Sharon Stangenes

In this computer age, $2,950 for an old-fashioned, round crystal inkwell, blotter and pen holder atop a dark marble base may strike some as a bit steep. Still, Mark Bergadon,...

''My mom said to go get a mousetrap, and that got me to thinking,'' recalled Marcus Carter, a 7th grader from Chicago`s Crispus Attucks School, about why he is trying...

''Look at these hands,'' demands Khaim Pinkhasik, thrusting his thick-fingered paws forward. ''Thousands of scars in my hands, and I`m still going to continue because I love this.'' Knicks, cuts...

Looking for violet-colored tile? It was big news at the 1991 International Tile Exposition in Miami and still may be in the 1992 exhibition here in Chicago. New colors, patterns,...

An undulating daybed is Jasper Morrison`s attempt to create comfy, cuplike seating for two people in order to have a conversation, the designer says. His ''Alias'' occasional tables with X...

Good news for consumers. Some of best new products for 1992 are as useful as they are good-looking. In what Business Week magazine dubs a focus on how real people...

Collector alert! New York architect Richard Meier has teamed up with Steuben to produce three crystal and sterling silver objects for the table. The two vases and bowl, each set...

With the 125th anniversary of the birth of architect Frank Lloyd Wright looming on June 8, magazines, museums and publishers are trying to tap into the master`s continuing popularity with...

His ancestral home was burned by Union soldiers in the Civil War, but Southerner Edmund Saunders Ruffin journeyed to Wheaton last week and charmed a group of Northerners with tales...

Quilts decorate beds, walls and, now, why not floors? With a little imagination and nerve, homeowners who want to complete the Americana theme in their homes might try duplicating a...