CasaSugar

Weird Furniture: Mint Stool

CasaSugar — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:00:31 -0700

I detest halitosis as much as the next person, but since when does that mean I should have to sit on my breath freshener of choice? Just because you can turn any round product into the seat of a stool doesn't mean you should. I think I have to go separate ways with "art engineer" Lee J. Rowland and his Sweet Seats Mint Stool (inquire for price) on this one. That is, unless I were trying to furnish the corporate offices of Breathsavers. I'm sorry . . . am I being harsh? Tell me what you think of this mint-inspired stool.

Cool Idea: A Cut Paper-Inspired Wall Mural

CasaSugar — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:00:51 -0700

Not all of us have the artistic skills of talented muralists like Mint and Serf, but that doesn't mean we can't create one-of-a-kind artwork for our homes. Even inspired, "knock-off" art is unique when it comes to painting a mural on your wall. This pink and orange flower used in this mural came from the Authentic Chinese Cut-Paper Designs book (it's actually sitting on the bedside table). To enlarge the image, it was first drawn freehand in chalk on the wall, and then the lines were filled in with paint. It's beautiful, right? Maybe you have some art books on a shelf to inspire a mural in your home.

Source: Flickr User MissLPS

Su Casa: A Glamorous Bathroom

CasaSugar — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:00:40 -0700

Su Casa member ckim8120, who made this chic tree branch jewelry stand, has taken her keen design eye to the bathroom. She started with painting the walls three shades of Behr green: Spring Hill, Mint Hint, and Athenian Green. Then, she applied IKEA SLÄTTHULT decorative stickers ($19.99) to the wall with a vine-like effect, and installed an IKEA KRISTALLER Chandelier ($39.99). Beyond that, she used accessories to transform a dull bathroom into a glamorous one, even if that didn't mean installing the old-style washstand and free-standing tub she dreams of. I'm really impressed. It's amazing what a few details can do. See more photos and hear some of ckim8120's bathroom decorating tips when you read more.

Here are her decorating tips:

Replace boring knobs w/whimsical drawer pulls to revitalize basic cabinets.
Use your pretty perfume bottles as decoration.
Bring in dramatic lighting with a chandelier.
Anything crystal adds old Hollywood glamour.
Bring in color and personality to a bathroom with towels and rugs.
A side table can be both functional & beautiful.
Painting your door can add a pleasant element of surprise.

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Check out her post to hear more!

Casa Interview: Patti Moreno, The Garden Girl, Part II

CasaSugar — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:00:57 -0700

Through the rest of the month, as we celebrate Spring and a return to the garden, I'll be screening videos from The Garden Girl. The Garden Girl, Patti Moreno, is an inspiration to aspiring gardeners everywhere. She'd never even touched a trowel until the birth of her first daughter, and now she's established an urban garden paradise at her home in Boston. You can read the first half of my interview with Patti here.

Casa: Are there any plants that you consider no- or low-fail for folks who consider themselves to have less than a green thumb?

The Garden Girl: Mint is pretty hardy and a perennial which means it will come back year after year. I love using mint as a garnish to my lemonade. Last year, mojitos were the house cocktail all summer; I had friends lining up for my summer parties. There are tons of different types of mint. My most prized variety is Chocolate Mint - it's wonderful in coffee and hot chocolate and on ice cream. If you choose something you really love to eat, I think you’ll have more success. Another no fail crop is parsley and oregano. Simple and easy. Like most people, my family eats a lot of lettuce, which is easy to grow in the Spring and Fall, but needs a lot of water in the summer.

Casa: What has been the biggest project you’ve taken on?

The Garden Girl: The biggest project I’ve undertaken was building my new Urban Sustainable Living Garden last year. It’s around 500 square feet and the perfect size to grow enough for a salad at lunch and a vegetable at dinner the entire growing season for a family of six. It was a lot of fun, but the hard part was videotaping the whole process so I could share with others. Adding the video component slowed the process down, because I ended up doing everything at least three times! But I am really proud that I was able to do the whole garden entirely by my self. Ideally, you want to involve your family and neighbors, but I wanted to really show that the system of gardening that I’ve developed can be accomplished, by following through and being committed. I’m only 5’2” so if I can do it, you can too.

