of pinot grigio to get the taste out of your mouth. Don’t even get me started on the bathtub full of glass balls and pearls…maybe that ugly tie-dyed shower curtain inspired the set dresser to light up one of those funny cigarettes. Don’t smoke and style, people. My head hurts.
—BRADLEY LINCOLN
List Price: $3 million
Sale Price: $2.925 million
The Property: On a street in Lincoln Park where the homes are tightly packed, this very contemporary house appears to stretch out comfortably in all directions. That’s thanks in part to its unusual lot—90 feet wide by 99 feet deep, compared to the city norm of 25 by 125—but also to the work of its designer, the noted architecture firm of…
