Front door: Sale at Architectural Antiques

DO IT NOW

If you brought some of your houseplants outside for the summer, bring them in well ahead of the frost. It'd be wise to give them a once-over to check for bugs and treat them to a bath before bringing them indoors. Once they are inside, keep your indoor-outdoor plants in a separate room for a week or two, to make sure they're not bringing in pests or diseases that could spread to your other houseplants.

NEXT WEEK

Home decor takes to the runway when local interior designers craft wearable art from wood veneers, laminate flooring and other unexpected building materials.

HOT TICKET

Architectural Antiques -- a Minneapolis mainstay for more than 30 years for vintage light fixtures, mantels, doors, plumbing, windows and other treasures -- is revving up its annual fall customer appreciation sale this weekend with discounts of 40 percent off its entire inventory, plus additional markdowns of up to 80 percent on selected items. Manager Bob Jeffrey noted that these are the stores' lowest prices in a decade and that the 28,000-square-foot retail warehouse will be freshly stocked. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. and noon to 5 p.m. Sun.; 1330 NE. Quincy St., 612-332-8344, www.archantiques.com.

WE SPOTTED IT

Design blogs are buzzing about the expected October debut of Lonny, an online-only magazine to be produced by former Domino editor Michelle Adams and her partner, photographer Patrick Cline. Predictably, bloggers are musing over whether the new mag will re-create Domino, whose demise this year has been widely lamented by fans of the shelter genre. Adams offers a sneak peek at the cover and mission statement at www.lonnymag.com and through a link at her blog, m-a-belle.blogspot.com. "Our mission is to reopen the doors of accessible design ... delivering an intimate way into the way people really live." In an interview with Women's Wear Daily, Adams says the first issue will feature former Domino editor in chief Deborah Needleman and her garden.

WEB WATCH

www.diamondcabinets.com

A tool on this recently redesigned site lets users visualize and save their plans for several rooms in the house (all with cabinetry, of course); options for wall color, flooring, appliances, countertops and a variety of cabinet options are included, among others.

ON TV

Catch the "Disaster House" premiere Tuesday at 9 p.m. The DIY Network show inflicts "common and not so common" household catastrophes on the same house in Engelwood, Colo., each week -- and then shows how to repair it. We'll be watching for the promised episode (13 in all) where the piano drops through the roof.

WINNERS CIRCLE

• Frattallone's Ace Hardware is inviting all takers "to turn mops into Monets and plungers into Picassos" in a call for entries to its encore Hardware Art Show. All art should be made of items found in hardware stores, not exceed 2 feet on any side and be of "manageable" weight. The business plans to display entries at its Minneapolis store at 1804 Nicollet Av. S. beginning Oct. 16; entries are due Monday and the first 25 will receive priority consideration. Forms are available at the store's 13 locations or at www.frattallones.com/artshow; you must submit a photo with your entry form. Winners get cash equivalents to spend in the stores.

• Sign up through Monday for a chance to win a room full of child's furniture and electronics worth $7,000 at www.roomandboard.com. The contest will award rooms to one boy and one girl; the winner will also receive a wardrobe from 77kids by American Eagle.

KIM YEAGER, connie nelson