Summer's a great time to tackle those outdoor home maintenance projects you've been putting off, including exterior house painting. This Summer we've dealt with cleaning up our backyard, restaining our decks, and planting our front walk to increase its curb appeal. Luckily, we don't have to paint our home's exterior quite yet — but I'm sure it's a task we'll have to deal with in the next few Read more

Here's a post from CasaSugar Community member designingmainstreet from the Su Casa group: I fell in love with this painting at Crate and Barrel last week. It would be perfect for our mantel but it's way too big. After dreaming of this painting all night I decided to take matters into my own hands. It was time to get creative and try out my painting skills. After a quick stop at the craft Read more

Last night on the premiere of Design Star, the contestants were challenged to make over their penthouse rooms. There were definitely highlights in each room, but I was most impressed by Kellie and Karl’s bonus room, which showed the designers' innovative use of odd spaces and ability to create custom focal points on a small budget. I especially loved Karl's tree mural wall, which he painted in Read more

Here's a post from CasaSugar Community member drienz08 from the Su Casa group: When I saw this tutorial that Emily did over at Jones Design Company, I just had to do it! It was elegant, looked simple enough, and was perfect timing, since I was contemplating redoing the guest bathroom. To say it was a tedious project is an understatement. It took time and patience, but overall it was completely Read more

If I were to ask you, "Are you proud of your kitchen?" I would venture to guess that most of you would respond, "No." Considering that the average age of the American home in 35 years, many of you have may inherited an old kitchen with laminate floor tile and countertops or dingy, dated cabinetry that doesn't look exactly as you'd wish. With home prices down 30 to 50 percent, most consumers are Read more

One of the simplest ways to expand the visual height of a room is to paint your ceiling, as the effect draws the eyes upward. Unfortunately, I rarely see it done, so I thought I'd offer you a few tips and ideas for the task. (My inspiration was this beautiful living room in a house tour I just discovered.) If you want to really draw attention, paint tin ceiling tiles to add graphic Read more

Here's a post from CasaSugar Community member ourfifthhouse from the Su Casa group: I recently stenciled one wall in our dining room with an ikat pattern stencil I found on Etsy.  I made a few other changes to the room like painting the ceiling, adding trim to the drapes, and creating a new vignette over the buffet. The stencil wall made the biggest impact, though. It's amazing how one stenciled Read more