The Importance of Being Ernst
It’s time for another of Katie Ernst’s festive open-house sales this weekend at Revision Home, her vintage and antique furniture and accessories store at 2132 West Fulton Market. The shop and her design services are typically by-appointment only, but every few months she has a warehouse shopping event to showcase new acquisitions and the work of local artists. For this go-around she’s partnered up with a couple of symbiotic associates, artist/designer Kelly Rauch and Twice, her upholstered furniture biz, along with BackGarage, the thrifting women behind those fun Vintage Bazaar pop-up flea markets. I admire the aesthetics of each of these individuals, so I’m sure there will be some cool stuff. And don’t be a vintage snob, as the pieces here have all been restored, rewired, restuffed, and revitalized. “The showroom’s never looked better,” Katie said. Hours are 11–4 Friday and Saturday, and there is a pre-party preview tonight from 5:30–7:30. Shop online if a store visit isn’t in the cards—there is always a selection of inventory up, and Revision will gladly ship anything anywhere.
The Country Club
The 28th Annual Autumn Country Folk Art Festival could be the name of a plucky new Off-Broadway musical or an Oprah book-club selection, but it’s actually a well-attended showcase for American artists and artisans, held at the Kane County Fairgrounds in St. Charles, Illinois, this weekend, Friday through Sunday. Dozens of kissing-cousin exhibitors with names such as Harvest Moon Designs, Mom’s Enterprises, Animal Crackers, Sweet Pea’s Primitives and Such, and Reddy Teddy Go! (if you’re a little bit country this will be right up your alley, if you’re a little bit rock ‘n’ roll, well, maybe not so much) will be settling in to the Prairie Arts Center (indoor) convention center and showing off their dolls and teddy bears, hand-painted furniture, Shaker-style baskets, woodcarvings, and whirligigs, and there will be some antique dealers and homemade vittles. Admission ranges from $8 to $5, depending on the day, and parking is free. This piece is by Naperville artist Mary Heneghan, who crafts reproductions of historic tavern signs with period-appropriate blacksmithed hardware and nails.
Arbor Day
The Arboretum of South Barrington, the open-air shopping center that’s home to L.L. Bean, Arhaus, Toms-Price, and other furniture and design stores as well as a host of familiar suburban mall clothing and restaurant denizens and a plush movie theatre/lounge, is putting on a one-day antiques market this Sunday, September 19, from 10–4, rain or shine. It’ll be featuring estate jewelry and furniture, garden statuary, and lots of antiques, as well as fresh-cut flowers, plants, and a produce market, so you can pick up some heirloom tomatoes while shopping for straight-up heirlooms. The event is free.
One Mag Tile
Want to add some understated élan to a wall, floor, or fireplace with a smattering of super-high-end Lowitz solid bronze or earthy bas-relief ceramic accent tiles but balk at the sticker prices at Ann Sacks, Urban Archaelogy, or Artistic Tile? Stop by the company’s Ravenswood studios next Wednesday, September 22 for a blowout sale of seconds and overstock. The studio, located at 4401 N. Ravenswood Avenue, will be open from 3–7 p.m., offering 80 to 93 percent off showroom prices on the company’s Talisman, Foundry Art, and Bronzework Studio lines, meaning that you can accentuate the positive for between $2 and $12 per tile. Lowitz makes fantastic, heavy cast metal tiles such as these using pretty close to 100-percent recycled materials, and they’ve been featured in Architectural Digest, Forbes, and Metropolitan Home. If you have a project in mind, bring photos and measurements and have a sit-down with a tile design consultant (call 773-784-2628 to reserve an appointment). At this price, why not slap a few felt stickums on the back and use them for classy coasters or trivets? Cash and checks only, playas.
LaPorte of Call
While trolling the back roads of Indiana this past June on a lazy summer weekend visit to my friend Dave’s place, we happened on a big bustling barn sale, with cars, kids, and signage. There may have even been a lemonade stand…I forget. But I know we got great deals at great prices, and the owner of the farm, Sue Salach, tipped me off to another sale she’s put together for this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 18 and 19, from 9–4. For this Fall Harvest Event and Botanic Boutique, there will again be antiques, home goods, candles (the chocolate brownie candle will make your stomach growl, I guarantee), furniture, bric-a-brac, and loads of gourds, pumpkins, cornstalks, and garden plants. The Keepsake Farm is located at 3855 W. Johnson Road in LaPorte, and used to be the stomping grounds of Charley Finley, the flamboyant owner of the Oakland A’s who took them to win five consecutive American League West championships and three consecutive World Series beginning in 1972. (You got me: I had no idea who he is, but I googled old Charley and he seems like a real character. He owned the team for 20 years before selling it to the Levi-Strauss Company in 1981 and retiring to LaPorte, and during his reign he pulled antics like sending pitchers to the mound on mules, and paying players $300 to grow handlebar mustaches.) It’s a fascinating place with a lot of history, and it’s less than an hour from Chicago. Empty your trunk first because I’m pretty sure you won’t be returning empty-handed. Call 219-325-9009 for more info or directions.