CasaSugar

Love It or Hate It? Times Square Station 42nd Street Chair

CasaSugar — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 06:00:45 -0800

American artist and metalsmith Boris Bally was commissioned by the New York City Transit Museum to create his Times Square Station 42nd Street Chair ($2,200). Each one-of-a-kind chair is handmade in his studio in Providence, RI, with pieces hand-cut and edges shaped and filed by hand from reflective aluminum signs inspired by New York's famous MTA graphics. I'd love to see one of these in a New York City kitchen, living room, or even an office. What do you say?

Love It or Hate It? Subway Tile Mat

CasaSugar — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:15:15 -0700

While I love subway tiles on the wall, I'm not sure how I feel about them when they're woven into a bath mat. Still, the Lux Subway Tile Bath Mat ($26) may have its appeal. What's your take?

Before and After: Cottage Kitchen

CasaSugar — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 07:00:00 -0700

Su Casa group member Rvarunnergal recently remodeled the kitchen of her 1940s Cape Cod home (as well as her bathroom). This photo shows what the room looked like when she purchased her home, and she says since then they've updated everything except the kitchen cabinets, which were pretty classic to begin with. Their newest addition is a backsplash made of recycled glass.
She says, "My absolute favorite part of this kitchen is the cork floors. Great on the feet!"

Want to see her updated kitchen?

In the News: A Luxury Condo for Fish

CasaSugar — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 04:30:41 -0700

Although the mortgage crisis may be making real estate exchanges difficult for a lot of people these days, luxury condos are actually coming quite easily to some citizens — fish. That's right, fish. Retired New York City subway cars are being shoved off of a barge off the coast of Delaware, according to The New York Times. The cars, or what Jeff Tinsman, artificial reef program manager for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, calls "luxury condominiums for fish," transform "barren stretch of ocean floor into a bountiful oasis, carpeted in sea grasses, walled thick with blue mussels and sponges, and teeming with black sea bass and tautog." While the creation of this artificial reef has spurred "a 400-fold increase in the amount of marine food per square foot in the last seven years," it has also resulted in "theft and sabotage of fishing traps and pots," and competition between other states for the last remaining subway cars, which are limited. Some environmental groups oppose these "fish condos" because they are lined with small levels of asbestos, but state and federal officials have approved their use because, they say, "the asbestos was not a risk for marine life and has to be airborne to pose a threat to humans." What are your thoughts on this housing situation?
Source

Nice and New: Made by Julene's City Series

CasaSugar — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:00:10 -0800

Paper cut artist Julene Harrison has just finished her City Series of framed lasercuts which are ready to scoop up in her Etsy shop. The series includes London, Paris, and New York lasercuts ($125 each), incorporating many of each city's famous landmarks and relevant motifs like the London Eye, New York's subway signs, and the Eiffel Tower. Each lasercut features a catch phrase for the the city like "Mind the Gap," too.Another paper cut artist, Julie Mirabelle of Famille Summerbelle, just posted a short video of herself in the action intricately cutting her gorgeous New York City map. To see it, read more.

The map took about 20 hours to cut and has been sped up to around two minutes in the video.

Cool Idea: A Converted Train Car

CasaSugar — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:00:29 -0700

I never thought I'd want to live in an old boxcar, until I saw this cheerful cafe built into a converted train on Treehugger. Located in Deptford, London, the pop-up shop is selling sustainably farmed coffee while the nearby train station, originally built in 1836, is being renovated.

I'm surprised how sunny and spacious the space is. It makes me want to park an old train car outside my house and use it as a guest quarters. With so many old railway cars around, I wonder why more people don't do this. What do you think of the idea?

Source

Before and After: A Sweet Galley Kitchen Makeover

CasaSugar — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:00:18 -0700

The prospect of renovating a kitchen or bathroom is usually an expensive one. And, unfortunately, there are too many kitchens that look the one in this 1939 bungalow, bruised with dreary cabinets, cringe-inducing laminate countertops, and no sense of personal style. Luckily, one designer has proven that a few budget-friendly details and a DIY attitude are all you need to give your kitchen the fresh update it craves. Rather than making expensive replacements and tearing down walls, she concentrated on reworking the existing surfaces.

To see how she made the changes, read more.

Glass cabinet doors stained in a cool sea-glass blue instantly made the space airier, and she tied the color in with matching wallpaper. A drainboard sink found at a salvage shop for $25 drastically improved the space functionally. Architectural add-ons to the cabinetry and pretty new knobs added style. And she added small-scale, bright white subway tiles to the backsplash, which added continuity to the wall and instantly brightened it up.

Head to DIY Ideas to read the whole story, see more photos, and learn how to tile your own backsplash!

Found It! Modern Waste Bin

CasaSugar — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:00:27 -0700

The restrained look of this bathroom ensures that the few featured elements really pop, including the baby blue subway tile floor and the crumpled modern waste bin beneath the sink. Want to know where to track down the waste bin? Find out when you read more.

It's the Bin Bin Wastebasket ($54). Featured in the New York Times, the wastebasket was designed by John Brauer for Essey of Denmark. Constructed of hard polyethylene, it's shaped to resemble a piece of crumpled paper and is available in black, bright red, brown, or white.

Source

Get the Look: Black Forest Bathroom

CasaSugar — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:00:56 -0700

If the designer of this bathroom had used less restraint with the color palette, the effect would be potentially clownish, or at the very least, a little melodramatic. But thanks to the subdued palette, elegant furnishings, and chrome features, the whole room looks divine.

To get the look, start with a simple, sophisticated sink, such as this Whitehaus Wall-Mounted Sink With Towel Bar ($309). Then, add some Licorice Glazed Subway Tiles ($8.95) to your bathtub, to create the same glam, unexpected touch shown in the photo.

To get the rest of the look, read more.

To create a forest in your bathroom, rely on the Cole & Son Woods Wallpaper. Just make sure to add a splash guard near the tub, and your bathroom should have a good ventilation system, to prevent the wallpaper from curling from too much moisture. Finish off the look with a stunning candelabra, sharp black accents, and a pretty side table, and you've got a bathroom to envy.

Source

Link Time!

CasaSugar — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:00:00 -0700

Learn to make a recycled hanging flower basket.- Craftzine
Modernism burns in Santa Barbara.- Life Without Buildings
Check out this sofa and stool made just for backpackers.- Design Milk
OMG. A house inspired by the classic Jacques Tati film Mon Oncle.- Happy Mundane
San Francisco approves a major solar energy project.- Green Inc.
Are white subway tiles all the same? Think again.- This Old House
How to be a stylish lumberjack (or axe murder).- Today and Tomorrow