CasaSugar

Casa Shops: Living Arts Design

CasaSugar — Sat, 31 May 2008 08:42:26 -0700

Living Arts Design, located in Toronto, Ontario, offers a range of gorgeous furniture for home or office. Established in 1994, Living Arts Design is owned by Christopher Wood, who has been designing furniture and interiors for more than 25 years and has been described by such publications as Canadian House and Home as "the Innovator." LA Design also offers a full-scope design service from architectural renovations to interior design solutions. They've redesigned kitchens, gardens, living spaces, offices, restaurants, and hotels. If you're in Toronto, head over to the LA Design showroom to choose designs from the showroom floor or gain inspiration for a future renovation. For now, check out some of the gorgeous designs available by looking through the gallery.

View 14 Photos ›

Source

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.

View 10 Photos ›

Source and Source

Cool Idea: New Orleans Water Meter Doormat

CasaSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:00:42 -0800

Anyone who's ever lived in New Orleans recognizes the starry, art-deco design of the city's water meter lids. Designed by Edwin Ford in the early 1920s, the crescent moon and stars became so sought after that people actually used to pilfer them, so much so that for a time the city tried to replace them with plain ones to try to stop the theft. Nevertheless, the 85-year-old design has become an iconic symbol of the city - along with the fleur-de-lys, of course. So, one clever local turned the groovy vintage meter cover into a Decorative Door Mat ($32). The high-quality, durable mat is as useful as it is nostalgic and charming, and you don't have to steal from the city to own it. Clearly, it's not for everyone, but it's a great gift for anyone who knows a thing or two about NOLA. Hint, hint.

Casa Interview: The Good Wife's Stephen Hendrickson and Beth Kushnick

CasaSugar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:00:28 -0800

As I've mentioned in the past, I'm a huge fan of the new CBS series The Good Wife. In particular, I adore Alicia Florrick's (Julianna Margulies) apartment. With classic styling and great use of color, it's definitely a look I'm currently coveting. Luckily, I recently had the opportunity to chat with the two people responsible for the look of that very apartment. The Good Wife's production designer, Stephen Hendrickson, and set decorator, Beth Kushnick, answered my questions about the look of Alicia's home.

CasaSugar: How did the production designer and set decorator define Alicia (as a starting-over mom, lawyer, etc.), and how did this play into their concept of her new apartment?

Hendrickson and Kushnick: We defined Alicia as a working mom who wanted to make a comforting life for her kids as they had to downsize from a large house in the suburbs to a much smaller apartment which she purchased and had renovated. We kept some furniture from the old house like the kids' beds and the dining room furniture. In addition the show creators wanted to keep Alicia's king size bed as a visual - that it was too big for her new bedroom and show that one side of it was now empty. We also created a maid's room in the back of the apartment for all of her husband's belongings.

CasaSugar: How did Alicia’s style as a North Shore mom change when she moved into Chicago proper?

Hendrickson and Kushnick: Her new apartment had a sophisticated color palette . . . Alicia's apartment also has more contemporary living room furnishings and an upgraded kitchen.

Read the rest of the interview, and check out photos of the set.

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.

Love It or Hate It? Cary Leibowitz's Pop Pink Pad

CasaSugar — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:00:06 -0700

The Harlem home of American visual artist Cary Leibowitz (aka Candyass) is a melting pot of sorts, juxtaposing objects from different eras. Louis XIV furniture lives with psychedelic '70s lamps, optical wallpaper, neoclassical busts, and Victorian secretaries. Pop art is the lowest common denominator, as Leibowitz is a collector of Andy Warhol's works. While it's definitely busy, it's not prohibitively so. To me, it's just fun! What do you think?

Ask Casa: Post-Grad Style

CasaSugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:00:56 -0700

Hi Casa!
I'm 22 and I just started my first job out of college. Unfortunately, I still live with my parents. But I figure that if I have to do so then I might as well have a room I enjoy coming back to after a long day of work. I've been wanting to redecorate my room for a while now. However, I don't have a lot of money to spend on new furniture or décor. Most of my furniture is mismatched, and I've had it all since college. Do you have any tips on how I can update my room on the cheap and make it a place that I enjoy spending time?
Thanks! - Kerry

To hear my suggestions for Kerry, read more.

