CasaSugar

Zooey Deschanel Shows Domino Her Digs

CasaSugar — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:00:49 -0800

I love a woman who's serious about her creative spaces, and actress and musician Zooey Deschanel, who is featured in Domino’s upcoming February issue, is definitely after my decorating heart.

Deschanel, who graces the February issue's cover, shares one of her favorite rooms with Domino, a study that she's transformed into a creative space. The musician and actress's home style seems perfectly in line with her professional life: a combination of smart, quirky, and absolutely unique selections, much in keeping with her choices for acting roles and music collaborators. And who could be more perfect for the February issue than Deschanel, whose Valentine's Day sweetheart - fiancé Ben Gibbard, front man for Death Cab For Cutie - recently proposed to her.

Make sure to grab a copy of Domino next week, when the new issue hits stands on Jan. 13. To tide you over until then, see and hear about how the room is used when you read more.
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Zooey Deschanel transformed the study in her home into a soundproof studio, where she could write new music for her band with M. Ward, She and Him. I love the blue-upon-blue layering of fabric, paint, and pattern, and the pops of red lend an alertness and creative fire to the room. The blue-gingham piano bench reminds me of Dorothy's dress in the Wizard of Oz, which seems appropriate since Deschanel played an updated Dorothy in Tin Man. Everything about the room seems relaxed, inspirational, and feminine, from the two-toned piano to the soothing blue shades.

For more photos from the shoot, check out the outtakes on Domino.

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Home Library: Creative Interiors Coloring Book

CasaSugar — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 07:37:47 -0700

You're never too old for coloring books, particularly if your coloring book can breed brilliant decorating ideas. So put down the magazines and design books for a minute and pick up this Rock Scissor Paper Creative Interiors Idea Journal and Coloring Book ($35). Designed for the kid (and design junkie) in all of us, this cute spiral-bound book includes line drawings of furniture, patterns, and interiors that you can "design" with the accompanying colored pencils. Those of you who keep a decorating file will also appreciate the pages of sketch and grid paper where you can jot down ideas.

Home Library: Creative Interiors Coloring Book

CasaSugar — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:59:33 -0800

Whoever said coloring books were just for kids was a liar! The Rock Scissor Paper Interiors Creative Idea Journal and Coloring Book includes 12 coloring book pages of modern, mid-century interior scenes, plus furniture and design elements, along with 25 grid pages, and 25 blank sketch pages. It's a risk- and hassle-free way to decide what color Overlapping Squares Chair to buy, or what wallpaper hue will match your Louis XVI chair. It's definitely built for just grown-ups . . . unless any of you know a six year old who owns a Tulip chair. I personally just wish there were more coloring book pages; if I wanted a sketch book, I'd buy one.

Casa Interview, Part I: Domino Founding Editor Deborah Needleman (and an Awesome Giveaway!)

CasaSugar — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:00:54 -0700

We design enthusiasts will admit that Domino will always hold a special place in our hearts - and bookshelves. But it was the stable of talented, creative people that truly made the beloved magazine an influence and an inspiration. So I was so delighted to have the chance to catch up with the founding editor-in-chief of Domino and co-author of Domino: The Book of Decorating, Deborah Needleman. It should come as no surprise that she hasn't lost her knack and passion for design.

Deborah's latest project is an exciting, interactive tool that she's created for HomeGoods, called StyleScope, which helps you find your own interior design style and learn to navigate the vast world of décor options. Home Goods, I hope you know, is a wonderful place to find designer home décor at prices 20 to 60 percent lower than department stores, and is also one of my favorite resources for stylish accessories. Deborah was kind enough to share some of her thoughts and tips on design and curating a stylish home that's uniquely you, and give us the lowdown on her life these days!

What are you working on these days? Any exciting projects on the horizon for you?
I am really enjoying the idea of just doing projects, consulting, writing, gardening - I probably shouldn't admit it, but it's quite a good relief to not be working so hard and to have a break from the pressure. I am considering on a couple book projects - one on table settings, another on decorators' gardens, and a more personal book on growing vegetables and flowers.

