Wooden Demeanor
After more than a decade of experience as a professional custom framer, graphic designer, and furniture maker, beginning from a two-car garage on the North Side, Kansas expat Raun Meyn is branching out with his own Wicker Park retail store this weekend. The cleverly coined FoundRe: is opening at 2151 West Division Street on Saturday, and will be open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11–7 and Sundays from 12–5. You may be familiar with Meyn’s earthy lines already, if you’ve shopped at Hazel, Two/Foursided outposts, RR#1, and Seagrass (he has and will continue to wholesale products to these and other like-minded shops). Everything is made from locally sourced salvaged building materials, and has a distinctive and primitive weathered texture. “I love old stuff,” Meyn told me. “Antiques, vintage furniture, rough surfaces, and all kinds of rusted junk.” Everything is one of a kind, obviously, and he can hook you up with larger custom pieces and installations as well. Here’s a detail of a wood-mosaic-topped credenza Meyn recently completed.
Cucina Contest
Do you have an ugly kitchen, but a cute personality? If so, Magnetic Productions, a Minneapolis television production company, is offering an attractive opp to gussy up that brokeback breakfast nook and ditch dented drawers and crooked cabinets for top-drawer countertops and above par appliances, AND get yourself on a new TV show focused on kitchen makeovers. All you have to do is submit some pictures, a tight little video, and wail about your walls and share your hopes and dreams here, by the end of this month.
Fixture Function
Roscoe Village’s Fixture, a charming little home and gift shop at 2108 West Roscoe Street, is breaking out the Skinny Girl Margaritas tomorrow night from 5–8 for a party featuring more than 40 new prints and original paintings by Fixture fixture Heather Gentile Collins. There will be discounts on art and other store merchandise, a raffle for a Collins giclée print, and an afterparty down the street in the courtyard of Volo restaurant and wine bar.
Barley’s Twist
Antique dealers Anna Stansbury and Bill Walker have opened a by-appointment-only showroom at 1200 West Lake Street, Barley Twist, and invite everyone to check out recent acquisitions at a reception tonight from 5–9. The antiquarians will also be hosting visitors Friday, 3–9 and Saturday, 12–6. The shop, formerly in Oak Park, specializes in English and French period furniture, but you’ll also find smaller accessories and the odd folk art piece or two. A barley twist, by the way, is that spiraling pattern that resembles a strand of DNA, and is commonly seen on candesticks and stair railings.
Flipping Out
Chicagoans have endured a hell of a winter and a schizophrenic spring season this year, but our precious summer months are nigh, and it’s time to start thinking about all those outdoor entertaining opportunities coming up, don’t you think? Better Homes and Gardens magazine and the Weber grill company are taking over a prime cut of Lincoln Park this weekend with the Chill and Grill Festival, where you can participate in cooking classes, get a taste of Chicago’s headline-grabbing bistros like Girl & the Goat and Belly Shack, and bump small-plates with A-listers Ted Allen (pictured), Daisy Martinez, Art Smith, and the Hearty Boys, et al. There will be live music and an activity area to park the kids, and they’re serving it up between Stockton and Clark Streets, just north of LaSalle. Admission is free, but there’s a price to pay for tastings and classes—pre-order tickets here to save 25 percent on punch cards ($12 vs. $15 on Saturday and Sunday at the event).
Arbor’s Day
South Barrington’s upscale mall, The Arboretum, already houses home-design shops such as Acquisitions, Arhaus, Finishing Touches, and Toms-Price; this Sunday options will appreciate as the mall showcases antiques for its annual indoor-outdoor, rain-or-shine antiques market. Thirty-some vetted vendors will be selling furniture, garden statuary, jewelry, plants and cut flowers, and Whole Foods will be cooking up summer salad supper ideas during 10:30 and 12:30 demonstrations. Remember when Charlie Brown’s little sister thought that Arbor Day was “when all the ships come into the ‘arbor”? Sorry, Sally, but no boats in Barrington—just a lot of finds from dealers like Tivoli Gardens, Abundance Antiques, Estate, and Junque du Jour. It’s free, and runs from 10–4.
Barn Boutique
I cheered about a big, peppy barn sale in Domestica last September, if you recall, and the storied history of the property, located in LaPorte, Indiana. Owner Sue Salach has organized a spring event that’s taking place this Friday and Saturday from 9–4, with home and garden goods, antiques, and all sorts of plants and foodstuffs at great prices. If you find yourself in Harbor Country or fancy a quick roadtrip, I recommend you clear out the trunk of your car and head over to the Keepsake Farm, 3855 West Johnson Road, to check things out.