CasaSugar

How-To: House Backyard Chickens in Style

CasaSugar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:00:24 -0700

My friend Beth, who I've known since high school, recently started a blog to update her friends and family on her latest domestic adventure - raising backyard chickens. Since Beth never does anything halfway, she and her husband Craig built a chicken coop that is super cute and matches their 1922 Craftsman home.

She writes, "I paid my way through college 10 years ago raising and killing chickens and also had laying hens. I wanted to get another batch of layers, but was resigned because a) we have a teeny tiny backyard; and b) my husband isn't much of a farmer."

However, all was not lost. Beth notes, "This spring, I convinced the man who drank a case of Diet Mountain Dew each week when we met (he has thankfully kicked the habit since) to build raised beds and start an organic garden. I gave up on the idea of having chickens, but he took up the cause and was convinced we could fit a small coop next to the garden."

To find out more about Beth and Craig's chicken-raising adventure, and to see how well their chicken coop matches their home, read more.

"We bought our chicks on July 9th and went on Seattle Tilth's coop tour the following weekend," reports Beth. "Craig took lots of photos and took all the best ideas from the coops we saw for his own design. Some materials were recycled: he salvaged the window and built the window box out of scraps we had from this and other projects. The coop is painted to match our house, white trim and all. Craig thinks the finished product took about 100 hours to build. It's a little over the top, but that's my husband. (By the way, not only has he stopped drinking Mountain Dew, but he's off all high fructose corn syrup and is quite the label reader. Weird. Now he's all about organic veggies and can't wait for the hens to start laying.)"

I have total chicken coop envy now, and I'm also envious of Beth's hubby's building skills. What a great coop! You can keep up with Beth and Craig's chicken adventures on Beth's blog. In the meantime, check out the gallery to see images of the decoupaged interior of the coop, as well as the coop's perfect match to their Craftsman.

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Garden Therapy: Preventing Creatures From Eating Fall Bulbs

CasaSugar — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:00:00 -0700

Ann Whitman, the green goods supervisor at Gardener's Supply, recently offered some advice for preventing squirrels, deer, and other critters from digging up and destroying your Fall bulbs. Check out her tips below.

Squirrels love to dig in newly disturbed soil, so prevent them from exploring by disguising your newly planted bulbs. Cover the planting area with rocks, boards, buckets, or chicken wire. Once the ground freezes, you can move the rocks or other materials.
Since deer don't care about bulbs until the Spring, protect tender leaves by covering them with wire mesh once they start popping up next Spring.
Avoid damage from chipmunks and voles by surrounding bulbs with sharp gravel and oyster shell. You can also plant them inside a wire cage.
Deter rascally rabbits by spraying repellents, such as Liquid Fence, or predator urine, around bulbs in the Spring.
Try planting bulbs that animals find unappealing. Chief among these are daffodils, alliums, fritillaries, grape hyacinths, and many other spring-flowering bulbs.

Source: Flickr User Gilles Gonthier

Desire/Acquire: Ceramic White Animal Napkin Rings

CasaSugar — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:15:38 -0700

Jonathan Adler's new Animal Napkin Rings ($18 each) are irresistibly adorable. But, a whole set of four will cost you $72 smackers! I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to spend those dollars on a good bottle of wine or an indulgent menu. Luckily, I've found a similar set of barnyard napkin rings for much less! To see them, read more.

These Vintage Animal Napkin Rings ($24 for four) on Etsy will save you $48 on your dinner table décor, and are equally cute. The chicken, piggy, rabbit, and duck have country flair and are more true to form than Adler's modern napkin rings, but they're too sweet not to love!

Love It or Hate It? Leather Rhinoceros

CasaSugar — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:30:00 -0800

Growing up, a few of my parents' British ex-pat friends had leather animal footstools in their living rooms, so I have a nostalgic attachment to this Leather Rhinoceros (inquire for price). The stools were first sold at Liberty's in London in 1927 and have been popular in England ever since. Some of us with eclectic tastes applaud their quirky British style, but I understand that they're a little wacky for most.

Etsy Find: Sharon Montrose Photographs

CasaSugar — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:00:38 -0800

I just came across these Animal Prints ($25) by photographer Sharon Montrose, and I'm totally smitten. The LA-based shutterbug snapped these real live animals, who mostly "live happily at a small California Zoo," perched in front of a white backdrop on hardwood floors. The details are truly amazing, and I applaud her for getting these zoo dwellers to stand so still! There's something so human about these images that I love; Montrose brings out each animal's personality with just the click of a button. Oh, and did I mention that the price is right?! What do you think?

