Rohl with It

Who doesn’t love the ever-changing gallery of kitchen and bath design that is the Merchandise Mart’s LuxeHome? In one place you can check out the latest from Ann Sacks, Sub-Zero Wolf, Kohler, Waterworks, and a ton of other manufacturers. Well, now there’s even more reason to pop in: This month, Rohl, a maker of high-end faucets, sinks, and fixtures, is coming into the Design Resource Center (Suite 163). You’ll see Rohl’s gorgeous products and also have the opportunity to take part in special events like lunch-and-learns. A word of warning, though: You may experience extreme dissatisfaction with your own faucets and fixtures when you return home.

Ren Fair

It’s been ten years since the first Renegade Craft Fair, and this year’s event, which runs September 8th and 9th along Division Street, promises to be the best one yet. Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the size of the fair, I turned to a few of my favorite vendors from previous years and asked which other artists they’re pumped to see.

• “I’m super excited to check out Alapash: Meaningful Terrariums—they are the most beautiful terrariums I’ve ever seen. I also love Ariyama Studios and Kit Paulson Glass.” – Gerri Alger of Nicolet Candle Company

• “I hope I have time to visit Evolving Habitat (I’d love to have one or two of those birch lamps in my bedroom), Ktaadn (supercool patterns on linen tea towels), and White Nest (I want their geometric gold pillow!).” – Andrea Daugherty of Tartella

• “I look forward to checking out Uncommon Handmade, White Nest, Kit Paulson Glass, and Nicolet Candle Company.” – Heidi Feinerman of Turtlehill Studio

Dried and Gone to Heaven

There’s little doubt that fresh flowers rule, but dried ones deserve their time in the spotlight as well. Starting a week from tomorrow, they get an entire event devoted to them: the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Roadside Flower Sale. More than 300 arrangements, wreaths, bouquets, wall hangings, and cards made from dried flowers, pods, and grasses collected by volunteers over the past year will be for sale September 7–9. Still unsure about the whole dried-flower thing? Keep in mind that, unlike fresh blooms, these last a long time and don’t require water or plant food. An arrangement I can’t kill in a day? I’m in.

Get Down with Upholstery

Tomorrow kicks off a month of discounted upholstered furniture at Jayson Home. Their Fall Upholstery Sale, which runs through September 30, means you can take 20 percent off all of their upholstered furniture. And they do mean all of it: sofas, chairs, ottomans, beds, and more. The discount works on what they have in stock and also on custom orders you place this month. And it also counts on their brand new fall pieces (which, if you haven’t checked them out yet, are amazing). For example, the beautiful Kempton sofa, shown here, is now $3,195. Also, if you go this weekend, you can check out what’s left at their garden sale. It ends September 2 and they’ve marked down all of their plants, trees, shrubs, flowers, and containers.

All Hail the Sale!

Showrooms that are trade-only are so frustrating—I just want to get in there and see what they have! So it’s great that next weekend, a bunch of them are opening their doors to the public for the Merchandise Mart Design Center’s Furniture Sample Sale. Stop by the free event on September 7, 8, and 9 and you’ll find furniture, lighting, rugs, fabrics, and accessories at up to 75 percent off. And this isn’t just one or two designers—more than 50 showrooms are participating, including Century, Bradley Hughes, and Holly Hunt. Expect to see everything from a Portfolio Kenneth Ludwig silver lamp for $320 to a Hotel Maison side table for $680 and a Lilly Pulitzer home chair, shown here, for $1,450.