CasaSugar

Before and After: A Cape Cod Crib in Connecticut

CasaSugar — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:00:25 -0800

This Old House recently featured the home of a Fairfield, CT, family who drastically transformed their 1953 Cape Cod home after enduring serious renovations, including raising the roof to add four bedrooms and two baths upstairs. Shown here is the former living room, with busy, antiquated wallpaper and worn oak floors that certainly don't help to make the space feel larger. With a little paint, some floor stain, an overhaul of the fireplace, and a lot of DIY demolition, the Kuryluk family transformed the room into an airy, modern space that's up-to-date and stylish. To see the after photo, read more.

Impressive, right? To see more before and after photos of the home and hear about their renovation, check out This Old House.
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Coveted Crib: Barnyard Beauty

CasaSugar — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:15:02 -0700

Architecture firm S. Russell Groves gave this picturesque historic barn on an expansive estate in rural Connecticut a top to bottom renovation, including extensive cabinetry and state-of-the-art audio-visual systems. The original, naturally distressed, wood beams and wide-plank flooring, which were restored and then offset with custom and vintage furniture, patina finishes and heavily textured fabrics, are the home's most wonderful treasure. The building's unique high-ceilinged structure creates an unreplicable feeling of openness, and the property's lush greenery and rolling hills make for a pristine, pastoral setting. Check out this slideshow to see the interior. Source

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Coveted Crib: A Bright and Beautiful West Hollywood Condo

CasaSugar — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Blending modern and vintage décor, Hollywood, CA, interior designer Michelle Workman used a green and white color palette to create a bright, clean, and inspiring home look for her Connecticut transplant client. The client's traditional pieces were incorporated into the new design and given California flair.

Michelle explains,

[The client] wanted to change the look she had from back East. She wanted white walls and white furniture, but the rest was up to me! With all of the new furnishings, I went with a modern shape so that the only traditional shapes would be from her previous home. The result was bright, cool, and crisp, yet entirely welcoming. We also gutted the kitchen, which had been very traditional, but without any joie de vivre. The result was a simple, clean space with a splash of ornamentation in the hardware.

To see the sparkling results, read more.

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Casa Verde: CowPots

CasaSugar — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:00:32 -0800

They might not be the most glamorous choice, but CowPots are a brilliant gardening idea. Invented by brothers Matt and Ben Freund, these Connecticut dairy farmers were looking for a way to make their farm more sustainable. And since dairy farms all produce manure as a free byproduct, the brothers started there. For the past 10 years, they've used a methane digester on their farm.

The New York Times article "From Tons of Manure, a Growth Industry" further explains the Freunds' smart use of cow manure:

Beginning in 1997, theirs has been one of the rare farms in the United States continually extracting methane gas from cow manure in a digester. The methane can power a generator to save electricity costs, and the digester also removes the most pungent odors.

The digester also breaks down the manure into liquids, which can be used for fertilizer and solids, which are used for the CowPots.

Find out how to use CowPots in your garden when you read more.

CowPots, which start at $7.99 per 12 pack, cut down on plastic in the horticultural industry. This is definitely good eco news, since the horticultural industry generates about 350 million pounds of plastic each year. To use the CowPot in your garden, simply drop the seedling in the CowPot into your garden plot, and the pot will break down in the soil. You'll want to bury the pot completely in the ground. Once it's covered, the pot will break down in the soil over a period of several weeks. Since CowPots naturally retain water, they're also a great choice for dry or desert climates.

Have you used CowPots?

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Gift Guide: Design Fiend-Approved Toys

CasaSugar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:30:35 -0800

Anyone who has ever heard of a gift registry knows that people get picky when it comes to which gifts they'll accept into their homes. This is particularly true with bride-zillas, first-time pregnant ladies, and design fiends. So, if you're planning to pick up a gift for the son or daughter of a design fiend friend or family member, you better restrain yourself before you head to Toys 'R Us. Toys and games are not simply for the enjoyment of children . . . they have an aesthetic purpose in the homes of design lovers.Take for example this MUJI New York City in a Bag ($15). God forbid you let your kids play with plain blocks: they must be hip and metropolitan! This set comes with eight wooden structures representing New York City's iconic buildings. Although your friend may have moved to Connecticut and quit her graphic design job to be a full-time, stay-at-home mom, her children will be able to say they grew up in The City . . . or at least with it. To see other children's gifts that will surely be approved by your design-fiend friends, read more.

Check out HolidaySugar for all of our holiday coverage.

Trumpo Top Small - $25.00	The Fable Game - $32.00
DwellStudio Finger Puppets - Set of 5 - $30.00	Wooden Pull Toy - Elephant - $70.00
HBC Single Sphere Rattle with Elongated Handle Silver - $70.00	Blank Matryoshka Doll Set - $125.00
Bowl with Dominos - $149.00	Vitra Girard Wooden Doll #8 - $160.00

Casa Shops: Emma Gardner Design

CasaSugar — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 07:17:19 -0800

Emma Gardner Design is a design company specializing in rugs that's based in Litchfield, Connecticut. A member of the RUGMARK Foundation, a global non-profit organization working to end child labor, Emma Gardner Design creates vibrant rugs from her Litchfield, Connecticut studio.

Her designs have appeared in leading design and fashion magazines including Elle Décor and House Beautiful, among many others.

To see a gallery of her rugs, just read more

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In the News: More Than Four Walls and a Roof

CasaSugar — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:00:45 -0700

The New York Times' "You Might Move Out, but You Can’t Move On", explores the emotional attachments we form with our homes. After selling their 1910 house in Danbury, Connecticut (pictured below), Mr. Schoenfeld experienced "bouts of melancholia [which] grew so acute that Mr. Field had to stash away pictures of the place," or "seller's remorse." Several years after selling, the pair repurchased their beloved home, this time paying $335,000 than they'd paid for in the first place — though $200,000 worth of renovation had been done. The article also shares an anecdote of one man who "insisted on negotiating visiting rights before he was willing to sell" his old home. Another family, after selling and learning that their buyer wouldn't be living in the beach house for some time, moved right back in surreptitiously — that is, until the buyer's relatives showed up for a weekend on the sand. It seems that becoming attached to our homes is not so uncommon; I for one cling to the memories of my childhood home. But who knew the lengths some would go to preserve those precious attachments? Source