A new houseplant trend takes root: The pencil cactus
With its broad, waxy leaves and sculptural shape, Ficus lyrata — commonly known as a fiddle-leaf fig — has become the go-to houseplant for the design-obsessed, popping up on many...
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An offbeat Valentine’s gift: A bouquet of gypsum roses
Planning to give your valentine a bouquet of red roses? That's sweet of you, but may we suggest a more surprising option (particularly if your special someone favors unique home...
Reviews: ‘Mind Change,’ ‘The Internet Is Not the Answer’
Do we control the Internet or does the Internet control us? To what extent are social media sites — as British author, broadcaster and neuroscientist Susan Greenfield suggests in her...
Remote control candles are a bright idea — really
Luminara's flameless, remote-controlled candles are either a brilliant invention — effortlessly switched on (so no rifling around for a lighter or matches); long-lasting; impervious to sudden gusts of wind or...
Me, My Shelf and I: JC Steinbrunner
JC Steinbrunner doesn't shy away from 3,000-page tomes. In fact, several of the books in his Civil War–centric collection could serve double duty as doorstops. The painter and founder of...
Me, My Shelf and I: Alice Berry
A slice of sunlight pierces the wall of Alice Berry's high-ceilinged studio in Bucktown. It's warm in here, among vibrant spools of thread, scarves fashioned from chiffon and silk charmeuse,...
Me, My Shelf and I: Joe Bryl
Many people know Joe Bryl as one of Chicago's most prolific deejays. But the Back of the Yards resident — a former bookstore manager — is also an autodidact and...
West Elm and Kate Spade Saturday launch colorful collaboration
West Elm has a rich history of collaboration — with indie artists and designers (Another Feather, Mimi Kirchner and Christopher Wynter, to name a few), as well as independently minded...
2015 book preview: The future in reading
In American pop culture, the year 2015 is kind of a big deal. It's the one Marty McFly visits in "Back to the Future II," replete with flying cars, hoverboards,...
Tips for buying bed linens during January white sales
January is the ideal time of year to buy new bedding. Ever since John Wanamaker — founder of Philadelphia's famous Wanamaker's department store — introduced the first-ever "white sale" in...