CasaSugar

Guess What These Items Are?

CasaSugar — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:00:30 -0700

These little acorn, leaf, and shell items may look like sculptures, and while in a sense they are, they also have a much more functional purpose. Their gray color should give it away, but just in case, I'll give you a hint: they're quite helpful in getting the word out. Do you know what they are?

Weird Furniture: Where There's Smoke by Maarten Baas

CasaSugar — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:15:20 -0800

Dutch designer Maarten Baas's "Smoke" is a series of a charred furniture finished with an epoxy resin so that the pieces are preserved instead of destroyed. A 2004 exhibition called "Where There's Smoke" at Moss in New York showcased the collection of 25 one-off pieces, including iconic designs by Gaudi, Eames, Rietveld, Sottsass, and the Campana Brothers among others, which had each been burned with a blow torch and then salvaged with the translucent sealant. At the exhibit, the pieces were put in a timeline from antique to modern, grouping pieces like a grandfather clock and chaise lounge together, and a second stage of pieces like an Eames LCW chair and Noguchi coffee table from 1900-1950 together.

Three of the "Smoke" works were picked up by Marcel Wanders for reproduction by his international design company, MOOOI, and important designers and collectors like Lidewij Edelkoort and Philippe Starck have also personally acquired the pieces. Select pieces have been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. What's really beautiful about the series is that the furniture retains that charred texture, it's quite haunting, and appropriate for Halloween. To see more photos and close-ups, read more.

View 19 Photos ›

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Weird Furniture: Chainsaw Rocker

CasaSugar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:30:25 -0700

Artist Christopher Chiappa's Chainsaw Rocker is a to-scale reproduction of a junkyard-find Honda Accord car seat that was chiseled to form by a chainsaw sculptor. Currently on view at Moss in Los Angeles, it's lowbrow artwork for the design elite. While its brass plated legs make it a delightfully functioning rocker, it's the chair's texture that really gets me. The wood was so expertly carved, with such realistic curves, that its toughness is almost disguised. It's funny: you wouldn't normally associate the harsh cuts of a chainsaw with the upholstery of a car seat.
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Crave Worthy: Light Colors Chandelier

CasaSugar — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:00:52 -0700

Otherwise known as "pastel," the Heiko Bleuel Light Colors Chandelier ($2,735) has the perfect color scheme for Spring. Of course, I'm not suggesting you switch out your chandelier come Fall. This aluminum, stainless steel, and laminated paper light fixture is just something to get excited over if the increasingly warm weather isn't doing it for you (which would be just plain silly). I'm completely swooning over this product shot; I'd kill to see it in action with the bulb flicked on. I guess I'll have to stop by Moss next time I'm in NYC to take a peek. Hopefully by then I'll have saved up the dollars to pony up for it. It'll go smack dab over my dining room table, or in my foyer, decisions, decisions . . .

Love It or Hate It? Vegetariana Tray

CasaSugar — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:15:46 -0700

The Vegetariana Tray ($1,400) was designed by Italian artist and businessman Piero Fornasetti in 1946, and is constructed from printed and hand-painted wood. Each of these trays is crafted completely by hand. I love Fornasetti's designs, and this Vegetariana Tray is no exception, but what do you think?

Crave Worthy: Moss Cloud Chandelier

CasaSugar — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 04:30:24 -0800

I'm a firm believer in the notion that it pays to dream. Just the thought of one day hanging this Cloud Chandelier ($40,000) in a high ceilinged foyer of my own truly has me floating on cloud nine. Yes, I know the thing costs more than a car or a down payment on a house. But I really feel that one fine day this 32-armed, mouth-blown crystal luminary will be mine. Until then, I'll just go to sleep where life is all hearts, stars and black American Express Cards.

This Just In: Moss Store Opens in Los Angeles

CasaSugar — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 10:15:35 -0700

Moss is a swanky store in New York that toes the line between design mall and museum. Products by various designers are often displayed behind glass, and the mix of limited-edition creations is often quite bizarre. (The online store even has a section entitled Extreme Other.)

