I arrive early for my afternoon appointment at interior designer Jayne Michaels' Sutton Place co-op. It's a sunny May afternoon, uncharacteristically hot and humid, but Jayne's pre-war two bedroom, two bath feels cool and relaxing. Jayne buzzes me up, offers me a seat and...

"Get those mother#$*%^@! snakes off my mother#$*%^@! design blog," Backgarage.com* diva Katherine Raz suggested as an opening line when I told her I was working on a post about the number of snakes I've recently spied in homes and design boutiques. But I...

"I need to make sure I stay healthy," says Samantha very soon after we introduce ourselves. Sam gave up financial security when she started her business, a private zoo and animal talent agency she operates out of her Chicago 3-flat, and she knows one...

Karl and Dawn knew they were tempting fate when the visual display merchandisers flaunted Marshall Field's rules about dating co-workers, but their near instantaneous attraction could not be denied and a mere two shifts after meeting they were an item, hot and heavy. Six...

"Some nutty old man owned this house ... and I want to be the next one," said Frank back in 1989 when he first toured his one bedroom, one bath, single family home on Chicago's Northwest Side.

A painter when he's not pushing papers...

Before I start, I have to say it's killing me that I can't add music to accompany this piece. Any story about down-home West Side breakfast joint needs some good fifties country music or . . . wow . . . any kind of...