hjschicago,

Especially for idea-gathering (and generally reasonable, if not bargain, prices), I recommend the following:

Max Gerber, 2293 N. Milwaukee
Community Home Supply, 3924 N. Lincoln
Remodelers Supply Center, 2500 N. Pulaski
J & D Whirlpool and Bath Outlet, 2730 N. Elston
Merchandise Mart showrooms, esp. Kohler store

Not sure where you are in Chicago -- these places are mostly on the North Side.

Hope this helps.

Advantage Kitchen and Bath in Niles is great too.
Donna

Luxe Home showrooms, Merchandise Mart.

Studio 41 --their Highland Park location--has the BEST display of faucets in all of Chicagoland, and I have been to them all LOL. It's not a long drive from, say, Lincoln Park--about 1/2 hour during non-rush hours. Studio 41 also has a huge selection of knobs and pulls and other hardware, toilets, sinks, basically anything for kitchen and bathroom.

The Merchandise Mart is great for idea-gathering, but sometimes I got depressed there cause everything is so gorgeous, but most was out of my league price-wise. Don't miss the Waterworks store in the Mart; their tile displays are out of this world.

For granite and marble, I liked Granite America in Maywood. During non-rush hours, it only took about 20 minutes to get there from my job in the loop (I went during my lunch hours). I liked their large selection, and also because they are outside of the city, they have a lot more space and elbow room in their warehouse than the city's stone places. They are about to open an 85,000 s.f. facility in Northbrook also, and maybe it's already opened.

Electrical Supplies - Active Electric at 4240 W. Lawrence. But don't go there on a Saturday cause it's too busy. I found they had the best prices IF they realized that you were there to seriously buy. If you're going there to buy a couple of dimmers, you'll get short shrift.

Sconces and Pendant Lighting - OK, this is out of Chicago, in Milwaukee, but if you are thinking of doing a road trip, Brass Light Gallery in Milwaukee has the best light fixtures you will see. You can also order over their website. I never tire of looking at their sconces in my bathrooms.

The Tile Gallery at 225 W. Illinois. This place is quite expensive, but you will find tile here that you won't find anywhere else.

Thanks for all of the great suggestions! I was feeling a little overwhelmed, so it's definitely helpful to have a good shortlist.

Once you've started looking, if you need more specific places I can help. I know of a lot of Euopean kitchen showrooms. Their cabinets are a modern look though.
I have been looking for months myself and still don't have any idea what I'm going to do. For all of you Chicago residents, the 16th-20th of April is the Coverings show at McCormick place. You have to first register online. They will have all the new tiles available to see.
Donna

I went to Tile Gallery today. I've been there before. They are VERY expensive! I found a limestone I like for $18.00sqft. That's about $4,000.00 for tile without install!
Donna

I went to the Merchandise Mart and loved the Waterworks displays. So expensive though! The tile I liked was around $25/sqft! Any good ideas for getting the look/handmade tiles at a lower price? Also, I spoke with the designer with Aquaworks (at the Mart and in Evanston) and was thinking of hiring him on an hourly basis to consult on our kitchen design. Has anyone had experience with this store?
Thanks!

We just finished a whole house rehab on the far NW side. Where are you located?

We got all of our tile at either HD (great prices on Daltile - especially if you hit a sale) or Century Tile (lots of locations). We found Century to have a great selection at very reasonable prices.

We got some good deals at Great Indoors in Schaumburg. Roburn (marketed with Kohler name) medicine cabinets and a couple of light fixtures. Good selection and great sales.

Got our faucets and sinks all over. Found Lowes and HD to have the best prices on the basic Kohler fixtures. But did order some higher priced fixtures online/ebay. Studio 41 is a great place to browse. Also Crawford Supply in Niles on Lehigh Ave.

There are actually several kitchen/bath stores in Niles (on or around N. Milwaukee)for whatever reason and the displays are great for generating ideas, even if you don't buy there. Advantage Bath in Niles and Studio 41 are also the only places we found Toto toilets in the area.

A couple of "hit of miss" spots, HOBO (Home Owners Buyers Outlet?) www.hoboonline.com. has everything from interior doors to basic cabinetry, sinks, vanities, tile, some fixtures. Tile Outlet at 2434 W Fullerton has great prices on some unusual glass tile and real stone, but not a huge selection.

Also, we LOVED both our cabinet maker and granite/marble supplier. Affordable and amazing quality and service. Amish Custom Kitchens (did our bath vanities too) www.amishcustomkitchens.com/ and Stone Supply www.stonesupplyllc.com. Used Showerworks for our shower doors and some mirror work. http://www.showerworks.net/

Good luck!

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Our house is in Lincoln Park, a real fixer upper built in 1890 (needs all new plumbing, windows, HVAC etc) I was just up in Highland Park today at Studio 41. I had some Dynasty bathroom vanities priced out at around $1400-1600. I'm just starting my research - don't know if this is high or low! Thanks for the cabinet and granite supplier recommendations - I"ll definitely check them out.

Bumping this up. We are in the NW suburbs near Barrington/Libertyville/Kildeer. Any recommendations for a remodeller appreciated. We don't want to be our own GC.

I am in Kildeer and our GC starts work this week. Complete gut and remodel on master bath. Everything new. So can't yet speak about that phase of working with them but will be able to in a few weeks.

BTW we worked with Studio 41 for most of our stuff as this was pretty quick planning, begun one day when sitting in living room chair, glancing up and seeing leak in the ceiling, under the shower! Final prices were not only lower than those listed in the showroom but better than the online discount sources, plus there's the advantage of having someone here and accessible in case there's a problem.

Deb

I love Advantage Kitchen And Bath in Niles. Their new sister store is Hydrology on LaSalle st. They called my contractor and I got his discount on everything! They delivered it all on one order for $65.00 and carried my cast iron tub in my condo. They exchanged my towel bar after 90 days without a restocking fee.

Donna

Thanks Debtro and Donna.

Have you heard anything about Insignia Kitchen and Bath in Barrington?

We did a gut on our home including 5 full baths and 1 half bath. I ordered all our faucets and toilets, several sinks and even a vanity and mirrors from Studio 41. They were cheaper on everything, including online sources, and free delivery too.

Since it was such a large job, it took me several months to make all my decisions. And then there were several things I needed at the last minute. Studio 41 was great and sent the items Next Day Delivery and again no charge. I had to return a faucet as it just was not working out and no problem with the return. Andrea is the plumbing designer and she was wonderful.

I live in Barrington Hills and both Insignia and Bath of Barrington are too darn expensive and...well the sales people were not very cooperative either.

Michelle

Oops forgot to mention that I went to the Studio 41 in Schaumburg.

Michelle

We worked with Andrea in Schaumburg too. Very helpful! She spent lots of time with us helping us plan. I don't think we would have been able to piece everything together on websites or through a place like Home Depot. I do have to say though, when we went to the Highland Park Studio 41, our interactions with sales staff there on two visits were not as helpful as the Schaumburg location. Highland Park has a nice showroom though.

I don't know anything about Insignia. We've talked with a lot of neighbors who've done work and I can't recall anyone mentioning Insignia.

I can give you a good custom tile contractor, if you're interested. Email me.

Oh my lord, I could never have done 6 bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room and butler's pantry without Andrea keeping track of everything. Geesh, there were 15 faucets to keep track of and I now can't even remember what we installed in the basement bath and I'm living in the house!

What ever Andrea's commission was, she earned every cent. I GC'd our job and there is no way I could have done it without the help of Andrea and Caroline, my lighting designer. Both were worth their weight in gold and then some!!

Michelle

Thanks everyone. I will definately check them out in Schaumburg!