Now, founder Murray Moss is taking his sleek and cheeky aesthetic to Los Angeles. The store's second-ever showroom opens today at 8444 Melrose Avenue, and it sounds like quite a place. Consider this description from the Moss web site:

Moss-starved Angelinos will have their design needs fulfilled come August 3 when the large glass door in our ivy covered front pushes open to an astounding Swarovski Crystal Palace installation (of eighteen 8-foot high Vertical Glitterbox chandeliers by Georg Baldele) surrounding a 1938 Steinway Baby Grand fire-sculpted by Maarten Baas.

Like so many things in LA, this sounds like a place to see and be seen as much as a place to shop. Even if I can't afford anything in Moss, I'm dying to check it out.

via Dwell blog

How-To: Create a Moss Chair

CasaSugar — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:00:08 -0700

Last week, I introduced you to talented designer Kyle Schuneman, who's known for his innovative small space design. Kyle recently created this cool moss chair. Luckily for all of us, he also sent along directions on how CasaSugar readers can get the look of this awesomely garden-inspired seating option.

To see how to make this chair for your own home, patio, or garden, read more.

Find a side chair that has a nice solid seat - something with a great shape and with a vintage flair will really take this chair to the next level. You will need to wet newspaper strips as well. Once you clean the chair cover it in moist newspaper strips.
Once the chair is covered in newspaper you will then put a little spray adhesive down and a thin layer of chicken wire so that the moss has something to grab on to.
Section by section, spray a bit of adhesive on the back of each piece of moss and push it onto the damp newspaper/wire. The bigger the piece the moss the better, so it doesn't look pieced together. Instead, it will feel like it has grown from the earth.
Once the entire chair is covered in moss, make sure to water it regularly in order to keep it healthy and growing. You can use a spray bottle or a hose with a spray attachment in order to keep it damp. The newspaper acts as something for the water to soak in, keeping the moss healthy. Use this moss chair as a great sculptural piece in a sunroom, a plant stand outside, or even a functional chair that is also a conversation piece.

Designer Spotlight: Charlotte Moss

CasaSugar — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 10:34:24 -0700

Although Charlotte Moss's “couture living” design philosophy resonates more with my mother’s décor routine than my own, she really has an appreciation for the small details, which I admire. Moss is an interior designer with a knack for making even the most displeasing, mundane objects seem elegant to the eye. She’s “good to the last drop,” you might say. A Virginia native who now resides in Manhattan, East Hampton, and Aspen, Moss demonstrates a distinct, Old World, Southern charm in her décor, which, as a person who lived for years in the South, I welcome.

In 1985, Moss left an executive post on Wall Street to found her interior design firm, Charlotte Moss & Company. She has designed residential installations throughout the US, written five books, and become a sought-after lecturer. She recently opened the Townhouse, a five-floor home-furnishings store on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Whether or not you can afford her home furnishings, if you can make it to 63rd and Madison, you’ll find her shop to be a great source of inspiration for novice homemakers like many of us, as it is merchandised as if it were her own home. To see some of my favorites from Moss's shop, click the images below.

Home Library: Charlotte Moss's A Flair for Living

CasaSugar — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:30:28 -0700

Designer Spotlight Charlotte Moss's sixth book, A Flair for Living will be published by Assouline this May. The full color, large format volume shares her ideas on gracious style, exuberant entertaining, refined glamor, and home couture. Chock full of images of her elegant interiors, it is likely to inspire traditionalists. While my sneak peek at the book did open my eyes to several overlooked truths of decorating, such as, "A good mirror is a great investment. Every room can handle one," I was admittedly disappointed by the mass of editorial "fluff" (and uninspired graphic design).

Speaking of centerpieces, Moss writes, "Decorating a table is one of life's basic pleasures. Three meals a day means a lot of decorating practice. Begin with a beautiful set of white china, . . ." I find it hard to believe that a woman who runs a successful interior design company, a home boutique, and designs her own furnishings has the time to decorate her dining table everyday. But, much like the interiors she designs, Moss's new book is evidence that she places importance in the simple details of life and home, a skill we should all attempt to cultivate.
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