CasaSugar

What's Your Favorite Online Home Boutique?

CasaSugar — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 03:35:34 -0800

As part of our Best of 2007 polls, I want to know what online home boutique your credit card can't get enough of. Personally, I think chain stores and Craigslist are great places to get furniture, but boutiques are the best for unique knick knacks.

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Cool Idea: A Water Purification Plant Transforms Into a Boutique Hotel

CasaSugar — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:30:43 -0700

Thanks to the continued swine flu threat, travel to Mexico is unfortunately out of the question at the moment. But as soon as the danger of contracting the virus wanes, I want to book tickets to Puebla, Mexico, to stay at La Purificadora. This boutique hotel, designed by the architecture firm Legorreta + Legorreta, is located within an ex-water purification plant. Working around the existing structure, the hotel is a mixture of austere, modern design and unexpected materials. I love how the use of modern furniture (such as lucite) and architectural features (such as an amazing glass staircase) contrasts beautifully with the original building's timberframe structure and stonework.

For more about this hotel, read more.

The hotel's 26 rooms run for $155–295 midweek, and $205–395 on the weekends, which also includes breakfasts. Other amenities include a bookstore, bar, gym, outdoor rooftop pool, and a gorgeous outdoor fireplace. While the industrial-chic style of the hotel may seem at odds with the colonial style of Puebla's surrounding buildings, the hotel's original facade is intact, meaning that the plaster and stone exterior blends in well with the city's other 5,000-plus colonial buildings.

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Casa Shops: Taigan

CasaSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:00:41 -0800

As the list of online designer sample sales grows, a new web shop has opened with a slightly different business plan. Taigan is a community of over 30 (and growing) specialty shops, boutiques, and galleries nationwide for members only. The site offers access to small, upscale shops in cities as far and wide as Chattanooga, TN and Aspen, CO, which may not otherwise have an ecommerce site.

Taigan gets its name from a rare hunting dog which is said to have "a discerning eye and keen sense of awareness," an analogy for the company, which hunt for all things little-known and beautiful around the country. Purveyor of art, antiques, home décor, fashion, and jewelry you'd be hard-pressed to find elsewhere online, Taigan does seem to have a card up its sleeve. But, after your 14-day trial is complete, membership costs $15 a month or $165 per year. For the average shopper, I'm not sure the cost is justifiable, but it certainly might be worth it for an interior designer.

Link Time!

CasaSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:00:27 -0800

A boutique hotel in a trailer park! - ShelterPop
Improvise some guest vanities. - AT:NY
When do you call in a pro? - Charles and Hudson
Make these acorn napkin rings. - Craft
Where do you store cleaning products? - Re-Nest
Find out what's missing in Germany. - Decor8
What's the best way to display CDs? - Shelterrific

Hazelnut's Bryan Batt Opens Up to House Beautiful

CasaSugar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:00:54 -0700

If you're a design enthusiast and a New Orleans fanatic like me, you know Bryan Batt as a co-owner (with his partner Tom Cianfichi) of one of NOLA's finest décor boutiques, Hazelnut. I featured the boutique back in February of '08, and now Batt is set to ink his own home décor book. If you're just mad for Mad Men, you know him as Sterling-Cooper's in-the-closet, recently fired art director Salvatore Romano.

This month, House Beautiful is getting to know him, too. The shelter glossy has the lowdown on Batt's bedroom behavior, from his no-TV rule to his underbed storage, and of course, his bedroom décor resources.

I'm always interested to see where people get their design inspiration. So it was fun to hear about the jumping off point for his bedroom design:

The painting is the whole point of the room. It's by a friend of mine. Suzie Allain, who's a local artist and designer here in New Orleans. She showed some things at Hazelnut, my store here, and I fell in love with this series of bamboo stalks. She did this for me custom and then the room evolved around it.

See more excerpts from the issue.