Before Domino, I was a garden writer - and it's nice to have time to garden like mad again. I'm also talking to people and companies about designing furniture and accessories and starting up new businesses. Sometimes I feel like I'm a professional meeting-taker. Last night the former creative director of Domino [Sara Ruffin Costello] and I hatched a plan to try to redesign all the ugly products at Duane Reade like Kleenex boxes, toothpaste, and shaving cream!

To read the rest of the interview, read more.

For the Summer, I'm just hanging out with my children, gardening, and being as lazy as possible. I've loved working with HomeGoods because oddly the store is a well-kept secret among design snobs - and I love spreading the word about great design sources. That was what Domino was about: sharing ideas and resources. And creating a style quiz was something we wanted to do but never got around to at Domino.

What current trends do you think have staying power?

Decorating that has personality and a sense of reality rather than rooms that are too matchy or too perfect. Rooms that are stiff and lifeless really depress me!! Mixing high and low design and price points will remain chic, and not simply for economic reasons - it shows personality and confidence. Also, now that nearly everyone is interested in design, there is no going back. It's a better decorated world than it used to be, and that is so nice!

What are your favorite go-to resources for furniture? How about accessories?

I am decorating my house upstate (well, really former Domino editor Rita Konig is!) and I can't get enough of the fabrics, rugs, cushions, and accessories from John Robshaw, Madeleine Weinrib, and John Derian.

What’s your number one tip for finding great bargains?
I am married to a man who will buy something truly awful because he "saved so much." Something is only a great bargain if you would want it even if it cost more. I learned from Domino editor Dara Caponigro to never let anything in my house I don't love. Even free stuff is not a bargain if you don't need or love it - it is junk, clutter. Also, you must know your own style more if you're wading through a flea market or garage sale than if you're in a boutique where the owner has done all the taste-editing for you already!

What types of furnishings should one splurge on/invest in? Any to cut back on?

It's so personal. It really only matters what matters to you. I believe in expensive sheets. I like sleeping, and good sheets are a wonderful indulgence.

How did working at Domino influence your own decorating habits or design choices?
As a reader, I craved a magazine like Domino because I was a person who I felt had good taste, but not great style, if you know what I mean. I could never make a decision because I could never decide who I was stylistically or how to express myself!! I surrounded myself at the magazine with people who I thought had great taste and great style (and all rather different style sensibilities actually), and who were all also really smart and nice - so they could teach me and the readers simultaneously. I learned to edit! I learned I could have a lot of different styles I like but just not all at once!!! And I learned to both be braver and to loosen up more. You can't avoid making some mistakes. But truthfully, I also learned that there is a lot to learn, that decorating well isn't easy, and that there are people way better at it than me - and that I still want their help! I love the advice of experts. Sadly, for me, the more I know, the more I know I don't know! Domino also made me realize how important decorating can be to the life of a home, and the life of a family.

This interview will be continued, so stay tuned for more. And we have a special giveaway for you CasaSugar readers on the way! One of you lucky readers will win a $500 gift card to HomeGoods. Check back for the rest of the interview and details about the giveaway tomorrow!

Don't Take Yourself (or Your Home) Too Seriously

CasaSugar — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:00:45 -0700

"The best rooms never take themselves too seriously and yes, there is such a thing as death by good taste! A multi-layered interior should easily accommodate (and, at times, flaunt) some irony, wit or kitsch." - Met Home Creative Director Linda O’Keeffe

Photo by Todd Selby

Colette Commissions Lisa Fontanarosa Collection Wire Art

CasaSugar — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:00:11 -0700

You may not know your Left Bank from your Right Bank, or have ever stepped foot on French soil, but you've probably heard of Colette, the fashion and design temple of Paris. The preeminent concept boutique hails art-loving hipsters from near and far, and regularly organizes exhibitions with both up-and-coming and established artists - including my beloved interiors photographer Todd Selby. Colette's latest exposition is MeWeCycle, a project curated by Karta Healy featuring a collection of designers’ work, based on their love of the bicycle and creative recycling. Some of the most innovative designers around have created furnishings, lighting, clothing, accessories, and design objects for the shop all from recycled materials.

