Carolyn Tiltz and her husband Adam of St. Charles have been thinking about redoing their kitchen and bathrooms and decided that the annual Chicago Home Show at the Kane County Fairgrounds over the weekend might be the perfect place to do some one-stop shopping.
“We have some home projects coming up in the coming year – the kitchen and maybe some bathrooms – so we’re here to get some ideas,” Carolyn Tiltz said as she and her husband checked out some vendors on Saturday. “This is our first time at the show. There seem to be a lot of vendors here and it’s good to meet some of the people in person. You see a lot of people recommended online, but it’s nice to put a face with the companies.”
The two-day event at the fairgrounds in St. Charles featured more than 130 business representatives, organizers said, offering services that included kitchen and bath remodeling, windows, doors and siding, solar power, roofing, landscaping and more.
Matt Ward, show manager, said the event is now in its fourth year at the fairgrounds after being held at Pheasant Run in St. Charles “beginning about 15 years ago.”
Ward said popular categories at the show include “kitchen and bath remodeling which is always huge” along with replacement windows, patio doors and flooring.
“Some of the hot new trends over the past few years include some different landscaping techniques and designs, as well as power generators and some back-up stuff,” he said. “There is also some new solar technology as well.”
Ward said visitors enjoy the variety of vendors at the show “as well as homeowners being able to actually talk to the contractors.”
“Many of the companies have the professionals right there in the booths that can answer questions and help people move forward with what the next steps would be versus just capturing information so they can really talk to the professional and interview them to see who would be the best to perform the work,” he said.
One of this year’s vendors was Well Expert, located in East Dundee. Salesman Patrick Guido said the company has been at the show “a few times before” and does window wells, covers and basement window replacements.
“We’ve been in business 31 years. We bring new things here regularly,” he said.
He said having the show in January makes sense.
“In terms of this being held in winter, there’s no disconnect in terms of the construction season,” he said. “You need time to order materials and get things lined up so you’re ready to go in the spring.”
Adam Tiltz said on Saturday that he could check off a few to-do boxes “if we made a few connections and maybe found a general contractor.”
Mark Schmidt of Batavia had other plans while visiting the show, saying that he “had already done windows and showers and stuff. I’m not looking to upgrade, just looking to see what’s here.”
“Maybe some new products in general,” he said. “I come to this show every year and I usually come to see what’s new and see the people we’ve done business with and say hello. Every time I come here I leave with something.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
