Designs by Maida

Chicago interior designer Maida Korte brings her HGTV celebrity status (appearances on "New Spaces" and "Designer's Challenge") and taste-maker style to Woodstock shop Designs by Maida. The store is a mini Merchandise Mart home-furnishings showroom displaying European antiques and hard-to-tell reproduction furniture, fine china, grand chandeliers, carved mirrors, table linens, window treatments, accent pillows and plush bedding. Maida's sumptuous fabrics, from toile to zebra print, cost $15-$200 a yard. While you may not be able to justify plopping $175 down on a sofa pillow, $40 for a tassel or a couple grand on a bombe chest, eyeing Maida's creative combinations of heirloom French and British furniture and fabrics stimulate decorating ideas for free. Exquisite dining tablescapes feature Philippe Deshoulieres Limoges porcelain, $75 a plate, as well as Portmeirion porcelain dishes and Juliska serving pieces. Affordable napkin rings ($3-$40 each), tablecloths, candlesticks make a lush design statement.