Life in a homeless shelter a decade ago helped Paul Rickman learn to distinguish between wants and needs, a skill he uses each day on the job at Columbus’ only free-furniture bank, Material Assistance Providers.

He earned his wisdom the hard way, but we all could use some help recognizing the difference in this age of hyperconsumerism and mass marketing.

From the moment he enters the waiting room, introduces himself to the clients and ushers them into the warehouse, Rickman works to divine their needs. Read more…

John D. Kohler Architect PC has been chosen to design a new multi-purpose exhibit building that will replace the 60-year-old merchants buildings at the Monroe County Fair.

The fair board picked the Monroe firm from among three architectural firms for the job. The others were Donald A. Johnson Architects of Monroe and Michael L. Hammond of Samaria.

“They were all very good,” said Stan Diroff, head of a board subcommittee that is planning the new 36,000-square-foot complex that will cost about $2 million to build.

The panel will meet with Mr. Kohler tonight to discuss preliminary plans for the structure and what the fair would like to see in the building. The architect then will come up with a drawing of the complex based on the committee’s ideas. Read more…

NEW YORK The 20-story concrete base of the skyscraper being built to replace the World Trade Center will be covered with thousands of glass prisms.

Architect David Childs unveiled the new design details at a ceremony at the American Institute of Architects.

Childs says the 17-hundred-76-foot-tall Freedom Tower will be topped with a lighted spire meant to resemble the Statue of Liberty’s torch. Read more…

Furniture Row® Companies will once again expand its presence in Colorado with the opening of a new 85,000 square foot Furniture Row® Shopping Center located in Dacono. The new Center, located at 3440 East I-25 Frontage Road just south of the Colorado National Speedway at exit 232, will host a variety of events during its grand opening celebration. Activities include celebrity meet-and-greets, dynamic contests, and promotional giveaways beginning Friday, July 14, through Tuesday, August 1. The grand opening celebration will kick off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new location on Friday, June 30, at 9:00 a.m. Read more…

Customs officials cracked open ornate Moroccan furniture to seize more than $2 million worth of hashish smuggled into Canada.

The Canada Border Services Agency seized the 107 kilograms of hashish while acting on a tip from the RCMP. The drugs were seized in Halifax on June 12 but the RCMP investigation led to the June 22 arrests of five Montrealers, including 44-year-old Hamid Majjaoui, the man suspected of co-ordinating the smuggling effort.

He was charged with violating Canada’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and was released on bail. Read more…

Customers say the owners of a baby furniture store disappeared—and took the deposits with them.

CBS 2’s Dorothy Tucker has an update on how the Illinois Attorney General has joined the fight to get expectant parents their money back.

After months of being closed, there was movement Wednesday morning inside My Child’s Room store in Niles. It looked as if the men were taking inventory.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” one worker. Read more…

From aesthetic designs, adjustable desks and mobile storage cabinets, the country’s office furniture scene is witnessing a proliferation of products that address fundamental challenges when it comes to how, when and where people work.

Available in the UAE at OFIS, Ergo has launched its latest collection, the Totem range, which claims to offer ‘New Ways of Working’ by inspiring employee creativity, communication and collaboration.

The range, which includes Elevate, Curves, Caddy, Teamwork and Tycoon executive cabin furniture, presents exclusive features such as adjustable height for desks, mobile storage for use anywhere and tables that come with or without partitions that are ideal for meetings, conferences and training, etc. Read more…

Though current weather conditions don’t exactly encourage thoughts of spending time outdoors, keep in mind that while you are inside staying dry, your patio furniture is outside braving the storms. Taking small steps to properly maintain your outdoor furniture will help prolong its life and enable you to enjoy it year after year. Officials at Hampton Bay, a line of furniture from Home Depot, offer tips on cleaning, protecting and maintaining:

Keep it simple. For minimum maintenance, choose furniture made of easy-to-clean materials. Wrought iron and aluminum are good choices. Read more…

With temperatures rising and school about to let out, Queens pools will officially open for summer this week on June 29. Astoria Pool, one of the largest pool complexes in the country, if not the largest, will once again host up to 2,170 bathers at a time seehing relief in the 1 to 3 million gallons of water within the 54,500 square foot pool, watched over by 17 lifeguards. This year, Astoria Pool will also feature two new family rooms and a new shade structure to provide some respite from the sun.

“There is over 4,500 of open space [at Astoria Pool]. It gets hot,” Ronald Goddard, manager of Queens Pools for the Department of Parks and Recreation said at the June meeting of the borough cabinet. Read more…

Naperville Public Library will pay approximately $60,000 to include plans for a Nichols Library expansion in the designs for a new parking deck adjoining the downtown building.

Library board members voted to approve spending $58,871 for the plans last week.

The money will be used as Chicago-based Loebl, Schlossman & Hackl begins designs for the parking deck and proposed library expansion. City council members had tossed around the idea of including the expansion with the deck design, unsure of whether an expansion was a good idea.

At the June 6 City Council meeting, members voted to go ahead with including library designs in the schematics, with the understanding that the extra money for the designs would come from the library. Loebl, Schlossman & Hackl was awarded a $1.07 million contract. Read more…