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Local Luminaries - Awards Won By Some Of Our Own

Mosaic Magic Flipping through the pages of the June issue of Travel & Leisure, a St. Louisan might find one familiar shot. It's on page 56 and it's the mosaic wall of the restaurant Mosaic, located just off Washington Avenue (at 1101 Lucas). The brief article, titled "Behind the Artwork," details the wall, created by artist Fred Nelson, and the decor, a product of Baseline Workshop.

Take a Chair In the national chair design competition dubbed "Chair Affair" and managed by the American Institute of Architecture Students, Patrice McKnight, a student at Ranken Technical College and a native of Florissant (and the only undergraduate to place), took bronze among 1,000 entries. Each contestant had to design a chair out of corrugated cardboard--preferably recycled. The only fastener allowed was glue. The six finalists' entries were displayed at the 2005 American Institute of Architects National Convention and Design Exposition.

Usher In Baker extraordinaire Julia Usher, trained at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and owner of the now-closed AzucArte, is establishing herself far beyond cakes and cookies. In the cookbook of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, aptly titled For the Love of Food, Usher had two recipes: apple-rose geranium sorbet and scallop, fennel and orange risotto.

On Your Own: Enhance Your Home Know-How

While some of us are born with a keen eye or an adept hand, the skills you need to decorate your home and keep it in shape can be enhanced. Non-credit classes in home improvement, offered by Saint Louis Community College's continuing education department, can help you do just that.

SLCC offers courses such as "You Can't Have Enough Stuff: The Art of Attending Sales" and "Decorating on a Shoestring Budget." They teach you how to shuffle through the junk to uncover the real deals and suggest shortcuts you can take to make the most of your budget. The community college also offers courses in interior decorating and feng shui, if you need a little guidance to set up your rooms so they feel just right.

Classes in basement remodeling and home repair can help you restore areas that are beginning to show some wear. If your old sofa needs a fix-me-up, enroll in one of SLCC's upholstery classes. Courses in several kinds of faux-finishing-- including wall washes and striae finishes, frottage and smooshing, venetian plaster and textures--will enable you to lend your walls, or your wooden furniture, some newfound vibrance.

Most of these classes are offered at either the Meramec or Florissant Valley campuses, but some are held at off-campus sites in the St. Louis area. Home improvement courses are offered during the fall, spring and summer terms, and specific class offerings will differ for each.

Access the class schedule and register online at www.stlcc.edu. Instructions are available on the website for those who wish to register in person or on the phone. Fees range from $6 to $61.50, plus the cost of materials. --Annie Boken

Local Artists - A Pair of Scheus

Creating furniture designs that combine urban architecture with Midwestern sensibility, Julie and David Scheu work locally and think globally.

Ever wonder what that round metal fixture that holds a light to the ceiling is called? Not only did furniture designer Julie Scheu discover that it's a canopy, she found guys whose specialty it is to make them. Scheu searches out Midwestern craftsmen with unexpected specialties-- metal spinning, wire bending, laser cutting. With their help, Scheu and her husband, David, produce furniture that she calls, "Midwest modern at its best."

In 1996, the Scheus, both 35, co-founded UrbanWorkshop, a contemporary furniture design business that operates out of the Scheus' basement in Tower Grove South. Both are graduates of Washington University's School of Architecture.

He is from Kentucky, she from Oregon. In addition to the UrbanWorkshop, David is a designer and vice president at McMillan Cabinetmakers. Julie also teaches at Wash U.'s architecture school.

Julie's pogoHome collection, which is ideal for lofts and other open living spaces, debuted in St. Louis in 2003. By wedging a wooden pole between a ceiling and floor and attaching shelves, the furniture achieves maximum utility in minimal space. PogoLibrary ($1,599), one of six items in the collection, is a pole with doublewide shelves for books. PogoDen ($899) is a pole with display boxes interspersed, pogoGarden ($699) holds plants, pogoGallery ($449) can hold a piece of art. Each pole's "footprint" is just 1 inches in diameter, with the pole constructed of cherry, maple, white oak or walnut wood with steel fittings.