Hi Kerry,

Congrats! I don't think you're alone in this query. Luckily, there are a few easy and affordable things you can do to perk up your bedroom. The idea is to give your room polish and a distinct style, separate from how your parents may have decorated.

First of all, shed everything! If you'd moved into your new apartment, you wouldn't bring everything you've owned since grade school that's still sitting in your parents' house. So, go through it all and recycle, donate, or toss won't you don't want or need. This will give your room a more grownup, less cluttered feel.
Next, create symmetry. The easiest way to do this is to use matching nightstands or bedside table lamps. You can find very chic, affordable lamps at places like Target and HomeGoods. A nightstand can be just a simple side table.
Get a headboard. A headboard will instantly give your room a focal point, and curb any mismatched feel your other furniture gives off. If you can't afford a headboard, try any one of these 10 cool alternatives to off-the-shelf headboards.
Paint your mismatched furniture in one color - glossy white always works - to give the space cohesion.
Create a designated sitting area for reading, having your morning coffee, or making phone calls, etc., with a chair, small accent rug, and small side table. Then you won't feel trapped on your bed or hanging with your parents.
Paint your walls. Color is an easy and cheap fix for any room!
Give your bed a grownup makeover with white bedding, and add color and pattern with throw pillows or a bedskirt.
Find cheap artwork at flea markets, garage sales, or student art sales, or create your own.
Make the space cozy with a rug.
Go "shopping" in other rooms in your home. Look around your parents' home for furnishings that might facilitate the above. With an open mind, you never know what you may find.

Source

Cool Idea: Invest in Art and Save Desert Habitat

CasaSugar — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:00:23 -0700

Artist, sculptor, and furniture maker Alma Allen, who I've featured in a designer spotlight post, has partnered with the Mojave Desert Land Trust to celebrate art and conservation. Allen has created two bronze sculptures in editions of 50, each exclusively for the Mojave Desert Land Trust. The sculptures, a tortoise and a rabbit, are two of the animals that depend on this land for their survival. Seventy percent of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Land Trust's campaign to support The Quail Mountain Project.

To find out about how you can help, and to see more photos, read more.

The Quail Mountain Project encompasses 955 acres of pristine wildlife habitat in Joshua Tree, CA, just adjacent to the northern boundary of Joshua Tree National Park. Saving this land would help support its diverse population of bighorn sheep, bobcat, desert tortoise, coyote, and dozens of bird species, to name just a few of the creatures that depend on this land for habitat.

This project is immensely personal to Allen, as he and his partner live on the edge of the park in a green home they built themselves. Order one of Allen's charming sculptures (priced at $150 each) to help support this project. Allen also has a show at Heath Ceramics in LA on Nov. 5, and you can check out more of his work here.

View 14 Photos ›

Link Time!

CasaSugar — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:00:08 -0700

Learn how to make Grace's gorgeous upholstered headboard -Design*Sponge
Home Depot and Martha team up. - Charles and Hudson
Stock up on eco-friendly sponges. - ShelterPop
Find new artwork from Art&Ghosts. - Decor8
What simple living looks like. - Simply Stated
Make a printed burlap banner. - Craft
This couple just moved into their new home. - The Nest

Cool Idea: A Framed Scarf Makes Instant Art

CasaSugar — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:00:04 -0700

Building a unique collection of artwork for your home doesn't come easily, or cheaply. Those who think liberally about what justifies "art" often have the most interesting homes. Su Casa member ckim8120, of the wonderful blog A Sweet Concoction, is a prime example of this. She took a second look at a retro scarf that didn't quite appeal to her sartorial sensibilities, but had a beautiful living room "scape" straight out of a Parisian salon, and decided to mat and frame it. It's an unusual design to begin with, so you'd be hard pressed to find anyone with the same print on the wall. And to me it looks more like a painting than a textile. On another note, how chic is that sitting room? I want to move right into it.