To hear about the artist behind the bicycle pictured here, read more.

Always on the hunt for international talent, Colette called upon Lisa Fontanarosa to tap her stable of European and American designers to create bespoke pieces for the show. Lisa asked Marie Christophe, known for her exquisite, whimsical, wirework light fixtures and sculptures, to create a life-size bicycle in wire with a transparent crystal seat and a crystal bell. The bicycle, shown above, hangs in the window of Colette. Another wire artist from Fontanarosa's collection, Barbara Gilhooly, made industrial hearts from vintage erector sets exclusively for Colette. Both are magnificent proof that "recycled" and "refined" can be one and the same.

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Casa Interview: Interior Designer Leslie Bamburg

CasaSugar — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:00:30 -0700

Two years ago, Leslie Bamburg formed her company Labexperiment, an interior design business that offers an affordable professional decorator option to the design fiend who lacks mad cash. Labexperiment works on the premise that beautiful design can be affordable, individualized, and integrated to meet the resident's needs. Leslie notes that she doesn't believe that there should be separation between people's fashion, media, tech needs, music, and interiors. With this philosophy in mind, she makes diagnoses of clients' homes, notes what they need to add, subtract, or rearrange, and then prescribes the elements needed to improve a room or home.

I recently sat down to chat with Leslie about her business, design sensibility, and advice for readers.

CasaSugar: Tell me about your initial home visit with a new client. What are you looking for? And what kinds of things do you want to know about them?

Leslie Bamburg: Besides taking all the necessary photos and measurements, I just try to get to know the client, to figure out their style and functional needs for the house. Some things are obvious - if they have little kids and a dog I will want to make sure things are easy to clean. But some things come out only after a good conversation. Inability to keep plants alive (like me), or a childhood trauma involving the color fuchsia, for example. I always bring an inspiration book of magazine cut-outs, so we can look at pictures instead of using vague words like “modern” to figure out what they like.

For the rest of the interview, read more.

CasaSugar: How do you determine where furniture and décor will be purchased from? Does it depend on budget? Do you ever use antique/flea market finds along with retail shops?

Leslie Bamburg: The best thing about a prescription is that with every shopping list item, I explain why I chose it. So if the client wants to look for something similar at another store, or even an antique or flea market, they know what they are looking for and what is important about it. My selections definitely depend on budget, as well as style, timeline, and location of the client. Though I have an ever-expanding list of stores and websites I look at, I like to make sure I personally know the quality of all the major pieces I am recommending. I’m not going to recommend that someone buy a sofa, for example, that they can’t test out beforehand. Comfort is such a personal thing.

CasaSugar: What are your go-to stores for purchasing furniture and décor for clients?

Leslie Bamburg: I do shop at all the major retailers, like CB2, Pottery Barn, and Williams-Sonoma Home, but I don’t want a finished room to look like a page from a store catalog, so I try to mix things in from different sources, as well as the client’s existing furniture and personal items. I like rooms to look like they came together over time, even if everything was purchased on the same day. I also try to take advantage of stores where I get a designer discount, since who doesn’t like to save money?

CasaSugar: How has your fine arts background informed your interior design work?

Leslie Bamburg: I learned a lot about composition, proportion, and color, which I use every day, but I think the most important thing is the ability to edit, and stop when something is done. Also, my focus was on mixed-media art, which meant that I was rarely shopping in the art supply store, but looking for my supplies everywhere - the hardware store, grocery store, thrift stores, and electronics supply stores. This really taught me to think creatively about where good things can come from.

CasaSugar: Do you recommend art for clients as well? If so, how do you go about this?

Leslie Bamburg: Yes, though everyone has a different preference for the type, quality, and price of artwork they want on their walls. I’ve recommended everything from Ikea frames on old family photos to expensive paintings, to DIY artwork like stretching cool fabric on a canvas. From my first meeting with a client I usually have an idea of what they are up for.

CasaSugar: What are some of the most common mistakes or decorating sins you’ve seen with clients?

