Ad Categories: Home and Garden

My husband and I have been shopping for a new house for months and if we ever find a home that we both agree upon and that we can actually afford, it will be a miracle. Here’s one issue. While we both want a vintage place, we are divided on our preferences for original wood trim (husband likes; I don’t). All the real estate ads make a big deal about “original woodwork,” and I when I arrive at these places I feel the weight of history pressing on me the second I walk through the door. If I buy this place, am I morally obligated to carry on this torch of originality? In wanting to paint the woodwork white, am I as evil as all those developers who destroy old buildings to put up hideous new construction?

I turned to two interior designers, Laura Soskin and Jessica Lagrange, to get their two cents. Both were adamant: Paint it white! “Just because that’s how they used to do it doesn’t mean that’s how it should stay,” said Soskin. “White is modern—your house doesn’t have to look like grandma’s!” Lagrange added, “Many times, the wood itself is nothing special—just stained pine.” That made me feel better. Now I just have to find the house.

—GINA BAZER

Living room photo from Jameson Realty.
Soskin’s home photographed by Nathan Kirkman.

A graphic designer here wonders if there’s anyone in the area who manufactures and installs solid pieces of glass for backsplashes. His research has turned up only companies outside of Illinois. Anyone? —JAN PARR

Furniture designer/artist Randall Kramer sent us this photo of a new stair railing he made from an Asian antique window screen from

Amy Doehla of Willow just sent us a sneak peek of what’s coming to her store for spring. Willow is a great place for affordable home accessories that double as conversation starters. Doehla was one of the first in Chicago to embrace the whole stag-head-as-décor thing. I’ve always loved the idea of this look but I don’t think I could actually live with it–I imagine being perpetually startled by the presence of a large deceased animal in my home. The House and Home section in the New York Times recently declared the trend dead (does it get deader than being declared dead when you are already dead?), but despite the backlash, Doehla is not abandoning her old antlered friends, offering a cardboard version from Cardboard Safari. She’s also carrying the coolest trash receptacle ever: a simple clothespin contraption that celebrates rather than conceals the old Hefty! And, the best is the Frozen Smiles ice tray-it’s shaped like dentures, so when water freezes in it, the ice is in the shape of dentures. Throw that into fancy-pants’s drink! Girl has a sense of humor about design. That’s why we love Willow!

—GINA BAZER

I am obsessed with the local screen-printing company Binth, which mainly produces paper products (greeting cards, art prints, notecards) but has recently expanded into pillows. Many of the company’s designs have a sort of Edward Gorey quality to them (but, more upbeat, like if Gorey went to therapy), but they are also surprisingly kid-oriented, featuring birds and bears. The pillows are made in the USA out of organic linen and are great for adults and kiddies alike. Watch for new designs, with mice and bunnies, based on Binth’s “cameo card” collection, out this month. Available at Sprout Home and Grow.

—GINA BAZER

Photos from binth.com

Pauline Grace is displaying a new collection from Moserform, by furniture designer Thomas Moser. We’re not big Art-Nouveau fans, but these pieces caught our eye with their elegant restraint. They’re available through designers and architects.

—JAN PARR

Photography copyright MOSERform, from moserform.com