CasaSugar

Best of 2008: Casa Interview

CasaSugar — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:00:37 -0800

This year, I was lucky enough to interview several familiar faces in the interior design world, and you were always eager to hear a word from the wise. But when Sex and the City production designer Jeremy Conway stopped for a chat about Carrie Bradshaw's new bedroom, you were blown away and full of chatter. Revisit the interview here.

Casa Interview: Sex and the City's Jeremy Conway

CasaSugar — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:00:08 -0700

I was recently lucky enough to chat with Sex and the City production designer Jeremy Conway. While many of my Sugar friends were wowed by the clothing in the movie, I was blown away by the sets. I was particularly excited about Carrie's apartment makeover.

My eye was definitely attracted to the bright blue shade on the walls of Carrie's apartment. Jeremy told me that he custom mixes all of his colors, but the brilliant, lovely ocean blue on Carrie's walls is very close to Benjamin Moore's Electric Blue. Concerning the dramatic change in Carrie's apartment, which was previously dressed in subdued, natural tones, and flea-market chic, Conway said, "Carrie had really grown up, but she wasn't living that life in her apartment yet." The challenge in the redecorating was designing an apartment that seemed like it could be a little more organized, lived in, and put together. One important change was to fit a dining table into the house, "so it could be a place that she and Big could have dinner together."

Conway said that redecorating the iconic apartment of Carrie Bradshaw definitely made him a bit nervous. "[Writer and director] Michael Patrick King didn't see the apartment until the day before shooting started. He came into the living room and said nothing, and I thought, 'Oh no,' and then he started to tear up, and again, I thought 'Oh no,' and then Michael said that it was fantastic."

I have a feeling that most fans of Carrie's old apartment will be equally - if not more so - thrilled with the updated look. To hear about a surprising source for materials of the set design, read more.

The surprising source? The Rug Company! In particular, my eye was attracted to a gorgeous piece of art in Carrie's redecorated entry. I asked Jeremy if it had been commissioned or painted by a local artist. No - that as well was from The Rug Company! The lovely damask-patterned rug in the picture below? Also from The Rug Company.

For more details from Carrie's apartment remodel, check back tomorrow.

Photo courtesy Craig Blankenhorn/New Line Cinema
©2008 New Line Cinema

Open House: Do You Decorate With Tartan?

CasaSugar — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:00:11 -0800

On Sex and the City, Charlotte York's first husband Trey MacDougal expresses his Scottish heritage through Tartan plaid - in their wedding and in the couple's home.

Sex and the City set designer Jeremy Conway layered tartan plaid throughout Charlotte York and Trey MacDougal's Upper East Side prewar apartment. Conway says "We really tried to reinforce that, right down to the bookshelves in the study, which we lined with the plaid." While I would never layer that much pattern anywhere, I do think that there's good reason to be mad about plaid, if it's used in small doses. What's your opinion?

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Get the Look: Carrie's Redecorated Digs

CasaSugar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:00:22 -0700

Yesterday I gave you some details from Carrie's redecorated apartment. I'm back today with a few more ideas, and I'll also help you to get the look of her place as well.

Jeremy Conway, the production designer for Sex and the City, gave me some great tips about the products He told me that he custom mixes all of his colors, but the brilliant, lovely ocean blue on Carrie's walls is very close to Benjamin Moore's Electric Blue. The Rug Company was also the source for the movie's gorgeous rugs and a pretty LOVE wall hanging in Carrie's apartment.

To find out even more details about Carrie's apartment, read more.

Additionally, a fabric panel that runs up the hall in Carrie's apartment is a Marimekko piece. Jeremy also revealed another surprising fact: The writing on the storage shelves surrounding Carrie's flatscreen TV is actually quoted from writer Gertrude Stein, who Jeremy notes is one of Carrie's favorite writers. There's also an ikatpillow on Carrie's bench seat, and a mirrored table in her living room. Her magazines are stacked on neat gray shelves, and natural-colored, deco-inspired pottery coordinates nicely.

If you're interested in re-creating this look, here are some similar pieces that might inspire you!

