Want to give your house or patio that summer-camp feeling? It’s possible with rustic furniture.
“I’ve heard every camp name I could imagine,” says Karen Holt, a designer of rustic furniture in Chicago who sells her wares through the Kane County Flea Market. “When customers see tables (decorated) with pine cones, they say it reminds them of going to camp, and it makes them smile.”
Holt had a similar reaction when she stumbled upon twig furniture at a Wyoming ski lodge three years ago.
It evoked such good feeling that Holt, then a kitchen and bath designer, decided to try her hand at creating chairs, tables, frames and plant stands from willow branches.
“It grows like a weed and can take over a whole field,” Holt says of the material, which she collects around Illinois and Indiana.
“Farmers are nice enough to let me come and cut it before they burn it. I find pieces of raw willow, and the shapes dictate how I’ll apply it to different styles of furniture.”
Mirrors start at $50; furniture costs $150 to $2,500. Her studio is at 3729 N. Ravenswood Ave. Call 312-549-7154.
