Year: 2009

Months ago I was lucky enough to get a tour of an Edgar Miller apartment at 155 W. Burton Place that had been updated and furnished by Karen Mozer. It was quirky, fun, and entirely original. Now Richard Cahan and Michael Williams have produced a gorgeous and impressive coffee table book on Miller, who they call “Chicago’s forgotten renaissance man.” The original green man, Miller was a Chicago artist who used recycled materials and his own artistic skills (he was a painter, a carver, mosaic artist, and stained-glass artist) to turn old homes into works of art (he designed three other apartment complexes in the 1920s and 1930s, at 1734 N. Wells, 2150 N. Cleveland, and 1209 State Parkway). With stunning photos by Alexander Vertikoff, this book, Edgar Miller and the Handmade Home (Small Press United, $50), is a fitting tribute to Miller and will be of interest to anyone interested in Chicago history, art, or architecture. 

—JAN PARR

Last week we checked out Repeat, a new vintage furniture and accessories shop we were alerted to by our friends at Thos. Moser. Repeat, owned by Joe Hunnewinkle and Tom Leahy, who owned Mudd, a card/gift store on Broadway, is a cross between a really great thrift store and a vintage furniture shop, with lots of funky, affordable midcentury finds. The owners scour thrift stores and sales in out-of-the-way places, and paint and reupholster where necessary. We spied a walnut table with an X inlay for $135; clean-lined nesting tables, three for $188; a reissue of a Sol Bloom wire and mesh catchall for $160. 1535 W. Division St., 773-278-7983. Open Thursdays–Sundays.

—JAN PARR