Crave Worthy: Antique Ebonized and Turquoise Silk Chairs

CasaSugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:00:01 -0700

I love a good plush seat, but sometimes I can't help but sacrifice comfort for good looks. And, that time is now. The Antique Ebonized and Turquoise Silk Chairs ($1,300 for pair) from Paris Hotel Boutique don't look one bit comfortable, but they're just so ravishing. I think it's the juxtaposition of the contemporary turquoise Dupioni silk with the 1900s ebonized and gilt design. I imagine the chairs were originally upholstered in a fussy floral, but the lack of pattern here really lets the chairs' beautiful shape shine. I'd set them at the heads of a dining table, paired with some basic black Louis XV chairs, or station one in a quiet hallway to provide a pop of color.

Casa Shops: Rose and Radish

CasaSugar — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 06:30:52 -0700

I used to live around the corner from Rose and Radish, so I'm glad the gallery/boutique/flower shop is becoming a major presence online. The physical store is a showcase for constantly revolving pieces: Every three months, Rose and Radish choses a different theme (such as "round" or "tea time") and curates a collection based on the theme.

If you're ever in San Francisco, I encourage you to stop by; the floral designs, in particular, are a must-see. But for non-locals, Rose and Radish also has an incredible online store offering selections from the gallery and oodles of other unusual goods. It also has some great sales when the gallery is going through a switch; check out these current bargains. And to see some of my other favorites, click on the photos below.

Nice and New: Barbara Hulanicki Flock For Graham & Brown

CasaSugar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:00:54 -0700

Legendary fashion designer Barbara Hulanicki, who founded the iconic London boutique Biba in the '60s, is taking her signature art-nouveau style to the walls. She has created Graham & Brown's Flocked Collection, including five exclusive flocked wallpaper designs - Skulls, Ophelia, Shoes, Baroque, and Antoinette. Flocked wallpaper has a history over three centuries long. But like Hulanicki, it did have a heyday in the '60s and '70s, so it's a very fitting collection.

The papers go for $125 for a double roll, which is pretty reasonable for such luxurious material. Baroque, with a Victorian-inspired geometric pattern, and Ophelia, with a sophisticated floral pattern, are the most tame of the designs. Meanwhile, Skulls, Shoes, and Antoinette have more playful, eccentric imagery. Maybe it's just because Halloween is near, but I'm really drawn to Skulls. It has a mischevious quality that's almost shocking, because you don't recognize the pattern right away; I'd love to use it in a small dark corner of my home.

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Casa Shops: Adelante and Curb Service

CasaSugar — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:00:33 -0700

Whenever I visit friends in Austin, I try to drop by Adelante, a hip, laid-back women's clothing and lifestyle boutique. The shop, which has been in Austin since 1992, and called San Antonio home before that, is a family-owned boutique that offers everything from shoes, dresses, and jewelry to home accessories and vintage, refurbished furniture.

The owner, Tricia Roberts, has a great eye for fashionable, affordable finds, and I always find some must-have item when I stop by.

Now, Adelante has started Curb Service, a mobile shopping adventure that's fit into a retrofitted 1976 Airstream. Available for rent for private parties, showers, or other special events, this adorable trailer was once Tricia's husband's hunting getaway. To see how it's been transformed, read more.

The Airstream has certainly undergone a major transformation. It now features Palm Springs mod decor with fabric by Trina Turk, vintage accessories and furniture, and sea grass carpeting. For a private party, the Airstream is decked out in fashion, accessories, vintage cowboy boots, home accessories, and fashion finds, all for the partygoer's shopping pleasure.

Check out Adelante's blog for more information about the store. Next time you're in Austin, make sure to stop in and say hi!

See more photos of the Curb Service Airstream, the shop, and some of its great home finds in the gallery.

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Found It! Vibrant Orange Bedspread at Seattle's Hotel Max

CasaSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:00:26 -0700

Seattle's Hotel Max is a vibrant boutique hotel that provides luxuriously hip accommodations for travelers. Located in downtown Seattle, the hotel features quirky-cool interiors as well as over 350 original paintings and photographs. Since I'm on an orange kick, I also had to give the hotel props for its beautiful bedspreads and pillows.

Want to know where you can find them for your own home? Then read more.

The bedspreads are the Wallter Premium Wave Wool Bedspread ($580). I'm a big wool-blanket fan, and I love this modern update on the fabric. If you're not wild for orange, they're also available in a neutral camel color. While the coordinating pillow doesn't seem to be available, you can buy a close match, the Wallter Tree PIllow ($120-$160) in the same vibrant orange.