Strange Closets

Some people with synesthesia see letters and numbers as having distinct colors. Others hear music when they eat. Susan Boyle sounds just like buttered popcorn! Maybe I’m a synesthete. When I’m surrounded by the perfect arrangement of  patinated ”notes” in one my favorite vintage shops, I “see” a kind of song and my heart races in the [...]

Architectural Anarchy’s massive showroom opens this Friday, November 12th, and I suspect many of you will want to add it to your bucket list (or at least your weekend one). I walked through the joint three times during my recent pre-opening visit, but I still left with the nagging feeling that I’d missed something special, most [...]

Living just a few blocks from Broadway Antique Market (BAM) can be dangerous. Here’s what caught my eye when I stopped by last Friday. Broadway Antique Market. 6130 N. Broadway Ave., Chicago, IL. 773.743.5444 ↔ ↔ I regret disclosing that the sofa I love so much has a twin, because I have a feeling it’s [...]

After finally putting my newly stripped and shined tanker desk back together and stumbling upon the perfect little sofa at Broadway Antique Market, my den is nearly complete. Successfully refinishing the desk even inspired a couple additional DIY projects, and I’m pretty happy with everything. When I finally dot my i’s and cross my t’s, [...]

Debra Phillips had successfully owned and operated Scentimental Gardens in Geneva for nearly 20 years when she recently opened SG Grand, so she was all too familiar with the amount of effort it takes to run a thriving business. Sure, it might have been easier  to rest on her laurels, but the prospect of getting [...]

Prologue: Refinishing my (much painted) vintage steel tanker desk is taking longer than I had expected when I started the wretched project a few weeks ago, but I’m in the home stretch, and I’m already planning the next step: transforming the extra bedroom (above) into a den. That’s right. A den. A man’s haven. A [...]

Many thanks to Amazing Space owner Diana Ostreko for sponsoring today’s post. In addition to offering a fantastic selection of mid-century modern and antique furnishings in her online shop, Diana runs equally amazing estate sales. The next big sale will be held September 18th and 19th in Oak Park. The estate belonged to a Danish-American woman who [...]