Casa: Can you tell us a little about some of the animals you have at your garden?
My bantam chickens are awesome. They’ve become pets of mine. I strongly suggest getting bantam chickens if you are interested in getting livestock. They are about the same size as a pigeon. They are also very trainable. I have Silkies who are perfect for the city because they can’t fly, but my favorites are my Aracauna bantam chickens that lay green and pink eggs. My hen "Rocket" is so cool. She thinks she's an eagle and tries to fly everywhere. Their eggs are delicious and about 2/3 the size of regular large eggs you get at the grocery store and taste so much better. Don't get roosters, it just makes your neighbors angry. I also keep angora rabbits and regular rabbits. I shave the Angora rabbits every three months and spin their fur into yarn, which I make into gifts and hats. My other rabbits just dig and turn the soil for me.

Casa: What are your favorite food crops?

The Garden Girl: Lettuce, lettuce and more lettuce. Growing up I had no idea there were lots of varieties of lettuce. This year I am growing, four season lettuce, bib lettuce, radicchio, kale and arugula. Arugula is so good. It is a huge hit at my mini farm stand I run during the weekends. For herbs, mint and as many varieties of Basil as I can grow from sweet basil to lemon to cinnamon. Fresh basil makes such good pesto sauce that when I entertain I never have leftovers. My other name is the Tomato Lady. I grow mostly heirloom varieties, but my favorite is Mortgage Lifter. Even the name is great. Mortgage Lifter got its name from a farmer who developed it during the depression of the 1930s. It sold so much on his home farm stand that within eight years he had paid off his mortgage. Now that is a tasty tomato.

Casa: What are your favorite flowers to grow?

The Garden Girl: Nasturtiums, which are edible flowers. They add great color to salad and taste peppery. I had a lot of fun with a cool variety of marigolds last year. I love perennials. Peonies are my favorite. I love seeing them bloom and multiply year after year. I have an area in my garden that is a perennial garden that is beautiful all year long. This year I want to get a cutting garden going and be able to have flowers in vases all over my house. I can't overlook my roses though. Not only are they pretty, but living in the city, I have them planted along my fences and under my windows making any trespassers who trespass wish they hadn't.

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Open House: Winter in the Garden

CasaSugar — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:00:44 -0800

My brother, who lives in the Midwest, is definitely done with his garden, since snow is on the ground. Like many other Midwestern garden enthusiasts, he's busy plotting out next year's veggie patch. While my garden has definitely slowed down thanks to the cold and rainy weather, that doesn't mean nothing's growing. This morning, I took a photo of what I'd harvested before heading to work. Figs are still ripening, and my Easter egg radishes are coming in - though oddly, it's primarily the white-colored ones that are mature. And, of course, mint, which is nearly impossible to deter or kill, is keeping my mornings filled with fresh herbal tea.

What's happening with your garden? Is it hibernating under a dusting of snow? Or are you still harvesting some vegetables and fruits?

Before and After: Upholstering an Antique Chair

CasaSugar — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:00:57 -0700

Andrea, who writes the delightful blog Some Twittery, recently reupholstered an old chair. She writes, "The chair above has been sitting in the kitchen for about five months, patiently waiting for its moment to sparkle. I found it at an antique store. It had already been painted cream but was re-upholstered in a material not quite like oilcloth but a step up from contact paper. Underneath this was the original fabric, avocado green, cranberry, and gold stripes, with the paper label dating the chair itself from 1924. Old pieces of mattress were used for padding and the wood for the back was mint green with tire tread marks across it."

Here's what she started with.

To see the finished product, read more.

Using a simple, subdued cream linen, Andrea created a chair that looks absolutely serene. It would be a versatile piece in any number of rooms or decorating schemes.

Check out more of Andrea's gardening, home decorating, and craft adventures on her blog.
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In the News: Celebrating the Outdoors in a Manhattan Penthouse

CasaSugar — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 07:00:49 -0700

What's the first thing you do when you buy a $4 million penthouse in lower Manhattan? If you're Matthew Blesso, you don't move in; instead, you allow two Yale professors to use the space as a giant experimental classroom.
Fred A. Bernstein's recent New York Times article In the Penthouse, a True Garden Apartment, celebrates this collaboration between architect Joel Sanders, landscape architect Diana Balmori, and real estate developer Matthew Blesso. The professors teach a course called Interface that integrates architecture and landscape architecture, the latter of which is often overlooked in projects. And so, with Mr. Blesso’s blessing, the two professors turned his $4 million apartment into an extended classroom. Luckily for all parties involved, the results were more than satisfactory for everyone, with Sanders and Balmori getting their living lab, and Blesso a truly unique living space.

