CasaSugar

Happy 103rd Birthday Eva Zeisel!

CasaSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:39:30 -0800

World-renowned Hungarian industrial designer Eva Zeisel turns 103 today! Though she is best known for her work with ceramics, Eva, a featured Designer Spotlight here on Casa, has designed everything from acrylic candelabras to wooden and glass coffee tables, and is considered by many to be the matriarch of industrial design.

In fact, New York magazine named Zeisel in its list of nine living Design Revolutionaries back in '07. Better yet, her work is in the permanent collections of museums like the Met, the V&A, and the MoMA, and she received the National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York in 2005. Honored with the award at 99 years old, she could have brought closure to her successful career, but she impressively continues to design new works of art today. And while the curves and sensuous shapes of her recent designs are certainly sought after, her earlier pieces remain relevant and stylish, a mark of a truly influential designer. Take a look at some of Eva's work below.

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Etsy Find: Woodlands Skunk Container

CasaSugar — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:30:29 -0800

Skunks get a pretty bad rap (for a pretty stinky reason), but that doesn't mean they're not cute as a button. Anyone remember Flower, from the movie Bambi? Couldn't get any cuter - or so I thought. Now I might change my mind, after seeing Woodlands Skunky ($50) from ceramic artist Laura Walls Taylor.

This container, which I might use for a vase or for a stash of wooden spoons in my kitchen, was thrown on a wheel and then hand painted. Too cute.

Oh, and if skunks aren't your thing, no worries: Laura also has other woodlands creatures to choose from, including owls, birds, and squirrels.

Designer Spotlight: Bjørn Wiinblad

CasaSugar — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:00:37 -0700

If you're wondering where Jonathan Adler got his inspiration for his Utopia series, or where Tord Boontje got his taste for saturated colors and fanciful flora, look no further than Danish artist and designer Bjørn Wiinblad. This midcentury ceramic artist set up his own studio in 1952, and continued to reproduce his designs through the 1990s.
Much of his work is inspired by the fairy tales of fellow Dane Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote such well-known stories as The Little Mermaid and The Princess and the Pea. Starting in the 1950s, he produced silver, glass, furniture, and ceramic designs for Rosenthal Porzellan AG, and also designed posters, costume and stage designs, tapestries, and textiles for hotels and restaurants across the world. His work is particularly popular in Japan.

To see more images of his work, and to find out whether or not his work is a good investment, read more.

The good news for you? His work is still undervalued, which means that you can snap up some of his finds at reasonable prices (unlike some other midcentury designers' works), and the value is predicted to continue rising. You can find some of his designs on eBay and from other antique dealers, as well as at Unica Home. I love the childlike joy that's evident in his designs, as well as his unique illustrations of people. Are you a fan, or are these a little too fanciful for you?

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Nice and New: Jonathan Adler's Druggist Collection

CasaSugar — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:15:43 -0700

Billing himself as "your 24-hour pot dealer," Jonathan Adler gets cheeky with his new collection of pottery, Druggist ($24-$55). Billed as "An Apothecary of Emotion" his collection features translucent porcelain pieces that are first thrown on the wheel. Afterwards, the trompe-l'oeil chains and names of the emotions are added.

Modeled after old apothecary jars and finished with an unglazed matte finish, these pieces are fun and slightly sinister at the same time - especially the mug that declares "love" on one side and "hate" on the other. Still, I would love to have a few of these pieces. I think the apothecary jars especially would be great vessels for all of the cotton balls and q-tips needed for your nightly ablutions. Oh, and they wouldn't look bad on that French Apothecary Chest either.

Designer Spotlight: Hella Jongerius

CasaSugar — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 06:00:09 -0700

When Ikea tapped Hella Jongerius to design a line of socially conscious vases in 2006, many of us were thinking, "Hella who?" But design junkies know that Jongerius's influence reaches far beyond the blue-and-yellow confines of Ikea. With her cutting-edge combination of industrial design and traditional craft methods, the Dutch designer's reputation has spread from Amsterdam's Droog Design Collective to the European design cognoscenti.

But I like Jongerius's stuff for even more basic reasons: It is beautiful and very much unlike the other beautiful things I admire each day. The ways in which she combines folksy tradition with sleek aesthetics always impress me. The Majolica Large Multicolored Vase, for instance, uses 17th and 18th century ceramic designs for a wholly modern look, while her Worker Chair might serve as seating in a farmhouse of the future. To see some of my favorite Jongerius designs, just click on the photos below.

Ask Casa: Petrified Wood and Ceramic White Stools?

CasaSugar — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:00:37 -0800

Hi CasaSugar!
I am working on wrapping up my living room and would love to get a petrified wood stool and a ceramic white stool similar to those in Monique Lhuillier's house (that I am totally in love with), which was featured on an Elle Decor cover a year ago.

