-
MK Pritzker at PAGODA RED: A Celebration of Illinois Design
In his introduction to A House That Made History, designer Michael Smith describes Governor JB Pritzker and First Lady MK Pritzker as a “dynamic and deeply engaging” couple. Their longtime…
-
PAGODA RED Essentials: Custom Waterfall Tables
If PAGODA RED was a fashion house, custom reclaimed wood waterfall tables would be our signature little black dress. Our clients and designers love them for the same reason black…
-
Bruno Surdo: Tree Spirits
After viewing Tree Spirits, Bruno Surdo’s debut at PAGODA RED, you will never look at a tree the same way again. Surdo brilliantly conveys the deeply personal sentiments to be…
-
Adventures in Style: Antique Silver Charm Rings
Years ago, our founder Betsy Nathan went for tea at Muriel Lubeliner’s fantastically boho Chicago apartment. Lubliner was a true style pioneer, known for her adventurous travels in the 20th…
-
Theories of Relativity: Erin Minckley Talks Textiles
“I could write a novel for each pattern,” Erin Minckley recently told us, in a conversation about Relativity Textiles, the standout wallpaper, fabric, and rug company she founded in 2015. …
-
A Moment Worth Celebrating: Evan Millárd at the Lake Forest Showhouse
The 2023 Lake Forest Showhouse is a pop-up design wonderland, full of creative possibilities and inspiration. The lavish estate was originally designed by Walter Frazier in 1969 and has been…
-
Luxe Life: The Custom Homes of Chinese Songbirds
“Songbirds brush the eaves in flight and fish dart through the waterweed, men of elegance and taste, apprehending their nature, do not weary of watching them all day long.” –…
-
Yaji Gardens: Antidotes to Modern Life
In ancient China, elaborate gardens were closely associated with the upper class—who enjoyed palatial estates and grounds stocked with rare flora and fauna. But a new, more intimate garden gained…
-
Outside In: Stone Trough Sinks in a Mallorcan Getaway
At PAGODA RED, we gravitate toward natural materials, objects with history, and creative reuses—no surprise, then, that we love traditional stone troughs reimagined as sink basins. Over the years, we’ve…
-
Travelogue: Following The Tea Horse Trail to Tibetan Art
The Tea Horse Trail is the southern equivalent of the historic Silk Road trading route. As the name suggests, the Tea Horse, which first emerged during the Tang Dynasty, was…