Shopping for a cause

Dallas' favorite home shopping event celebrates a decade of design

Dwell with Dignity is marking its 10th anniversary Thrift Studio with a party that lasts all month long. The much-anticipated fundraising pop-up shop — open April 5-27 in the Dallas Design District — features luxuriously furnished vignettes designed by North Texas’ leading designers, showrooms, and retailers, as well as a selection of fine art from 34 prestigious artists.

All of the high-end home décor items and original artwork on display are available for shoppers to purchase at deep discounts, with 100 percent of proceeds benefiting Dwell with Dignity. DwD's mission is to provide low-income families and their new permanent housing with furniture, bedding, kitchen supplies, art, professional interior styling, food in the pantry and their first night’s meal. Thrift Studio is the organization's largest annual fundraiser.

"Nine renowned designers created eight vignettes displaying their talents, luxury furnishings, and original art pieces," the organization says in a release. "The vignettes may be an office area, dining room, bedroom, living area, or even a hotel lobby, but all are elaborately designed and furnished."

The design cast of the 2019 Thrift Studio reads like a “Who’s Who” in the design world.

The 2019 artists are: Lydia Abigail, Jennifer Ayyad, Barbara Baldwin, Anne Beletic, Jessica Bell, Brenda Bogart, Stephanie Bray, Teresa Bristol, Linda Chidsey, Ginger Cochran, Foster Cranz, Carolyn Joe Daniel, Nicole Davis, Melissa Ellis, Ben Fluno, Jordan Gomez, Margaret Harris, Silky Hart, JoJo Herda, Stacie Hernandez, Andrea Holmes, Carolyn Kerr, Joyce Landry, Cathy Manning, Amy McKenzie, Christ Merril, Clare Minella, Ethan Moss, Roma Osowo, Gregory Piazza, Nataliya Plambeck, Mione Plant, Lori Rayfield, Margaret Rehwinkel, Laura Runge, and Kristina Taherzadeh.

Designer and retail partners include:

Brant McFarlain
Judy Aldridge + Genesis Thrift Store
Pulp Design Studios + S. Harris
Maestri Studio + Mitchell Gold-Bob Williams
Holly Hickey Moore + RJones and Associates + SUPPLY
Russell Brightwell and Alice Cottrell + Stark
Peters Cates Designs + Kravet
Harbinger Designs + Casita

"The interior design teams have partnered with an assortment of retail partners to keep the shopping experience fresh," the organizers say in a release. "For instance, interior designer Judy Aldridge, well-known for repurposing furniture, partnered with Genesis Thrift Store. Couture collector Russell Brightwell has some of his rare, out-of-production, contemporary design objects, vintage ceramics, editions, and rare fashion, art, and design books on display and available to purchase."

Each vignette showcases a selection of luxury home décor and furnishings from high-end retail stores. Sofas, dining room tables, chandeliers, curtains, coffee table books, rugs, and more are discounted dramatically, often starting at 60 percent off.

Also, each of the vignettes will be replenished throughout the month of April, so — pro tips — shop often and ask a Thrift Studio staff member if there are specific days and times when they replenish, so you can coordinate your next visit.

Also, follow Instagram @DwellwithDignity for additional markdowns on featured products of the day.

Dwell with Dignity’s Thrift Studio Pop-Up Shop is open 10 am-5 pm Monday through Saturday through April 27 and is free for attendees to explore and shop. The shop is located at the Dallas Design Center, 1250 Slocum Street, #550.

Brant McFarlain's design.

Photo by Lance Selgo, Unique Exposure Photography

Brant McFarlain's design.

charity shopping

Pollinator Paradise

New free app helps Texans grow drought-tolerant native gardens

Photo courtesy of Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

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Texans sensing spring coming in on the breeze can start planning their drought-tolerant gardens now. A new app by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TWPF) gives free tips on planting native species that are low-maintenance and friendly to pollinators.

Users don't need any gardening experience to start planting with Wild Thumb. It lays out instructions step-by-step and accommodates different regions and needs, considering backyards as well as humble flower pots. It's also good for inattentive gardeners, since it can remind users to water and prune their plants when it's time and sends freeze alerts.

To use the app, gardeners will have to sign up with an email and enter their ZIP Code. This connects the account to an ecoregion, an area of land that's defined by certain characteristics like climate, precipitation, wildlife, soil types, and more. That makes ecoregions much more detailed than the United States Department of Agriculture's widely known Hardiness Zones, which are only based on extreme cold data.

After giving a quick overview of the ecoregion, the app settles into a dashboard including the current temperature, time of sundown, and projects. Users can choose the type of project they want to start (pots/planters, beds, and pocket prairies), take a look at some advice for preparing in real life, and then build a schematic with native plants and at-a-glance information about them.

After the diagram is complete, the user can check off a list of tasks and progress through different phases of the project. An "explore" tab lists local nurseries, seed providers, and seed mixes to help with shopping, and the app also suggests that users get on iNaturalist, a citizen science community.

“Wild Thumb takes the guesswork out of native gardening so that anyone in Texas — no matter where they live or how much space they have — can be part of the pollinator solution,” said Julie Shaddox, TPWF’s Director of Development & Conservation Programs, in a press release. “Most people don’t realize that many of our native pollinators, including the American bumblebee, are in decline. By planting even a few native plants, Texans can make a tangible difference in restoring the critical habitat these species depend on.”

The release promises more plant species in the app's future, along with information on what types of pollinators love each plant. There will also be more education about prairie ecosystems; grassland and prairies make up 60 percent of Texas, according to Audubon Texas.

Users can enjoy the app for free thanks to funding from H-E-B, the presenting sponsor of TWPF's Pollinators & Prairies program. Phillips 66 is also a contributing sponsor, and Outside Studio, the Native Plant Society of Texas, and professional botanists helped develop the app. Anyone with a smartphone or iPad can download the app from the App Store and Google Play now.

gardening apps education ecology sustainability nature texas parks and wildlife department