To find out more about this penthouse, read more.

After renovating the penthouse for around $1 million, Blesso moved back in. Now, he performs his morning ablutions at a sink that's overshadowed by a large vertical garden on one wall. Striped dracaena add life to the staircase; outside, an outdoor shower and lush vegetation mingle, and mint plants climb up the bulkhead. The effect is soothing, design-forward, and wild at the same time.

Of course, I can't forget about this home's other design elements. The interior design is also a mix of chic and wilder elements, with products such as Tom Dixon lamps framing a graffiti mural, Livingstones scattered on the sofa and floor, Hans Wegner shell chairs lending a mid-century vibe, and other lovely pieces, which are wonderfully integrated in the home. Blesso, who's currently working on affordable housing developments in Central America, among other projects, definitely has a coveted crib. If you know what's good for you (and your need for real estate eye candy), head over to The New York Times to check out the full slideshow of his home.

Laurie Lambrecht for The New York Times

Primer: Plants That Deer Don't Like

CasaSugar — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:30:00 -0700

I recently showed you some tricks for repelling deer from your garden without pulling out your rifle. But probably the simplest way to keep Bambi away from your beloved plants is to choose plants that he doesn't find palatable. To begin, you should certainly avoid planting hostas, lilies, tulips, hollyhocks, impatiens, sunflowers, crocus, daylilies, lobelia, phlox, rose, and yews, which are deer faves. Here is a list of plants that should be safe from being Bambi's breakfast, lunch, or dinner:

Ornamental grasses. Try astillbe, baptista, bleeding heart, catmint, bloody cranesbill, dusty miller, evening primrose, ferns, foam flower, foxglove, iris, lavender, monarda, nasturtium, peony, salvia, santolina, and yarrow.
Strongly scented herbs and plants. Try sage, lemon balm, monarda (bee balm), chives, chili pepper, garlic, mints, rosemary, thyme, wintergreen, and Russian sage.
Prickly, thorned plants (except roses). Try cleome, holly, boxwood, butterfly bush, Colorado blue spruce, cotoneaster, honeysuckle, Japanese maple, magnolia, Russian olive, viburnum, barberry, and purple coneflower.

Check out Northern Gardening and UGA for more plants that deer tend to avoid.
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Steal of the Day: Signals Three Rose Vases

CasaSugar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:00:00 -0700

I would never call Signals a go-to retailer for home décor products, but every once in a while they sweep me off my feet with a great steal. This time, it's Signals Three Rose Vases ($32, reduced from $59), three vases adorned with rose blooms in cream, chartreuse, and mint. Not only is a set of three vases for 30 bucks an incredible deal, but the vases share a remarkable similarity with the Roost Porcelain Flower Vase ($68-$96), a design I've been fawning over for some time. Each leaf and petal on the vases is hand-shaped and applied, making them very delicate and feminine, but their fresh colors keep them contemporary. What do you think?

This Just In: Amy Sedaris Is a Stranger With Real Estate Candy

CasaSugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:15:12 -0700

According to Big Time, funny woman Amy Sedaris has forked over $1.3 million for a 900-square-foot, 1-bedroom, 1-bath condo in Manhattan's West Village. She must have been charmed by the property, as she paid $50k over the asking price. The listing for the property reads:

Fabulous one-of-a-kind apartment full of original detail and prewar charm. Dramatic entry hall leads to rooms with arched doorways, over-sized windows and large proportions. Wood-burning fireplaces and double exposures grace both the bedroom and huge living room. Original beamed ceilings, floors, doors and hardware are all in mint condition. There are lots of nooks and crannies for special furniture and artwork. Located off Fifth Avenue in a prewar brownstone with both doorman and elevator.

I wonder if Sedaris will be making a decoupaged accent table for her new digs, or hanging portraits of herself by celebrity interior designers. The prewar apartment seems to have great bones, but I'm eager to see how she'll infuse it with her wacky personality.

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