The company also is adding a new line of furniture-- Yellow Groove. The collection includes a bed, bedside table and two lamps. The bed has an open frame made of walnut, while bamboo slats lay tongue-in-groove in rows between the head and foot. Also new is a trestle dining table made of cherry and assembled with mechanical pieces. "Pure, simple, timeless, sleek, a Danish-modern look," Julie says. "Some contemporary tables look cold and without detail. But something I like for the urban nomad is you can knock it apart." --Adam Scott Williams

Julie and David Scheu, UrbanWorkshop LLC 4236 Arsenal, 314-776-6291, www.urbanworkshop.us

Whittle Away

Thirteen years ago, Boris Khechoyan arrived in St. Louis from Azerbaijan with only $50 in his pocket, unable to speak enough English to explain that he sought employment as a master woodcarver. He worked jobs as a busboy or dishwasher, took English lessons, and at night carved exceptional examples of Gothic, Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical furniture. His goal: To match the best European craftsmanship displayed at the fi nest Russian museum he visited while attending Russia's College of Fine Arts and the University of Architecture.

Khechoyan's persistence paid off when Dan Stutte of Catholic Supply of St. Louis saw Khechoyan's work and contacted clients like Archbishop (now Cardinal) Justin Rigali, who commissioned several pieces of furniture. In 1999, Khechoyan carved a regal, Gothic golden oak throne for Pope John Paul II to be used during the pontiff's stay in St. Louis. Today that same heavenly chair is valued at $15,000. That's a nice return considering Boris' $50 investment in the American Dream. --John Pertzborn

Boris Khechoyan, Master Woodcarver, 7658 General Grant, 314-843-3236, www.woodcarver4u.com

Where Do I Get Antique Furniture Refinished, Repaired Or Replicated?

St. Louis' antique furniture dealers have a secret weapon. His name: Don Counts. His company: Christborn Furniture & Cabinet Company. You won't find him in the Yellow Pages or on the Internet. You will, however, see his signature works in some of the nation's finest homes and exclusive antique stores.

Hidden away at his workshop near Troy, Mo., Counts refinishes, restores and replicates wooden treasures from the previous four centuries. It's one thing to restore an 18th century heirloom sideboard, it's another to re-create an exact copy, worm holes and all. Counts is so gifted, he has even temporarily fooled the experts.

Recently, a local collector of Chippendale spent a small fortune bidding on four rare matching period chairs at Christie's in London. Counts was commissioned by this St. Louisan to reproduce two copies. Upon completion, Counts discovered instant satisfaction when the collector failed to identify the new pair from the four antiques. Counts, 44, is in great demand. A common request is to craft a copy of a valuable piece of furniture that can be used every day in place of the often fragile original (the cubic zirconia of wood). There isn't any period furniture he can't repair or reproduce, from an original or even a magazine clipping.

Counts' charges are reasonable, when one considers the current exchange rate when purchasing antiques or reproductions overseas. But when it comes to craftsmanship, clients say Don Counts is one of the best. Anywhere. --John Pertzborn Christborn Furniture & Cabinet Co., 314-837-7669

Child's Play

Have an old wooden bench, lectern, some tins, bottles, apothecary jars, barrels, burlap bags or a pot-bellied stove collecting dust? The Missouri Botanical Garden welcomes them with open arms. The Doris I. Schnuck Children's Garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden, set to open in spring 2006, wants to furnish its village, town hall, general store and surveyor's office.

The wish list also includes chandeliers, iron wheelbarrows, bonnets, old surveying equipment, wooden desk and chairs, wooden fiddle and flute, grinding stone, cradle board or arrowheads, ink pots with quills, a Victorian buggy and toys and old watering cans. Not only will your attic or basement get considerably cleaner, you'll also get a tax deduction. Contact Amy Haake at 314-577-9473, x6397, amy.haake@mobot.org.