Leslie Bamburg: When people don’t like to shop, I often see them getting a set of furniture from a store, so they can get it over with quickly. Putting together a well-designed room takes time and effort, so I can see why people sometimes take the easy way out. I also see people who like to shop and have a great sense of their own style, but their rooms are a mishmash of unrelated items, because they don’t have an overall vision and goal for the room.

Thanks Leslie! Check back soon for the rest of the interview. If you want to see what an online prescription looks like, check out the gallery.

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Source and Source

How-To: Paint Your Cast-Iron Radiator

CasaSugar — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Now that it's Summer, and you're not likely to be heating your home much, it's a good time to make sure your radiator is looking sharp. If you have a cast-iron radiator in an older home, it may be plagued with chipping paint, or maybe you'd like to freshen it up or make it blend into your walls with some color. In any case, it'll take you just a few hours and some elbow grease to give it a paint job that's worthy of your stylish crib. To learn how, read more.

Some of you may have an unpainted radiator or a finish that's in good shape, but if the paint is chipping, you'll need to remove it all before you give it a new finish. Unless you're prepared to remove your hefty radiator to sandblast it (or have it sandblasted professionally), you'll need to sand and scrape it the old-fashioned way: with a piece of sandpaper, a lot of elbow grease, and maybe even a putty knife. If you have an old radiator, the paint may contain lead, in which case, you do not want to sand because this would release lead into the air. Instead, use an eco-friendly paint stripper like SoyGel, 100 percent biodegradable and made from soybeans, which will encapsulate the lead in the gel, preventing airborne lead particles and allowing for safe and easy disposal.
The next step (or first, if you didn't need to sand) is just to clean all of the dust and dirt off of the radiator with a damp cotton rag.
Then, sand the radiator to create a rough surface for the paint to hold onto.
Open your windows and doors and make sure the area is well-ventilated.
Saturate a rag in Wil-Bond Deglosser and wipe down your radiator. This removes oils and cuts gloss so that the new finish will go on smoothly, bond tightly, and last longer.
Now, it's prime time! If your radiator has never been painted, prepare it for painting with a bare metal primer. If not, use an ordinary oil-based primer.
Here comes the fun part. Lay down some newspaper to protect your floors. Paint on your finish top coat, using any oil-based interior paint and a brush meant for oil-based paint. This paint will be heat-resistant and durable. If you choose to, you can also use spray paint, but you'll want a high-temperature aerosol paint and you'll need to mask off the surrounding area to protect your floors and walls.
Let it dry, and if it seems to need a second coat, go ahead. Fini!

Go here to see some creatively painted radiators!
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Designer Spotlight: Gary Spain

CasaSugar — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:00:44 -0700

San Francisco-based interior stylist Gary Spain creates eclectic interiors that take inspiration from unexpected sources. Indeed, in the current issue of California Home+Design, he notes that, "When I’m on a project, I’m really inspired by everything I see."

Spain's interiors mix high- and low-end finds, global influences, and showstopper new and vintage pieces. This aesthetic can be seen on this month's cover of California Home+Design, where he combines French Provençal chairs, original art, vintage high-end pieces, and a CB2 pendant lamp to create a lively, welcoming living room.

Spain, who previously worked as a creative director and photo stylist in Dallas, TX, has lived in San Francisco for four years, where he works for editorial photos shoots, advertising shoots, and catalogs, concentrating on styling and interior design. In the magazine, he explains his aesthetic by saying “I find interesting, weird things and make them work. I want people to walk in and be wowed. I like to create spaces that make people think." For more pictures of his work, read more.

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Do You Think Interior Design Affects Your Work and Mood?

CasaSugar — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:00:57 -0700

It's long been held by architects and interior designers that the places we live and work in can affect our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. But now, according to an article in the Scientific American, scientists are finding that there's an empirical basis for the theory, and have found clues on how to "promote creativity, keep students focused and alert, and lead to relaxation and social intimacy," with design, be it ceiling heights, window views, lighting, and more. From experience, have you found that the interior design of your home or office affects your productivity or your mood?
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