In anticipation of the June grand opening of the brand-new Center on Halsted in Lakeview, the organization is asking the LGBT community to furnish support.
COH’s interior designers came up with a unique idea to gather the couches, chairs, tables, clocks and other items needed to beautify the center—a furniture shower. It’s like a bridal or baby shower, but with gifts the entire community will use for years to come.
‘There was money for the furniture [in the financial plan], but not for the exciting furniture we hoped,’ Gensler Chicago’s Leah Ray said. ‘So, the interior designers came up with this concept, and it was a little bit of a tongue-in-check play on wedding or bridal showers, for sure.’
The designers really had a vision for the Center on Halsted, and wanted a contemporary interior to match the beautiful structure and design of the building. There will be no hand-me-down couches and tables for this state-of-the-art LGBT center.
Those interested in giving something functional and tangible can check out COH’s furniture registry online at www.FurnitureShower.com and pick out an item that speaks to them. The manufacturers have lowered the price of each item by making their own donations, creating special prices for donors. And if people cannot decide which ottoman or wall hook to buy, they can donate monetarily and let COH pick something out.
‘It gives individual donors a tangible connection to the center,’ Ray said. ‘It gives you something you can look at and see and go back to the center and touch. It makes it more real for people.’
COH is holding a furniture shower party at Circuit, 3641 N. Halsted, 6-9 p.m., on April 10. Not only will there be cocktails and dancing, but attendees can choose their shower gift at the event by browsing on laptops set up to access the Web site, or by viewing furniture items that will be on display. Visit www.furnitureshower.com or www.centeronhalsted.org for details and tickets.