Strange Closets

A big thank you to Tim Lally, of Tim Lally Design Landscape Architecture, for introducing me to his clients Scott Lauth and Ramiro Vargas, who, with the help of decorator Greg Jagmin, transformed a badly converted Andersonville brick 2-flat into a warm, comfortable and stylish home where they live with their very cool daughter Natalia. [...]

We’re actually having a spring this year in Chicago. Not too cold, not too hot, the pleasant, often sunny days have made it possible to enjoy two of my favorite things: sleeping with the windows open and dining alfresco on my rear deck. Unfortunately, there’s not much to look at in my tiny back yard, [...]

Regular readers may remember Wilmette resident Susie Dinges from her Strange Closets Open House, which tells a cautionary tale of making friends with design professionals (Susie hired her friend and designer extraordinaire Laura Soskin to help her find a light fixture and would up redecorating her entire home).   I enjoyed catching up with Susie [...]

Pretty neat garden, huh?  Enjoy! Click here for James and Blue’s Open House.

Facebook status updates are a mixed bag to be sure, but I love Ani Ancient Stone owner Ani Antreasyan’s, which say things like, “working on a garden in the Hampton’s,” or “enjoying the vista from my client’s Manhattan balcony.”  I guess that’s what happens when people follow their dreams – more interesting Tweets.

Believe it or not, I didn’t have enough time to cover all Manhattan’s shops during my week-long trip.  Who knew there were so many?  For the most part I stuck with my itinerary, but I couldn’t resist Nest Interiors, which beckoned me siren-like with its beautiful front window.  Perhaps I just needed a taste of [...]

I’m midway through my eight day New York trip.  If you’ve been derelict in your reading, you may not know that I’m staying with Matt, a former Open House star and good friend since second grade.  Matt lives in a sweet condo on the tenth floor of a condo building in Gramercy Park (near the [...]