CasaSugar

Desire/Acquire: Cafe Tables

CasaSugar — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:15:19 -0700

As I think about warmer weather and less rainy skies, I'm excited to spend more time outside at a sidewalk cafe. However, it's sometimes hard to get to a cafe to lounge at one of their outdoor tables, so I'm hoping to get one for my own house. I adore this Pensi Cafe Table (shown here), but at $692, it's a little out of my budget.

To see a more economical alternative, read more.

Leave it to my favorite cheap and chic standby, Ikea, to carry a similar table. The Billsta Table ($119.99) has a very similar look to the Pensi, but at a much more reasonable price point. You could even repaint or decoupage the table surface in silver to get closer to the Pensi's look.

Desire/Acquire: Curved-Arm Floor Lamps

CasaSugar — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:00:23 -0800

What's not to love about the chic Marc Sadler Twiggy Floor Lamp ($2,022)? (OK, besides its price.) This gorgeous, curved-arm floor lamp will gracefully bend toward your favorite novel as you sit on your sofa, and its sleek finish, available in red, black, yellow, or white, will create a great visual statement in your home.

Not quite ready to plunk down two grand on a floor lamp? Then find another, much more affordable option when you read more.

The Bauhaus Arc Floor Lamp ($199) sells for a fraction of the price of the Twiggy, and still looks gorgeous. With an iron base pedestal and aluminum shade, this cool, modern lamp is available in either olivine or stark white. I also love that it turns on and off with a foot switch. Are you a fan?

Less or More: Conical Leaning Floor Lamps

CasaSugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:00:18 -0700

For the next installment of this game, take a look at each of these leaning floor lamps and see if you can answer my questions about them.

Take the quiz

Crave Worthy: Cherner Armchair

CasaSugar — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:00:31 -0700

Designed in 1958 by Norman Cherner, the Cherner Armchair ($949) has a dramatic and elegant sloping shape, achieved by molding plywood, that sweeps me off my feet, literally and figuratively. Made of solid beech, it's built to last. This particular chair is a reproduction of the 1958 design, manufactured to the exact original specs by Cherner Chair, a company run by Norman Cherner's sons. Some of you purists might demand the 1958 original, if you're to shell out nearly a grand on a chair, but to me it's of no consequence . . . so long as I can share a lifetime with one of my many true loves. Everlasting love. Sigh.

Love It or Hate It? ABCD Two-Seater Sofa

CasaSugar — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 05:08:32 -0700

"A chair should be more than simply functional. It should be friendly, fun and colorful," asserts designer Pierre Paulin, responsible for the ABCD Two-Seater Sofa ($3,516). While this sofa is available in a variety of fabrics, I kind of like the groovy '60s inspired pattern shown here.

Weird Furniture: The Worker Chair

CasaSugar — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:00:48 -0700

You know that I love Hella Jongerius. But, sometimes her designs can be a little kooky. Take, for example, the Worker Chair made by Vitra. The design combines some crafty elements (stocky compact seat cushion and half-timbered structure) and other more technologically sophisticated elements (polished aluminum arc stand, wooden armrests); overall, the contrast is a bit unsettling. Beyond that, the back seat pillow fittingly, though unattractively, looks like a briefcase. I'm sure all the design fiends have kissed Jongerius's feet for this piece, but I don't see the appeal. Do you?

Crave Worthy: Vitra Kast Tall Storage

CasaSugar — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:07:02 -0700

When you've got storage like the Vitra Kast Tall Storage ($10,695), even your Encyclopedia Brittanica collection can look sexy — all the way from aardvark to zygote. The modular unit has a shelf and wall cupboard combination with colorful sliding doors. Although there's a lot going on with the color palette (pink, dark green, bronze grey, dark blue, sulphur yellow, and bright white), the clean lines and perfect proportions of the unit give it a restrained look that's elegant and distinguished. This is the type of piece that you could build a room around . . . starting with an accent rug with a small pattern, a sofa in a complementary color, bold-printed accent pillows with a happy dose of yellow, a Danish-modern armchair with similar lines, a glass-top coffee table that doesn't compete, and perhaps some silk window panels to add sheen. What do you think?

Weird Furniture: Globus

CasaSugar — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:00:24 -0700

Although I've been feeling globe shapes lately, I must say the Michiel van der Kley Globus ($8,775) is one big piece of weird furniture. It is described as a "compact personal mobile workstation," but is basically a desk and and chair on wheels in a big white ball. Its rotating chair and pull-out table top are revealed when you crack open its globe shape, and you can close it up and roll it away if you want to work in another room. Honestly, I think a laptop is a much more versatile "workstation," and they don't look like something out of Barbarella or Google Zurich. What do you think? I generally don't think of myself as much of a traditionalist, but I guess I'm making an exception for the Globus.

Crave Worthy: Hivemindesign Rune Bed

CasaSugar — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 05:30:20 -0700

Hello, drama! I can't help but think that if you called this bed your own, something edgy would happen in it. Hivemindesign's Rune Bed ($14,000), according to its makers, "creates a dialogue between the geometry of the form, with an implied cube that reflects its ornamentation into itself." In other words, it's really cool, edgy, and expensive. I personally love the way it courts modern spareness while alluding to more fussy and ornamental traditions. The bed is custom-made of solid poplar, so expect a lag time when you order one of these babies. But then again, you'll probably need some time to save your pennies to pay for this expensive, incredible bed.

Found It! Daniel Meade's Desk Lamp

CasaSugar — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:30:24 -0800

I'm a huge fan of Ugly Betty. I've been told that I even have an extra-loud belly laugh during the show. Besides admiring the great writing, acting, and physical comedy on the show, I've also been impressed with the thoughtful set design. While watching the show, I'd seen quite a few elements that seemed familiar, such as this orange lamp. I knew that I'd seen Betty's boss Daniel Meade's desk lamp before, but I couldn't quite remember where.

To find out where to buy this lamp, just read more.

This saffron-shaded mushroom lamp is the Nesso Lamp ($339). Also available in white, it was designed by Giancarlo Mattioli in 1967, and is made in Italy by Artemide. You can also find this cool little table lamp (which can also be wall mounted), in the Twentieth Century Design Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Photos copyright 2007 ABC, Inc. and Source