designs FOR LIVING PRODUCTS & PRACTICAL ADVICE

Paints: The Next Generation



FINDS ALTHOUGH THE “JUST PAINTED” ODOR makes some homeowners swell with the pride of accomplishment, it literal-ly sickens other people with a sensitivity to smells. Those in the latter category will welcome the introduction of what at least one manufacturer calls “the next generation of paints”: an acrylic-based substance that’s not only virtually odorless, hut also completely free of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

The manufacturer, Benjamin Moore, recommends its new, fast-drying Pristine line of paints for homeowners who have children, expectant mothers, senior citizens, or allergy sufferers in their midst. “Our initial sales results are good, although we don’t have specific figures yet,” reports divisional sales manager Carl Hayes of Benjamin Moore. Pristine retails for $24 to $29 per gallon, slightly more than the $20 to $25 per gallon cost of ordinary latex-based paint.

Another manufacturer, Glidden, led the way a while hack with its new solvent-free brand, called Spread 2000, and others are sure to follow. As the clean air bandwagon rolls along, consumer can expect to find even more products without VOCs, those carbon-laden chemicals found in gaso-line, alcohol, and the standard oil-based and even latex-based paints.

The Living Is Easy



BOOKS HAS THE GLITZ AND EXCESS OF THE ’80s turned America into a nation of comfort-seeking homebodies in the ’90s? Yes, say two New Yorkers, decora-tor Teri Seidman and writer Sherry Suib Cohen, and they’re so reassuring and eager to assist that it’s hard to doubt them.

The two women have written a new book, Decorating for Comfort (Villard Books, $24), that contends it’s okay to want to feather your own nest. “Americans disenchanted with excesses-the overspending, overeating, and overdoing of the past decade-are going home again,” they write. What’s the result at home? “Overdecorated rooms have given way to relaxed spaces that are sometimes romantic, sometimes cozy, sometimes inspiring, and often just comfortable places to dream.”

The authors, who subtitle their book The Marriage of Ease and Style, don’t advocate becoming a nation of Ozzie and Harriet clones. Instead, they acknowledge different preferences and requisites; one person may define comfort as cordless telephones, dimmer switches on the lights, and a treadmill in one corner of the bedroom, while another could opt for an overstuffed four-poster bed.

The hook shows its practicality with a room-by-room checklist for merging style, practicality, and comfort. It overflows with an abundance of both good ideas and great looks. Get a copy and take it with you to the nearest easy chair.

Blossom Bliss



GARDENS THE AUGUST HEAT DOESN’T STAND A chance of wilting Kathy McCabe’s flowers. In fact, all she must do to care for her crop of blooming beauties is to turn down the thermostat-to minus 20 degrees.

With partner Dee Elliott, McCabe owns Petal Perfection, a company dedicated to preservation-of roses, carnations, delphiniums, gardenias, peonies, and so on. The company’s machines, comparable to equipment used by hospitals for freeze drying blood, hold 8,800 blooms at once. An eight-day process first freezes the flowers and then gradually extracts all the moisture from them as the temperature returns to normal.

“People who see freeze-dried flowers for the first time are amazed,” says McCabe. The dried blooms retain their original colors, whether vibrant or subtle, and last for years under normal conditions.

McCabe began the business last September, first operating out of her home garage. Now she wholesales to a number of customers, including retail stores like Room Service, and has her own small retail business in a hard-to-find shopping center in northeast Dallas. A few sample retail prices for flowers with stems: roses, $44 per dozen; sunflowers and calla lilies, $8 each; carnations, $18 per dozen, and stock flowers (in various colors), $20 per bunch.

Petal Perfection, 11857 Judd Court, Suite 206 (off Forest Lane east of Greenville), 644-8250.

Closet Drama



IDEAS CLOSET SENSE SEEMS TO COME NATUrally to some people. These folks love to show off their perfect rows of shoes, their immaculately folded shirts and sweaters, their hats on the top rack and suitcases on the bottom.

Some people, though, need closet CPR. To he revived, they should visit the nearest Container Store and consult a space planner such as Paige Dennard at the Mockingbird and North Central store. Without charge, Paige will whip out her graph paper, and, in little more than a flash, she’ll show you how to reorganize your closet.

For the average closet, measuring 72 inches wide by 24 inches deep, Paige suggested three different hanging areas (one of them 66 inches long and the other two, 42 inches each), five shelves (one 72 inches long, one 3 feet long and three 2 feet each), and five stackable drawers. By dividing the closet into sections, Paige not only organized the contents hut seemed to multiply the available storage space.

The best news of all: Paige and her colleagues will demonstrate how to put up the easy-to-install rods and shelves, which aren’t as expensive as you might think. The cost for equipping this average closet is around $250.

The Container Store, 3060 Mockingbird, 373-7044 (and other locations).



A Harbor for Hardware



SERVICES ANDREA RIDOUT ADORES HEAVY metal-the kind that opens doors, cab-inets, and drawers. Since childhood she’s collected vintage hardware, and now her business reproduces these pieces for home builders, antique dealers, Hollywood directors, and homeowners-anyone who wants an authentically old look to endure in a new world.

Although based on an out-of-the-way street in Garland, Ridout’s business, Hardware+Plus, has a national following (particularly with the addition this year of the mail-order line called Nostalgia Warehouse). Sales last year topped $1.5 million. That’s a lot of doorknobs-not to mention plumbing fixtures, architectural moldings, custom mantels, pressed tin ceilings and walls, house numbers, mailboxes, and weather vanes.

Ridout, 33, married builder Mickey Ridout, at 18. That year, her father-in-law gave her a garage full of what he called “junk”; she came up with $150 for a months rent on a store-front and became an antique dealer. The business flourished, but Ridout discovered she had a hard time locating replacements for drawer hardware. Since she eventual- ly had 5,000 customers, Ridout figured she had the genesis for her own business. Hardware+Plus opened in 1987.

Today, Ridout draws from 300 sources across the country to amass her gleaming inventory. She can provide any look a customer wants-from American colonial to European castle to Asian temple. “Variety is the key here,” Ridout says modestly.

Hardware+Plus, 701 E. Kingsley Road, Garland. 271-0319.