'll buy you a few and some for me
Monogrammed plates or place mats make a nice gift if you're having a backyard shower or birthday party. Unless you want them for yourself, of course.
The 10-inch melamine plates from Peekaboo Pumpkin come with monograms or names. They're $18 each with a minimum order of four.
Designs are varied and range from hydrangeas to solids in colors such as pomegranate or sea foam. Other choices include varied stripes, damask and seashells.
Laminate place mats are $12 each with the same minimum order. Visit www.peekaboopumpkin.com.
Maybe your plan will be historic
You've heard of folks who go to fantasy camp to play baseball or drive a race car.
Here's the ultimate fantasy camp for design aficionados.
You can design your new home or structure in Frank Lloyd Wright's drafting room.
If you've ever been there you know it's a very special place. The room is octagonal, and Wright designed a chain harness system rather than traditional beams to support its balcony, roof, and walls.
Not only does the camp have four sessions in Wright's Oak Park studio, but accomplished architects will help you with that dream house.
The first session this summer sold out, but there are still spaces available Aug. 3 -6. It's in the evening, and if you miss out it will probably be offered again. Be sure to call us so we can do a story when you build that house.
The price is $700, a little less if you're a member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust.
Visit www.gowright.org or call (708) 848-1976.
Only amateurs are invited.
Handle common design problems
You finally get to buy a flat-screen television and now you need a way to hide it.
The June issue of a magazine called Home offers four different solutions.
Actually our favorite is the least expensive.
A mirror from www.kincaidfurniture.com is the least expensive option. For about $600, you can get a wood-framed mirror that mounts over your television. When you turn the television off, there's your reflection.
IKEA's style is sleek, but the Stiby cabinet is a more traditional way of storing a television. It comes in ash or black and hides the screen behind sliding tempered glass. The price is $1,601.
A canvas with your creation or a reproduction of fine art goes up or down with the help of a remote control. The price is $3,500 to $18,000, and the television can be recessed or surface mounted. Visit www.visionartgalleries.com.
And here's the top-of-the-line: Sligh makes a cherry-finished shelf unit where your television can rise for viewing or lower into the cabinet. It's all done remotely for $10,000. Check out www.sligh.com
We love this idea from an office the magazine's editors organized with style.
They found ready-to-assemble plywood cubbies, then decoupaged different designs of wrapping paper on the fronts of each. It's all about the Mod Podge.