Home & Garden Blog Posts

Room & Board in color

As if I didn’t already love Room & Board enough, the contemporary furniture retailer is introducing bold pops of color to its usual repertoire of soft neutrals. The Frank Gehry designed abstract cube (perfect for outdoors) was just released in five brights: yellow, green, blue, red and magenta. The classic Wishbone chair is available in blue, orange and white and the Moda kids bedroom collection comes in eight new shades. Wonder how long until some pieces show up at the Weekend Outlet.

Dig the junk

Junk collectors have to know they are but one cable show away from becoming hoarders. Collector, author and celebrated re-purposer Sue Whitney can’t stop gathering junk, but she does know when it’s time to sell. This week, she returns to retail (her former store in Long Lake used to draw from miles around) at Art + Architecture. Here’s but a small taste of the redone goods for sale. Click here for more details on the event. Whitney is already planning a return to Art + Architecture most likely in October.

At home at Bachmans

After 125 years of blooming business, Bachman’s may have found a way to overshadow the flowers. The new home department at the Lyndale Avenue flagship store in South Minneapolis and the Plymouth and Eden Prairie stores (and soon to come at other locations) is top-notch. Really, much more than expected for a store that smells like fertilizer. Bachman’s partnered with flea market aficionado Ki Nassauer to create a whole new look that blends new and vintage furnishings and accessories with repurposed artifacts and home decor. The result: vignettes for every taste, from urban loft living to cottage and European country. Outfit your home with pillows, small furniture and all the finishing touches, and find some great gifts. The children’s area is a stand-out, with retro toys and vintage decor. Now if Bachman’s can just get shoppers to think of it for purchases beyond plants, this move could be a huge hit.
For more design inspiration, Bachman’s this week debuts an Ideas House on the grounds of the Lyndale store. The goal is to give visitors decorating and landscaping ideas. Admission is $5 (includes a $5 coupon off a $25 purchase). The Ideas House will be open April 8 to 18 (closed Mondays and Tuesdays) and again May 1 and 2. Then it gets transformed for a summer theme to open in June.

FinnStyle makeovers

Look what new fabric can do. FinnStyle saved these pieces from Dumpters – and made them modern with nothing more than Marimekko fabric. Check them out, and get design inspiration at the new FinnStyle store on Glenwood Avenue near downtown Minneapolis and International Market Square.

Designer deals coming to IMS

This sounds promising: Just got word about a new showroom that will allow the public to shop for designer furniture and accessories at deeply discounted prices at International Market Square. (Generally, you need a date with a decorator to get in.) The Sale Room @ IMS is scheduled to open March 4 with furniture, decorative accessories, textiles, rugs and lighting consigned from designer showrooms for at least 50 percent less than the suggested retail price. Check back – I'll let you know when it's ready to shop.

Bachman’s goes vintage

Bachman's is teaming up with junk queen Ki Nassauer to reinvent its gift and home business. The new department will mix vintage finds with repurpose artifacts and artisan-made decor. Goods will appeal to a variety of tastes from Euro and modern country to loft living, cottage and kids. Nassauer, whose Junk Market Occasional Sales have grown into an annual Junk Bonanza as well as several decorating books and an editor post at the new Flea Market Stylemagazine, has been scouring the country for vintage finds and unique artists – the kinds of items you wouldn't expect to find at a major garden store. The new gift and home department will be unveiled on March 20 at Bachman's flagship Lyndale Avenue store in Minneapolis as well as Plymouth and Eden Prairie locations. The plan is to expanded it to Bachman's in Apple Valley, Maplewood and Fridley by August.

Ligne Roset: So close, and yet so far

There are certain stores I can't really (ever) afford, but still like having in town. Ligne Roset is one of those. Time to time, I traipse through the sleek showroom across from International Market Square, and imagine life with museum worthy furnishings and a total lack of clutter. I enjoyed knowing Linge Roset was there for me, should the day ever arrive that I could fund a luxe lifestyle makeover. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one doing more fantasizing than buying. Ligne Roset plans to close once it sells through current floor stock (click here for sale details). Ligne Roset is headquartered in France with stores around the world owned by distributors. One bright spot: adjoining store Roam, also owned locally, will remain open. Think I'll go buy myself a little piece of the dream – a mod bowl, a neat place mat – just to keep it alive.

Another Gaviidae loss

FinnStyle is packing up its Marimekko fabrics, Iittala vases and the like and leaving Gaviidae Common at the end of the month. The local retailer, which does 90 percent of its business online, will relocate to the same building as Designer Marketplace, 160 Glenwood Ave. N., near International Market Square. The new location will house FinnStyle's office, warehouse and store. Meanwhile, the Gaviidae store is worth one last visit for the semi-annual Marimekko sale. Click here for details.

Designer Marketplace coming to Woodbury

Designer Marketplace, a popular high-end closeout furniture store in downtown Minneapolis, is setting its sights on under-furnished McMansions to the east. The retailer will open a 26,000 showroom (that's big) at Tamarack Village in Woodbury on Aug. 15. (They're starting with a four-month lease to make sure the market is "responsive" in this economy, but hope to make this a permanent fixture.) Like in Minneapolis, the Woodbury Designer Marketplace will be filled with brand name closeout, discontinued and custom returned furniture from showrooms at International Market Square and around the country.

If this is dorm decor, take me back to college

I finally have a grown-up sofa. It's a contemporary sectional purchased new from a serious furniture store where some assembly is not required. But the accompanying C-shaped table that now provides a stylish perch for a beverage is from Target's new dorm collection. $29.99! I saw one quite like it recently at Roam that was around $200.