DREAMING OF DESIGN

For Chicago Luxury Beds’ annual “Dreaming of Design” exhibition, Inspired Interiors founder Emily Mackie had a singular vision: to bring together female-focused companies to create a bedroom design to be displayed at the high-end showroom.

Starting as it so often does in Mackie’s sketchbook, this straightforward idea would take on a life of its own. She chose to place her display center stage in the showroom’s front windows, which created one distinct challenge — there was no wall to serve as a headboard for the bed. No matter as Mackie devised her own wall installation, and set about finding female-owned furnishings companies to realize her dream design.

Mackie soon found this task to be impossible, so she followed another fruitful path. Mackie recruited the help of celebrated Chicago artist Sarah Raskey to create works of art unlike any other. Enlisting 30 prominent women over the course of two whirlwind, fun-filled days, Raskey made imprints of each of their breasts to use in paintings on elegant Maya Romanoff wallcovering material. The paintings, which featured special inscriptions from each of the models, were auctioned off at the “Dreaming of Design” opening event, both onsite and via an online auction, raising $10,500 in one evening for Susan G. Komen’s breast cancer foundation.

The installation featured quotes celebrating the power of women, along with a showstopping bedspread made of 2,000 live red flowers. The overall effect created quite a stir, with overnight coverage appearing in Crain’s Chicago, the Chicago Tribune and even the South China Morning Post.

Reminding us all, of course, not to sleep on our dreams.