New Spot to Shop

LULU BELLES (1556 S. Lindbergh, 314-991-0020) has arrived. Tucked in the Village at Schneithorst's, the store starts with fab fabrics and trims and ends with top-notch accessories, as in lamps, tables, vases, bowls and custom furniture. * After being shuttered for two months, CALICO CORNERS (10440 German, 314-993-1388) is scheduled to reopen this month under new management and with the new look of a corporate store. * TWIGS & MOSS (7715 Clayton, 314-454-0447) has grown--substantially. With owner Resito Pecson at the helm creating some of the city's most creative dried flower (or twig) arrangements, Twigs & Moss is twice as big, selling twice as many gifts, planters, cool containers and garden accessories. The shop also offers classes. Call for details. * EXPRESSIONS CUSTOM FURNITURE is moving ... considerably farther east on Clayton Road into the old Tropic Shop at 7817, the building next door to Gourmet to Go. The telephone number (314-567-6200) remains the same. * Right next door is the new FOX KITCHEN & BATH SHOWROOM (7811 Clayton, 314-727-3833). * OLD ENGLISH INTERIORS has changed its name to ENGLISH LIVING and has opened a second, smaller location in the Ladue Marketplace at 9719 Clayton, 314-991-2999. * LOEWEN WINDOWS (9710 Manchester, 314-699-9872) are now on sale here, in their own specialty store. * ROOM SERVICE FABRICS (3062 Winghaven, 636-561-0847) specializes in top-quality fabrics at good prices, custom upholstered furniture and advice on buying, cutting and sewing window treatments.

Mulch Much?

There's nothing quite like the smell of freshly laid mulch. But while the scent may be familiar, there's a lot more to mulch than you may realize. We did some digging for you, and here's the dirt from two of St. Louis' landscaping experts.

What type of mulch should you use? It depends what you want to grow in your yard. Linda Wiggen Kraft, a landscape architect and owner of Creveling Gardens, advises flower lovers to use leaf mulch (or leaf mold) because it helps make soil richer in preparation for planting. For beds with trees and shrubs, Kraft suggests bark mulch, which lasts longer than leaf and breaks down more slowly.

When should you mulch? Kraft suggests putting mulch down in late winter after the last frost of the season. "If you do it before plants start coming up, it's much easier because you don't have to work around each one individually," she says.

Why should you mulch? Using mulch is essential because "it replen- ishes soil and adds the nutrients that plants need to grow," says Gay Goessling of Goessling Co. Mulch is especially helpful in the Midwest because it can turn our hard, clay-like soil into the dark, rich soil of every gardener's dreams. --Rachel Bernstein

Municipal Mulch Services

Several municipalities in the St. Louis area offer free, self-service pick up of mulch and wood chips (when avail- able) for their residents. Some areas also offer delivery for a fee.

Brentwood: Free wood chip pick up at Brentwood Park (9100 Russell).

Clayton: Free pick up at the end of Shaw Park Drive, or apply for delivery at the Public Works Department (227 S. Central, 314-290-8540) for a $35 fee.

Des Peres: Free delivery. Call the Public Works Department at 314-835-6130.

Crestwood: Firewood and wood chip bins are located at Whitecliff Park (9245 Whitecliff Park Lane).

Florissant: Free pick up at Koch Park (305 Howdershell). Must show resident identification.

Kirkwood: Free pick up at Emmenegger Park (11991 Stoneywood).

Ladue: $30 delivery fee for three cubic yards, $60 for six cubic yards. Call the Public Works Department at 314-993-3439.

Manchester: Free pick up at Seibert Park (14448 Manchester).

Richmond Heights: Free pick up on the empty lot on Dale, just east of Hanley.

St. Louis: Free pick up at the corners of 9th and Barton and Chippewa and Oregon and at Carondelet Park.

University City: Free pick up at Heman Park (off Midland), or $30 delivery fee plus $5 per load, with a minimum five cubic yards. Call the city at 314-862-6767. --Jane Louis

Note: Mulch pick up is not offered in Ballwin, Chesterfield, Maplewood or Wildwood.