It’s that time of year when a lot of us get a case of that proverbial shopping bug, an affliction that often follows a bout of cabin fever.
These so-called ailments come in waves, depending on the season and one’s budget. But whether dealing with mild or severe cases of either affliction, sufferers have plenty of enticing home furnishings to check out.
There’s bedding, towels and tablecloths at the new Guess Home Store in Schaumburg; some of Mig and Tig Furniture store’s best are now available through a new mail-order catalog; and bright and colorful new patterns of wallpaper are available from Marimekko.
Guess Home Store
When it comes to bright color in linens, the recently opened Guess Home Store at Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg has it sewn up almost as snugly as a pair of its jeans.
Walk through the door of this store, designed by Michel Benasra, and it feels like show time.
The bright lights of the 3-month-old store and the bold colors in solids and patterns of the bed, bath and tabletop textiles have a “see me” and “touch me” effect on shoppers.
“I want people to feel welcome and not threatened when they come into the store,” says Benasra, president and CEO of Guess Home Collection stores. “There’s no gold, no marble. It’s simple, sophisticated and not overdone.”
This reflects the way people want to live at home–“simple, casual and without pretense,” he says.
Shoppers can touch and feel the fabrics without sneaking to open the package. Sheets, towels, tablecloths and other home textiles are packaged in fabric pouches that look and feel just like the product inside.
Benasra sees no need to keep people guessing.
“Softness of the fabric is important to me. It’s hard to tell how something is going to feel when you can’t touch it,” he says. “I didn’t want people to feel a plastic package shell. I want them to feel fabric.”
Even the plump comforters are packaged in their own fabric bags, which can be used as laundry bags.
Fabric in the Guess Home line is prewashed and may need ironing after washing, depending on a shopper’s aversion to wrinkles. But prewashing means softness and a gentle touch that generally isn’t achieved until sheets have gone through many washings.
There are 25 prints and patterns to choose from in textile designs for bed, bath and tabletops.
“Look closely,” Benasra urges. “There are lots of patterns that can be mixed together, or matched with what you already have. You are sure to be able to find something to match. You don’t have to redo everything.
“It’s not right to make people feel that what they bought last year is now out of style. It should be something that goes from one year to the next, without being boring,” Benasra says.
Prices for bedding range from $29.50 to $50 each for a twin fitted or flat sheet; $39.50 to $72 each for full; $49.50 to $74 each for queen; and $59.50 to $75.80 each for king. For the bath, prices are $4 for a washcloth, $10 for a hand towel, $16 for a bath towel and $25 for a bath sheet.
The home collection stores, which first were introduced two years ago, also sell wrought-iron beds, tables and chests of drawers.
Guess Home Store is at Woodfield Shopping Center, Golf and Higgins Roads near Illinois Highway 53 in Schaumburg. Call: 847-619-7826. Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Mig and Tig by mail
You’ll enjoy paging through this short but sweet look at what Mig and Tig Furniture, the River North store, has to offer in its first catalog.
Store owners Vicki Semke and Kirk Schlupp came up with the catalog idea because of good response they had to ads they ran in magazines.
“Lots of people from Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin come in because they see something in the ad they want but don’t really have the time to shop,” says Semke. “Coming out with the catalog seemed like a natural way to go.”
The catalog, which is a few months old, is presented like a storybook and gives a feel for what the store is like in its eclectic design offerings.
On the catalog’s cover, the store’s favorite canine, Yuppie, a black and brown mixed pup, is sitting on a mix-and-match slipcovered sofa (95 to 104 inches) that sells for $1,850. The love seat size (72 to 78 inches) sells for $1,650, and the “condo-size” sofa (85 inches), which is between the love seat and regular sofa in length, sells for $1,750.
A daybed that could easily become your favorite retreat is in a “Grapes of Wrath” pattern of cream background and purple and green grapes. The daybed sells for $1,350 to $1,450, depending on size.
A 10-drawer pine dresser with a wax finish has enough room for a junk drawer and a sock drawer, and sells for $1,500.
To receive a catalog, call 800-222-1532. The store is at 549 N. Wells St.; 312-644-8277. Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Marimekko
Its designs zig, colors bloom and patterns swirl.
This is Marimekko.
The Finnish firm is adding a new line to its International wall-covering collection called Borders.
There are 14 new designs in this new collection, and all have the company’s signature clean, crisp and colorful look.
The designs include “Happy Apples,” muted fuschia-shaded apples with green leaves on a white background; “Kristina Flora,” a bouquet of blue and white flowers; “Comb Stripe,” thin squiggly blue lines on white background; and another version of “Happy Apples,” which is more like lemons because the color of the fruit is yellow.
Wall-covering prices range from $19 to $23 per roll (about 30 square feet); and border rolls range in price from $19.99 to $24.99 (about 5 yards).
The Thybony Wallcovering and Paint store in Glenview carries this line.
“It’s a look that appeals to the customers here. It’s contemporary but still has a traditional feel to it,” says Thybony saleswoman Elizabeth Warden. “People love the versatility it offers.”
The Thybony store in Glenview is at 1031 Waukegan Rd.; 847-998-7420. Hours: 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday and Thursday; 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
