After three years on Division Street, Robert Wayner’s Black Walnut Gallery has moved to the West Loop gallery district. If you love rustic, rough-edged wood tables and benches with a modern sensibility, and contemporary art with a political slant, this is the place to get both.
(Through the rest of July and all of August, check out Tolerance of Belief, a group art exhibit featuring 10 Arab and Jewish artists from around the world, “who are making a stand for peace and understanding in the Middle East by displaying their artwork side-by-side.”) Wayner, an artist and furniture maker, is a very friendly man who loves to share stories about the origins of the reclaimed wood he uses to make his furniture.
—GINA BAZER
want it all: classical, contemporary, minimalist—you name it; these pieces have elements of each. All are made from solid wood and finished in lacquer or veneer (they’re available at Stitch in oak veneer and red, black, or white lacquer). 
furniture and home design on this Winnetka-set series that starts out in the summer of 1976. The shag carpeting’s wall-to-wall, the kids play Gnip Gnop in a red, white, and blue bedroom, and there is more avocado than in Rick Bayless’s walk-in cooler. Upright yet open-minded Bruce and Susan move across the street from swingin’ Trini and Tom, who have awesome pool furniture. I got in touch with set designer Beauchamp Fontaine (you’re not going to find THAT on a keychain at Navy Pier!), who told me some of those chairs are Verner Panton S-chair repros, available locally at Orange Skin for $245, and the molded fiberglass lounge chairs ($595) came from Room Service L.A. Groovy!
decorated by Jennifer Sweas, a local interior designer. I loved the way Sweas did the unit shown here; it goes to show that modern does not have to be cold. The other model, the penthouse, is equally stunning. I ran into a couple of tenants in the elevator; they seemed very happy living there. Think you’d be, too? Don’t dally. Only ten units in this 41-story building are still available. 
Indie home shops have been hanging up their shingles in Andersonville at a frenzied rate these days, and there’s a brand-new kid in town that really shines. Owner Paul Lechlinski chose this strip of North Clark (5438 North) to open Room Service in part because of its proximity to Scout and White Attic, and there’s definitely a shared sensibility. Lechlinski, a California native, has a background in the luxury apparel industry and moved to Chicago four years ago to head up Oak Park–based Oilily USA. He’s put together a great mix of vintage furniture/accessories and new product lines here, including a collection of Lafco House & Home candles ($52) concocted by fragrance for each room in the house. Cilantro-orange-watercress for the kitchen, fresh-cut grass for the laundry, etc. The mid-century furniture is culled from all over the country, and impeccably reupholstered and refurbished. I was feeling this lacquered blue metal chest ($595) and tubular steel chairs ($250 each). Maybe I can find a denim-blueberry candle to go with them. 
