Books? Designers' Show House Has Them Covered

See how interior designers get clever with books galore in various rooms at the Junior League of Detroit Grosse Pointe Shores' home tour, which opens Saturday.

Books seem to be everywhere. Not only are they in homes and on bookshelves, but paperbacks and hardcovers aplenty are also adorning window displays at apparel shops and boutiques and in fashion designer and home-furnishings ad campaigns. There's even book-page wallpaper.  Books are wearable, too. Kate Spade, in fact, introduced clutches that replicate classic tomes, from Romeo and Juliet to Emma to The Importance of Being Earnest. Is this our way of holding on to physical books in our Nook-ish, Kindle-ized world of “E?”   Perhaps, and that may be why many of the designers at the Junior League of Detroit's (JLD) 2012 Show House used books in a variety of displays. They cherish books not only for design inspiration but also as intriguing …

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Home and Garden

Spring Home & Garden Show Blooms with Humor

Several seminars, whimsical art and more will cultivate smiles galore.

Gardeners who dig comedy and have a sense of humor will enjoy this year’s Spring Home & Garden Show March 30-April 1. Filling the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, the home-and-garden event blooms with all kinds of comic shows, fun-loving presentations and more. Take, for example, The Backyard Theater, where eventgoers will hear informative and interesting seminars on curb appeal and sustainable landscape practices, presented by Plymouth-based Michigan Landscape Design Services. Its "Bloomsday Preppers" show, hosted by Bryan Mitnick, will provide an entertaining and animated twist to learning about economic gardening. “Bryan dresses up as character ‘Austin Flowers,’” explained Shelly Latshaw, a publicist for the event. “The name of …

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Home and Garden

Local Designers Star in HGTV Show this Weekend

Corey Damen Jenkins and Michelle Mio battle it out for a winning spot on ‘Showhouse Showdown.’

HGTV's Showhouse Showdown, a new show that pits designer against designer in a showhouse competition, will feature two local interior designers, including Corey Damen Jenkins of Design with Vision: DWV Interiors in Bloomfield Hills, and Michelle Mio of Rariden Schumacher Mio in Birmingham. The showhouses are based in Midland, where the episode was filmed. Watch the two designers battle it out for the winning spot March 24 at 2:30 p.m. An encore broadcast will run March 30 at 1:30 p.m. The designers take over two newly built and identical homes with the same budgets to create a winning interior design. One designer is voted the winner by members of the public who represent the developer’s target market. The goal is to impress potential …

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Home & Garden

Plants Need Pruning, but When and How is Important

Bad trims equal plant ruin, gardeners say.

When it comes to pruning, garden designer Deborah Friedman of Bloomfield Hills-based Deborah Friedman Designs looks at her client’s yards in much the same way as a doctor observes a patient. “Pruning is necessary for a plant’s overall health,” Friedman said. With good pruning techniques (as important as regular check-ups at the doctor), you’ll get a good quality of flowers, branches and leaves, she explained. “It also serves to keep a plant contained to its place in the garden or to a shape or look desired by the gardener.” Timing is everything when it comes to a good trim, Friedman noted. “All plants are not to be pruned at once or at the same time of year,” she said. “Different plants have different needs, bloom times, shapes, sizes, etc…

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Mark Blackwell

6:49 am on Saturday, September 24, 2011

Excellent article, and just in time. Thank you!   more ›

Home & Garden

Picture Wall Brims with History, Special Moments

Decorators explain a variety of eye-pleasing ways to create a display of memories.

Do you have a pile of black-and-white photos of Great Aunt Mary, that guy you’re related to who fought in the Civil War and classic, timeless photos of your parents on their wedding day? All nice, but where to put them? Beautiful to look at, but how to hang them? Consider a family photo wall. Interior designer Shirley Maddalena of Bloomfield Hills thoroughly enjoyed the recent task of creating a family photo wall for a Birmingham client.  “There was an enormous amount of photos,” Maddalena recalled. “It was, quite actually, a really fun and interesting assignment, as there were many sizes and dimensions to work with and fascinating family history." Maddalena and her clients opted to frame the father’s immigration papers, which were mounted…

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Mark Blackwell

5:59 pm on Monday, September 19, 2011

Most framing shops are just simply cost prohibitive. Maybe not for other folks. Certainly for me.   more ›

Home & Garden

Inspect Gardens as Summer Winds Down

How do your flowers and bushes grow in August? Assess the outcome and you’ll be inspired for changes next year.

