Designing deftly on a dime, with up-and-coming lifestyle guru

I was a little out of my element June 17 when attending the "WOW - Without the Work" party at the Dunham Woods Riding Club in Wayne.

When the Great Designer in the Sky was passing out the genes for decorating a home, the platter passed me by.

And that's why it was so fun to hear designer Eddie Ross speak.

In his Kelly green sports coat and a bow tie, the effervescent Ross rattled off idea after idea for making the most of what you already own, sprucing up thrift-store finds, and turning takeout pizza in to an elegant appetizer.

He should know: Ross is a former senior style editor for Martha Stewart Living magazine, food stylist for House Beautiful magazine, a finalist on HGTV's "Top Design" television contest, former caterer, and owner of a company that provides design services and sells antiques. And he is developing his own television show.

How did he end up showing 120-plus women how to entertain spectacularly at home, for less money?

Credit his friend Debra Phillips, owner of the Scentimental Gardens store in Geneva.

"The two of these men mean the world to me," said Phillips, who organized the presentation. Ross and his partner Jaithan Kochar stayed with her for almost a week, and attended the grand opening of her newest store, SG Grand in Chicago.

She met Ross through the blog on his website, eddieross.com. She noticed several years ago that Ross and Kochar were leading a tour of the Kane County Flea Market, and wrote asking if she could throw a party for them. It has blossomed into a friendship, including her staying at their house in New York.

"I feel lucky," said Phillips, whose shops sell items for home and garden decor, and who offers landscape design services.

"Eddie is going to be a one-word name," Phillip predicted.

Some of his fun tips:

• "Who is going to make puff pastry?" Keep a box of the pre-made stuff in your freezer, ready to make little appetizers at the drop of a hat. At the "WOW" party, it made for little macaroni-and-cheese-filled tarts.

• Just because you weren't born with a silver spoon in your mouth doesn't mean you can't pretend so. "I don't come from the chichi family with the heirloom silver," Ross said; instead, he buys pieces at flea markets and garage sales, and has them monogrammed with his initial. If anybody asks, tell them it came from an aunt or uncle, he said with a laugh.

• You never know where you might find great stuff. Ross raved about inexpensive wood slices he found in the woodcrafts aisle at Michael's, on which you could pass hors d'oeuvres, and a wicker tray he bought at a Goodwill store on his visit here. And he was introduced to Cost Plus World Market: "Luckily we're driving back (to New York). We're going to be like 'Sanford and Son,'" he joked, describing the truck. (Part of that is things they received from Kochar's parents, who are moving out of their Wisconsin home.)

• The secret to his sangria? Fresca. And the dip in the hollowed-out cabbages on the "edible landscape" buffet? Sour cream-and-Lipton-onion-soup-mix. "I'm sorry. It's so good. I could chop herbs 'til the cows come home and it wouldn't taste as good," he said.