The 2024 Spring Home & Outdoor Living Expo is coming to SageNet Center at Expo Square Friday through Sunday and will include the latest in home and garden design options, as well as handcrafted products, giveaways and attractions for the whole family.
Now in its ninth year, the show will feature 300 booths and more than 50 categories of exhibitors, including outdoor living designers, sunroom builders, home security specialists, lawn and landscaping companies and more, according to show director Frank Sawyer.
“If it’s a home product or service, the expo will have it,” Sawyer said, adding that visitors will be able to see the latest in home and garden products up close and chat with experts about ideas for improving their living spaces.
Sawyer’s company, Select Outdoor Solutions, is serving as the title sponsor of this year’s show and will feature several unique products, including pergolas with the specially designed Hercules cover system by Cover Your Pergola. The polycarbonate covers are designed to withstand a variety of weather conditions while keeping homeowners cool and comfortable as they relax outdoors.
“They’re rainproof and UV-resistant, but they still allow natural light through, and they come with a 10-year, no-question warranty,” Sawyer said.
Select Outdoor Solutions will also showcase its auxiliary dwelling units, outdoor structures that have many different uses ranging from pool houses to garden sheds and even guest quarters. The ADUs are comprised of structural insulated panels, known as SIPs, which are made of a layer of insulated foam sandwiched between two panels of oriented strand board, creating a sturdy, energy-efficient building material that can be used in multiple ways.
“It’s a lightweight but very strong, rigid material,” Sawyer said of SIPs, adding that a 12-by-16-foot ADU building can be constructed in as little as two hours.
The expo’s Garden Railroad, the Tulsa Garden Railroad Club’s elaborate 2,100-square-foot display of outdoor model railroads, will include a switchyard and several continuously running trains, as well as scale models of Tulsa-area landmarks such as the Golden Driller and the Port of Catoosa’s famed Blue Whale. Club members will be present to answer questions from aspiring railroad hobbyists and assist with membership sign-ups.
Over at the Rescue Roundup, Animal Rescue Foundation, Oklahoma Alliance for Animals and Helpless Hounds Rescue will be on hand with dogs and cats available for adoption and rescue volunteers will be there to assist prospective pet parents get started on the adoption process.
At the Shopper’s Market, expo visitors can purchase an array of gourmet goodies, bath and body products and handcrafted items, many of which are made by Oklahoma-based artisans and businesses.
For Patrisha Funk, owner of LadyM Candles & Bath, this year’s show is a family affair. Funk, who has participated in the expo for the past three years, will be joined at the Shopper’s Market by her daughter and son, whose respective businesses, Best Funk Cosmetics and Resin Samurai, will be offering handcrafted eyeshadow and lip care products and resin creations.
Funk, who typically spends about two months preparing for the expo each year, will be offering made-from-scratch soaps and skin care products containing a mix of natural oils and butters, soy wax candles with wood wicks, and new products such as a solid dish soap that can be lathered with a bamboo brush, as well as ice cream scoop bubble-bath bombs decorated with cocoa butter drizzles and soap “sprinkles.” The soaps and candles will come in a variety of scents, including Nyx, which Funk describes as a dark, sweet fragrance, as well as fruit and bakery scents and florals such as lavender.
Funk’s foray into soapmaking was borne out of a quest to find products that were less irritating and more skin-friendly than those available through mass-market retailers. Her soaps are made through a cold process in which the various oils and butters are combined with a lye water solution (the lye is rendered safe through the soap-making process) until pouring consistency and dispensed into a mold, where they are allowed to set for 24 to 48 hours before being unmolded and sliced into bars with a special multi-bar cutter.
“Store soaps contain so many chemicals,” Funk said, adding that LadyM soaps have a creamier consistency rather than an irritating sudsy lather, and can also be used for shaving. “We wanted to make something that was more skin conditioning and softening.”
Expo visitors also can check out Oklahoma’s only Tesla Cybertruck, which will be on display at the Chadwick’s Lawn, Tree & Landscape booth, as well as sign up to take a 10 to 15-minute test drive of a Tesla Model M, Model 3, Model X or Model Y.