I've talked to Hudson Furniture in New York - they have the petrified wood but they sell at $1,200-2,000 each. I'm looking for something in the $800 range. As far as the ceramic stool, I've seen one from West Elm, but I'm not sure about the quality. I'm willing to spend up to $500 on something nicer.

Thanks in advance for your suggestion!

Pookie17

To see my suggestions, read more.

Hi Pookie17,

Monique Lhuillier's house is indeed gorgeous, and the accents that caught your eye are particularly beautiful. Unfortunately, one of the other sources for petrified wood stools I found came in above the Hudson Furniture quote - Jayson Home and Garden carries a variety of petrified wood stools for around $1,500 each. The Chicago-based store Primitive also sells petrified wood stools, and you may have better luck securing a lower price through them. One suggestion I have, in lieu of the petrified wood stool, is the Roost Enchanted Forest Stool ($385), which is made of ceramic instead of petrified wood, but whose matte gunmetal finish gives it a rather realistic appearance.

As for the white ceramic stool, I'm a fan of (again!) Jayson Home and Garden's White Lattice Stool ($275). Instead of a geometric design, as employed in Lhullier's ceramic stools, this one uses an open lattice pattern to create visual interest. I also think that the west elm stool would be a good choice, though I welcome other readers' opinions on the durability of this particular piece.

Definitely check out the widget below to see if there are any pieces that strike your fancy as well.

Good luck!
CasaSugar

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Roundup: Chevron's Goin' On

CasaSugar — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:00:21 -0700

I spotted this Black Zigzag Lamp ($185) at Emilia Ceramics, a San Francisco-based ceramic import shop, and felt a revived love for chevron patterns. The contemporary lamp is handmade by Mexican pottery studio Talavera Vázquez in the city of Dolores Hidalgo. I've been drooling over Madeline Weinrib's cotton flatweave zigzag rug ever since I saw it, but aside from that, I've never felt much affinity for chevron/zigzag patterns. I thought I'd see what else is out there. So, check out my chevron finds.

Cool Idea: Turn That Frond Upside Down

CasaSugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0800

I fell in love with the topsy-turvy tomato planters when I first found them a year or two ago, but I'm so excited to see the concept taken to a sleeker level.

Ranging in price from $25 to $75, the Boskke Sky Planters are made in New Zealand from black or white ceramic. They're modern, beautiful, and completely unexpected.

Created by designer Patrick Morris, the stoneware ceramic planters can conserve up to 80 percent of the water normally used to water houseplants, thanks to the self-watering system, which only needs to be replenished twice a month at most. These planters are also a great choice for studio apartments, as they free up valuable floor space.

Have you used upside down planters in the past? What was your experience? Do these planters turn your head as well?

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How-To: Decorating With an Ornate Vase

CasaSugar — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:00:57 -0700

Sometimes an ornate vase is just what an interior is asking for. The beautiful colors and patterns of this Tuscia d'Arte Vase ($165) from Emilia Ceramics are stunning on their own. But what's the best way to accessorize with such a complex ceramic object? Take a look at some of my suggestions.

Choose one accent color from the vase and pick a bouquet made up of a single color that reflects that color palette. For instance, the orange accents on this vase suggest tiger lilies as an appropriate choice.
Forgo the flowers and choose peacock feathers instead.

To see some other suggestions, and to leave one of your own, read more.

Cutting from a deciduous tree, with their simple, green leaves, would also be an excellent complement to a more ornate vase.
If you do decide to decorate with flowers, make sure to only use one variety of flower. A mixed bouquet would add too much busyness when combined with the vase.
Keep it at its most simple and allow the vase to stand on its own.

What would you do to decorate with this vase? Tell me in the comments below!

Vintage Lamps Make For a Lovely Home

Casa Community — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:00:33 -0800

Vintage Delight group owner Deemurph is loving vintage lamps lately and has had some wonderful luck tracking some beauties down. Take a look at her finds:

My eye for old chairs kicked off my vintage obsession, but now my love for vintage lamps is on the rise! It's not just the great old shapes and materials - look at the ceramics! - it's also the shades that come with them. Where can you find shades like these that won't cost a custom fortune?
Dining room lovelies . . .
See a few more of her treasures.

Thorsten van Elten - van amburgh stool by thorsten van elten - $150.00	Zig Zag Stool - White - $375.00
Roost Spool Stool - $250.00	Convex Drum Table - $159.00
Roost Ribbon Stool - $290.00	White Garden Stool - $195.00
Lattice Stool - $275.00	Petrified Wood Q - $1,495.00
Roost Eyelet Stool - $310.00	Petrified Wood K - $1,495.00
Gus* Modern - Pawn Stool - $365.00	Grove Stool - $225.00
Helix Stool - $114.00	Roost Enchanted Forest Stool - $385.00
Petrified Wood O - $1,495.00