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How-To: Keeping Deer Out of Your Garden

CasaSugar — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:30:00 -0700

Growing up in the country, deer and other creatures were daily visitors to my garden, nibbling and trampling upon everything in sight, and they often caused car accidents in the area. Needless to say, they're not my favorite forest creature. But that doesn't necessarily mean you have to wait for deer season to keep them away from your casa; there are plenty of ways to keep them out of your garden without increasing your daily venison intake. Here are a few:

Install an extremely high fence. Deer can jump quite high, so it must be about eight feet tall to keep them out. Consider invisible deer fence, which isn't such an eyesore. And remember to fence off your driveway entrance or install cattle guards, which they can't cross.
Get a dog to scare the deer away.

There are plenty more to hear about, so read more.

Spray deer repellents about 30" off the ground around your garden. Try Not Tonight Deer, Liquid Fence, Deer Away, Deer Out, Deer Off, Hinder, or a homemade repellent. You'll have to reapply according to the instructions.
Soak a clothesline in repellent and hang it at a low height around your garden.
Soak the area in animal urine. Don't worry: You can buy it, rather than gather yourself!
Pick up hair clippings from your hairdresser and fill a nylon stocking with it. Place a few around your planting beds.
Hang bars of strong-smelling soap from the trees and bushes, or grate soap bars and scatter the soap around your garden.
Install a baited, electric fence like Wireless Deer Fence.
Install a motion activated sprinkler like Scarecrow Sprinkler.

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Trend Alert: Wild Things

CasaSugar — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:30:53 -0700

Metropolitan Home has spotted a trend of animal-inspired home designs, evidenced by everything from a kangaroo-footed silver bowl to bird-feet candlesticks. While I don't think finding inspiration in wildlife is anything new — Hello, antlers! — I have been noticing a lot of furniture
shaped like animals and creatures themselves. I don't mean things that are embroidered or printed with owls and peacocks, but furnishings that resemble fauna three-dimensionally. It's no surprise, really: they were all here before we were. But, it's interesting to see how animals have manifested themselves in our living rooms (or at least designer showrooms). Take a peek at this slideshow to see the herd of wild furniture I've rounded up.

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Steal of the Day: Organic Leopard Print Duvet Cover

CasaSugar — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:30:13 -0700

Add some animal magnetism to your bedroom with this West Elm organic cotton snow leopard duvet cover (full/queen on sale for $69.99, originally $99 ). This duvet cover is in a 250-thread-count organic cotton, and comes with matching shams (sold separately). I love the brown color scheme, which helps to tone down a potentially over-the-top pattern. What about you? Would you dress your bed with a leopard print?

Love It or Hate It? Cipola Pewter Crocodile Lamp

CasaSugar — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 03:04:13 -0800

This Cipola Pewter Crocodile Lamp ($2500) hovers somewhere between refined and ridiculous. Even if I did have money to burn, I can't see myself buying this. But that doesn't mean I don't like it.

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Steal of the Day: Creature Comforts Print by Keith Greiman

CasaSugar — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 08:22:43 -0700

For today's Steal of the Day, I have another item that fits right into October's Dress Your Walls theme.

I love the cartoony, child-like fantasy of this gigantic two-headed cat creature jumping over a home in Keith Greiman's print "Creature Comforts." The print is 6" x 4.45" (plus border for framing), and only $20, but hurry: There are only 15 prints left at Tiny Showcase, so grab one before they're gone!

Keith has chosen the Morris Animal Refuge as his artwork's charity at Tiny Showcase, which means that $250 dollars from the sale of his prints will be donated to the organization. For more than 130 years, the Refuge has provided a full range of preventive, protective and adoption services for abused, neglected and abandoned animals.

arne jacobsen Swan Chair - Fabric - $3,678.00	Fritz Hansen 3-leg ant chair - color - $427.00
Zanotta - sirfo goose table by alessandro mendini - $3,712.00	Ibride Diva Black Ostrich Console Table - $500.00
Vitra eames plywood elephant - limited edition - $2,033.00	Vitra Elephant Stools - $145.00
Knoll - bird lounge chair by harry bertoia - $299.00	Cappellini - cappellini fish chair by satyendra pakhalè - $1,039.00
Tortoise Foot Stool - $999.00	Safari Animal Chair Cushions - $24.00
Butterfly Chair - $129.00	Vitra Butterfly Stool - $645.00
Zanotta - mariposa bench by riccardo dalisi - $9,106.00	Zanotta - pavone chair by riccardo dalisi - $6,409.00
Magis -puppy by magis me too collection - $71.00	Ibride Sultan Red Dog Stool - $350.00