In a few weeks, summer will be all but a memory. For gardeners, this is the perfect time to take stock and plan ahead. It was one hot summer and one rainy spring, which, area green-thumb enthusiasts say, affected not only their blooms but also their vegetables.  "My hydrangeas have never looked as good as they have in 2011, and, judging from other hydrangeas I've seen driving around town, I think everyone has enjoyed the same experience," said gardener Randy Engle of Troy.   "A late, wet and cool spring allowed these sensitive plants to come out of hibernation and start their growth spurt before being zapped with too much heat. The wet June and the dappled-sunlight days of July created big mophead blooms. My hydrangeas are now so big and …

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Home & Garden

Homeowners, Paint Experts Roll Out Wall Treatment Advice

If walls could talk, they’d say, “Give me texture, give me depth!”

Walk into any room for the first time and your subconscious may pick up on its ambiance — cool, warm, old, charming, inviting, sleek, rich, laid-back, relaxing … you get the point. If walls could talk, they’d likely utter those words. Walls, in fact, create a room’s personality. This is true not only with colors, but also texture and paint-application techniques. Area homeowners, painters and artists agree that one can obtain just about any type of mood one wants by paying attention to a wall’s textures and tones. Here, they weigh in with ideas on everything from glazing, rolling and striating to Venetian plaster techniques. It took a few years for Aimee Began of Royal Oak to settle on a career, but ever since she found it, it’s been full …

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Home & Garden

With Many Hues, Hydrangeas Color Area Gardens

Homeowners and gardeners discuss their favorite colors and varieties, as well as tips for growing and why they adore the blooms.

"A dead hydrangea is as intricate and lovely as one in bloom." — Toni Morrison, from Tar Baby  In front of Rachel Schechter Zimmerman's home in Huntington Woods, several hydrangeas abloom in pale green shades grace the entryway. “I love how long the blooms last and that they take up a lot of space,” said Zimmerman, a busy mother of three. The art director especially notices their shapes and hues. Her favorite tone is that “yellow-y, whitish green,” she said. “And I like that they’re in mass.” Her artistic eye enjoys soaking up their color “against all that green foliage. It’s stunning … clean and classic.” Speaking of art, artist Alice Frank of West Bloomfield also adores hydrangeas. “When I observe them, they make me happy,” she said of …

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Megan Swoyer

10:11 pm on Saturday, August 27, 2011

Garden expert Cathy Rosenhaus says: Dear Sid, > The hydrangea in the photo is Endless Summer and is a wonderful, easy to grow > plant. > Cathy   more ›

Home & Garden

Decorate Garden With Gates, Statues, Fountains

Landscape ornamentation — from wrought iron gates to peaceful statuary — adds an artistic touch to area gardens.

It’s late June and you can now see area gardeners are putting their own stamp on their beds and plots with their favorite reliable plants, new flower varieties and preferred colors. Beyond those preferences, green thumb enthusiasts also are getting creative with garden ornamentation, from custom-made iron gates to antique pots to splashy bird sanctuaries. "More and more consumers are creating individualized outdoor hangouts for connecting to nature and gathering with friends and family and are definitely accessorizing with ornamentation from statues to lighting to fountains," said Colleen Carbott, a publicist for Lowe's. "Accessorizing is the answer for homeowners who already have their outdoor space (backyard or garden) in tip-top …

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Home & Garden

Growing Roses, from Award Winners to Everyday Knockouts

A local rosarian and other area growers share cultivation tips on where to buy them and when and how to prune them.

Renee Lower is glowing like a dewy rose these days, thanks to several awards she won at the recent Detroit Rose Society competition held at Telly’s Greenhouse in Troy. Lower won the six categories on what is referred to as the “trophy table.” Her roses captured “Best” in Challenge Class for Stage of Bloom, and “Best” in Hybrid Tea Spray, Climbing Rose, and End of Trail Bouquet. In addition, she won tops in "Best" Fragrant Rose and "Best" Fragrant Bouquet.  The competition includes accredited judges from the American Rose Society, explained the Troy resident, who lives on Emerald Lake and has been cultivating roses for about as long as she’s lived in this serene neighborhood, approximately a decade.    With dozens of rose varieties popping …

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