Homefront: News for your life
How do you feel about faux animal stripes underfoot? An Oct. 14 Post article detailed some of the many products sporting the now-hot zebra motif - pillows, towels, martini glasses. The beautiful animals’ mixture of wide and narrow black lines must really look wavy - like they’re moving - to anyone sipping a stout vodka martini from a zebra-striped glass.
Zebra accent rugs have been pictured this year in so many shelter magazines that some designers are stepping out of line, so to speak. Articles quote designers on both sides of the decorating fad: those “so over it” because zebra rugs are too popular, and the other group that values “the instant sophistication” a zebra rug adds to the right room, the element of visual surprise, the touch of fun, the symbol of exotic adventures. Think safari with binoculars only; no zebras have to be shot to fuel this fashion underfoot. Cincinnati’s contemporary furniture showrooms have had for years (they’re not new) those zebra accent rugs made to look real. They’re usually stenciled cowhide, so some unfortunate steer, if not an actual zebra, definitely had to commit to the striped product. I’ve always preferred frankly-fake wool rugs in the zebra pattern, not the cowhide rugs cut in a realistic shape with four extended “zebra legs” flat on the floor.
The Williams-Sonoma Home catalog for the holidays features a rectangular zebra-striped crewel rug, $250 to $1,200, pictured above. A large rug is shown underneath the W-S glass-topped Mercer dining table, $1,600, flanked by red Chelsea wing chairs and smaller, armless Fitzgerald side chairs, $375 each as pictured in small black-and-white check upholstery fabric. This combination of patterns and materials is very metro chic and certainly a jazzy setting for a Christmas-morning breakfast.
I’ll never forget the zebra runner (a wool rug) climbing the staircase of a Covington townhome. A beloved Cincinnati designer (now deceased) had once lived there and had the supporting wall for the stairs painted a saturated coral hue. It was a warm, witty scene midway between the front parlor and the kitchen in the rear. The zebra runner may still be in place because the home’s subsequent owner had no plans to replace it.
Garden protection
Small rodents fear owls, therefore www.easygardener.com is offering a stern-looking owl suitable for topping a fence post. It would do double-duty as creepy Halloween décor. The same garden-products Web site offers treewraps (deer rub antlers on narrow tree trunks this time of year), landscape fabrics, plastic fencing and reusable mesh fencing called DeerBlock and BirdBlock. It’s a fight to keep young trees, shrubs, vegetables, berries and ornamental plants from being chewed to death.
Caulk talk
Once snow flies, it’s too late. Use today’s fine weather to walk the perimeter of the house to check for places that need sealing with caulk. Home and hardware stores have sealants for every surface: glass and wood, concrete, stone and metal. Read package directions to get the right caulk for your job.
According to home-maintenance experts James and Morris Carey, “All you really need is a polyurethane caulk. It sticks to everything, and stays soft and pliable, and best of all, it can be painted. Exterior latex caulk with silicone is another good universal choice, but it isn’t quite as durable or as flexible as polyurethane caulk. While polyurethane costs more, it also lasts up to four times longer than latex.”
Mark a calendar
The Greater Cincinnati Holiday Market by Hart Productions will be held Nov. 3-5 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington. The annual shopping opportunity does have an admission fee: $8 for adults and $3 for children 13 and under.
