Shop it
Pagoda Red is naming this year’s warehouse event The Big Ox Sale in honor of 2009’s Chinese New Year mascot. Sunday [Jan. 25] is the last day of the two-day sale, which covers a backlog of antique Chinese furniture and artifacts collected over 13 years by owner Betsy Nathan. Markdowns range from 20 percent to 80 percent and include such items as elmwood feng deng square stools (regularly $880; sale price $268), and circa 1850 gilded lanterns (regularly $1,680; now $280). 1201 W. Washington St., 773-235-1188, pagodared.com.
— Shaila Wunderlich
Shop it
After about 2 1/2 years of business, Crystal Lake furniture restorers kd3 decorative arts has officially accumulated enough inventory to hold its first warehouse sale. Sale prices will fall somewhere between 40 percent to 60 percent off their regular prices. The catch: Sale items are those that have not been restored. Expect to find antique furnishings and art that require regluing, reupholstering and other types of TLC. Take items home to fix yourself, or pay kd3’s resident refurbishers to do the work for you. The weekend-long sale ends Sunday (Jan. 25). 6704 Pingree Rd., Crystal Lake, 815-477-2920, kd3decorativearts.com.
— S.W.
Shop it
Here’s a sign of the times: 1stdibs.com (a prestigious online site for high-end antiques and a favorite one of designers) has launched an online version of a Saturday barn/yard sale. Every Saturday, dealers from across the country — and world, for that matter (who are the sellers on this site) — post items priced to move in a special Saturday Sale section.
The sale starts at 7 a.m. on Saturdays — and never really ends. Items that are sold will get taken off the site; unsold pieces remain throughout the week. And new items get added to those yet-unsold items the following Saturday.
More than 700 items were posted for the first sale in mid-January. Many pieces were discounted more than 50 percent.
Those who register on 1stdibs.com get an e-mail alert of the sale’s happening on that Saturday — but nobody (registered or not) gets a preview of new items.
— Karen Klages
Attend it
Get whipped into shape with a free organizing workshop held Saturday at IKEA Bolingbrook. The Chicago chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers will lead a series of four sessions in the store restaurant. After each session, NAPO members will station themselves throughout the store’s various departments to answer questions.
Hours: 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. 750 E. Boughton Rd., Bolingbrook, 630-972-7900, ikea-usa.com.
— S.W.
See it
A high-quality, carefully planned home-improvement project is likely to pay off in the long run, according to Lou Manfredini, who hosts the “Mr. Fix-It” call-in show on WGN-AM radio and owns a carpentry and construction company. But don’t expect to cash in immediately, he says; the days of the quick fix-up-and-flip are gone. Manfredini will appear at 1 p.m. Feb. 8 at the semiannual Old House New House Home Show, where Chicago-area remodelers and sellers of home-improvement products exhibit their wares and services.
Cost: $7; $4 seniors; children under 18 free; printable coupons for $1 off are at kennedyproductions.com. Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 6, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 7 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 8. Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St. (Illinois Highway 64), St. Charles, 630-515-1160, kennedyproductions.com.
— Beth Botts
Attend it
Make your own heart of glass at Peter Patterson Glassworks’ annual Valentine’s Day Open House and Sale, Friday through Feb. 1, and again Feb. 6 to 8. Patterson’s glass-blowing brigade will assist you in firing the small keepsake in the studio furnace; you choose the color and pattern of your heart’s desire. While there, you also can shop from the studio’s professionally made glass pieces.
Cost: $20. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 888 Tower Rd., Suite E, Mundelein, 847-949-0013, pattersonglass.com.
— S.W.
Visit it
The Garfield Park Conservatory, one of the nation’s largest indoor gardens, is a magical place after dark, when the huge tropical plants, delicate orchids, splashing waterfalls and spectacular shadows create a whole new world. It’s open until 8 p.m. Wednesdays — a recent switch from Thursdays. Children’s activities are available from 3 to 6 p.m. on the last Wednesday of each month.
Free. 300 N. Central Park Ave., 312-746-5100, garfield-conservatory.org.
— B.B.
Try it
Perhaps you’re peeved when you come home from a long day away or a late night out only to find your pristine couch or your favorite puffy chair covered in cat hair. Or gerbil fur, should you let the critters have the run of the manse. Well, here comes PetzOFF to the rescue. On one side the blankie looks innocently like a cozy throw you might leave draped on the furniture. But should you flip it, there’s a heavy-duty reflective backing that looks and sounds like aluminum foil. Never met a cat or dog that’s drawn to such a surface, so when you get home and lift the PetzOFF you’ll find your upholstery ready for you to snuggle in for a long winter’s nap — without cat or dog or gerbil fur to follow you to bed. The pet-shooshing blanket is 56 by 72 inches, and comes in five colors — blue, khaki or brown each sell for $59.99; embossed camel suede or earth-tone stripe sell for $79.99.
petzoff.com
— Barbara Mahany
Know it
Local homeless and HIV-AIDS non-profit organization Chicago House is receiving a $50,000 grant, plus employee volunteer hours, courtesy of home-furnishings retailer Room & Board. Though the retailer is based in Minneapolis, it maintains strong ties with Chicago. This city was the third market to open a Room & Board store 25 years ago and today counts as the region with most (three) Room & Board locations. According to Rev. Stan Sloan, CEO of Chicago House, the money and labor will go to support the group’s current and developing programs.
— S.W.