Photo courtesy Craig Blankenhorn/New Line Cinema
©2008 New Line Cinema

Midday Muse: Cashmere Colors

CasaSugar — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:00:19 -0800

I have to admit, I am loving the color palette of Mia's (Lucy Liu) Manhattan apartment on Cashmere Mafia (yes, I am lame). It sneakingly recalls the home of a character on yet another television show about a foursome of power women in NYC - yes, Carrie Bradshaw's creative crib. It has the same soft hues, the near-gray lavender iridescence, and a familiar celery tone in the foyer. It's nice to see the calm color palette working in both Mia's "decorated" formal grounds and Carrie's casual digs. While Patricia Fields, famed SATC costume designer, does style Cashmere Mafia as well, it was production designer Jeremy Conway who was responsible for Carrie's palette. Cashmere Mafia production designer Stephen Hendrickson and Conway must be kindred spirits then, huh?

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Casa Capsule: The Week That Was

CasaSugar — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:17:52 -0700

I interviewed Sex and the City production designer Jeremy Conway.
Alexander McQueen has a fetishist and sado-masochist table.
Believe it or not, none of you want to get married in Ikea!
The majority of you sleep on the left side of the bed.
I told you how to vanquish ants from your house.
The cast of Gossip Girl and Jennifer Hudson are auctioning off a flashy lamp for charity.
I showed you how to get the look of Carrie Bradshaw in more ways than one.
A TeamSugar member made her very own Nakashima-esque table.

Sex and the City: Carrie's Marvelous Mexico Egg Chair

CasaSugar — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:45:53 -0700

While I'm absolutely in love with Carrie's new apartment, there are many other aspects of the Sex and the City movie set that I'm equally in love with. One of these would have to be the wicker egg chair from the fab four's Mexico vacation.

I think that this chair is a brilliant casting choice; its design perfectly mirrors Carrie's emotional state in this scene in the movie, and provides welcome shelter to her, even as Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte soak in the sun. In my interview with production designer Jeremy Conway, he told me that the wicker egg chair was from an outdoor furniture store in Los Angeles, where the Mexico vacation scenes were shot. However, if you're coveting this chair and aren't in LA, I have another source for you, which I'll tell you about when you read more.

While not an exact match for Carrie's more cocoon-like chair, the Palmetto All-Weather Wicker Chair ($1,299), which I asked your opinion about just last month. Do you like Carrie's chair better than the Palmetto? Tell me in the comments.

Photo courtesy Craig Blankenhorn/New Line Cinema
©2008 New Line Cinema

Nice and New: Room & Board Bradshaw Table

CasaSugar — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 06:06:16 -0800

One of Room & Board's 2008 collection highlights is their new Bradshaw Cocktail Table ($849), a table inspired by Carrie Bradshaw's coffee table in Sex and the City. If you remember my Get the Look: Carrie's Creative Crib, the table featured in the show was actually created by Production Designer Jeremy Conway because he couldn't find the table he was envisioning. The result was a low table with a thick wooden top and Danish modern lines, ideal for the ladies to sit around and chat. Although the Room & Board version isn't exactly the same as the original, it's nice to know there's a close second.

Get the Look: Carrie Bradshaw's Creative Crib, the Palette

CasaSugar — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:06:46 -0700

Last week I showed you how to get the Miranda Hobbes look in your home, and FabSugar showed us how to get the Carrie Bradshaw look for Halloween. It’s only fitting now that you learn to be 100% Carrie by also getting her look in your home. I’ve always been a fan of the “lived in” look of Carrie’s apartment. Like many NYC apartments, it's small, so she has to make room for her creative clutter wherever she can find it. Although Carrie’s not a decorator (she’s a fashionista/writer), her apartment is still stylish and looks put together, even though it’s full of flea market finds. Charlotte, on the other hand, is a decorator and fought to the death with her mother-in-law, Bunny, to take charge of her décor.

To learn how to get the Carrie Bradshaw look in your home, read more

The Palette:
Definitely go for a soft color scheme, but with more of a gray hint than Miranda’s. Carrie’s walls are a soft shade of celery green washed with a lavender iridescent glaze. SATC Production Designer Jeremy Conway said, “We employed a particular color theory for each of them that helped in identifying character and personality. The idea is to be able to look at a room and say, ‘Now that’s very Carrie.’” Although there actually isn’t too much color in Carrie’s apartment, the color scheme is very ‘her’ because it serves as a base for her bold wardrobe.

Most of her furniture is wooden, and any upholstered pieces she has are leather or brown or gray-ish fabrics, and her closet is painted sort of a hyacinth gray. The lesson here is to choose soft colors that don’t fight with a colorful, patterned wardrobe, but don’t go all white because that’s just not creative. Bonus question: Can you name the paint color of Carrie's kitchen cabinets? Answer below.

Click the images below to see CB-esque products, and stay tuned for more details on how the get this look.

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