Sylvia Cardenas relied on instinct and advice to decorate her Highland Park home. When George and Sylvia Cardenas first bought the Highland Park lot where their home stands today, the surrounding area was mostly farmland. “We used it to park the trucks for our business,” explains Sylvia Cardenas, of George Cardenas Landscape Design in Highland […]
Standing in the entry of Brian and Tami Quinn’s five-bedroom Spanish Revival home in Wilmette, it’s difficult to believe that the house had been marketed as a tear down less than two years ago. “Water had been seeping into the interior walls from leaking gutters, so plaster was crumbling, wallpaper was sagging and floors were […]
How many of us really love our master bath? We asked three design experts for their advice on how to make the master bath the tranquil, functional and fabulous space you deserve it to be. As with any scenario, there’s the dream and then reality. If you’re lucky enough to redo your master bath, here […]
Living off the grid is a challenge. It’s an extreme that isn’t for everybody, but we can learn from these experiments and apply that to better practices that just make sense everyday for the environment, your health and your quality of life! Better for the Environment 1. Recycle: It can be challenging and time consuming […]
How many cleaning products do you have stored under your kitchen sink right now? Replace them with these 5 products and your house will still sparkle, you’ll cut down on clutter and reduce your family’s exposure to toxic cleaning chemicals. Dr. Toni Bark, a medical consultant and LEED-accredited professional at the Center for Disease Prevention […]
Many North Shore residents are already familiar with Melly Schwartz of Northbrook. Her ability to reinvent old—sometimes even heirloom—furniture by hand painting or refinishing it, or adding other elements such as architectural embellishments, or paper or fabric lamination, is legendary. She recently outgrew her Northbrook studio and she and her husband-partner, Mitch, have moved to […]
Alessandra Branca’s lush, textured interiors have been featured in many publications, including House Beautiful, Elle Decor and House & Garden. Never content to rest on her laurels, in 2008, Alessandra opened her Gold Coast boutique, Branca, where she makes available the kind of one-of-a-kind pieces that have graced her projects, and in 2009, she published […]
George and Sylva Cardenas of Highland Park share their garden retreat with Make It Better. George and Syliva Cardenas have been landscaping North Shore homes since they founded George Cardenas Landscape Design in Highland Park in 1976. Although running the business keeps the couple busy, they carve out time to maintain their own garden retreat […]
Whether you believe what’s old is new again, subscribe to the green mantra repurpose and reuse, or just need to find a doorknob to match the others in your 1920s bungalow, we’ve got the best places to go. Al Bar Wilmette Platers, Wilmette In business since 1937, Al Bar has the go-to-guys for anything from […]
Jennifer Morehead of Evanston saw how tough it was when her brother-in-law and sister lost their home to a flood. So, she started Lockboxer, a website that helps people manage their stuff for free. The website makes it easy to create a home inventory—filling in details and price values for your things—for insurance purposes, buying, […]
