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Home Away From Home: Sarah Jessica Parker's Favorite Hotel

CasaSugar — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:00:43 -0700

In a Q&A in the October issue of Metropolitan Home, Sarah Jessica Parker revealed that her favorite hotel is The George V in Paris. And I can't really fault her for the choice. The hotel, an eight-story landmark 1928 building, offers 245 guest rooms, nearly one-quarter of which are suites. The hotel is so overwhelmingly Carrie Bradshaw, and so absolutely decadent, that I wish I could hop a plane (watching Sex and the City DVDs the whole way) and book a room at The George V right now. My first point of business would be to book a massage at the hotel's spa (shown here), and then finish off the treatment with a dip in the whirlpool or a sweat in the sauna. Then, I'd take a walk and enjoy some of the local attractions, since the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral, The Eiffel Tower, and other gorgeous spots are a half hour or less away by foot. The hotel itself is only steps away from the Champs-Elysées. With private terraces, a gorgeous courtyard, an impressive collection of objets d'art, and a two-Michelin-star-cuisine restaurant, it's hard to see how you could go wrong with a stay at The George V. For a complete tour, read more.

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Home Away From Home: Hôtel Duc du St. Simon

CasaSugar — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:00:13 -0700

You can stay in a modern, white-walled, Kartell'd hotel in any city in the world. But if Paris is your getaway, why not surround yourself with quintessential French style? Hôtel Duc du St. Simon, a favorite of Domino founding editor Deborah Needleman, is a quaint, sophisticated home away from home where understated elegance rules the roost. Guest rooms are bathed in romantic florals, jacquards, and toiles, and filled with fine antiques and original art. So even if a trip to Dordogne isn't on your itinerary, you can still experience the French-country style. Overall, the space is cozy and homey, almost like you're visiting a chic grand-mère of a friend a train ride away. In reality, it's located in the fashionable St. Germain-des-Prés district, just a few blocks from La Seine river and an extensive collection of Impressionist art in the Musée d'Orsay, so there's much to see and explore nearby. And after a long day of sightseeing and eating crêpes, you can kick back in the hotel's stone-walled lounge, gaze at antique artwork and mirrors in ornate gold frames, and sip on un kir. Rates start at $356 per night. See photos when you read more.

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Colette Commissions Lisa Fontanarosa Collection Wire Art

CasaSugar — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:00:11 -0700

You may not know your Left Bank from your Right Bank, or have ever stepped foot on French soil, but you've probably heard of Colette, the fashion and design temple of Paris. The preeminent concept boutique hails art-loving hipsters from near and far, and regularly organizes exhibitions with both up-and-coming and established artists - including my beloved interiors photographer Todd Selby. Colette's latest exposition is MeWeCycle, a project curated by Karta Healy featuring a collection of designers’ work, based on their love of the bicycle and creative recycling. Some of the most innovative designers around have created furnishings, lighting, clothing, accessories, and design objects for the shop all from recycled materials.

To hear about the artist behind the bicycle pictured here, read more.

Always on the hunt for international talent, Colette called upon Lisa Fontanarosa to tap her stable of European and American designers to create bespoke pieces for the show. Lisa asked Marie Christophe, known for her exquisite, whimsical, wirework light fixtures and sculptures, to create a life-size bicycle in wire with a transparent crystal seat and a crystal bell. The bicycle, shown above, hangs in the window of Colette. Another wire artist from Fontanarosa's collection, Barbara Gilhooly, made industrial hearts from vintage erector sets exclusively for Colette. Both are magnificent proof that "recycled" and "refined" can be one and the same.

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Love It or Hate It? Martin the Mule Secretary Desk

CasaSugar — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:00:12 -0800

French company Ibride recently gave a sneak preview of this new design, Martin, a contemporary mule-shaped secretary, at the Maison & Objet trade show in Paris. Not only does Martin's body serve as convenient storage for books and papers, but it incorporates lighting and Ethernet cords into the design, using them as a "reins" for the mule. I find it hilarious and whimsical, but obviously it's not for everyone, or every home.
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Love It or Hate It? Post-It Art

CasaSugar — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:00:15 -0800

This pixel-esque Post-It wall art, See You, was designed by Bénédicte Bailly and is currently on exhibition at the Maison & Objet design trade show in Paris. I love this innovative use of an affordable, everyday item; it's not only creative, but visually striking and cheerful. What do you think?
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Christian Lacroix Says Adieu to His Painfully Chic Paris Pad

CasaSugar — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:00:58 -0800

I have died and gone to real estate heaven. Haute couturier Christian Lacroix has put his 2,150-square-foot apartment in the tragically hip and fashion-centric Marais district of Paris on the market for nearly $2.6 million. I couldn't help but snoop around for photos, and I almost wish I hadn't: the pad has the unrivaled style of a Carrie Bradshaw ensemble and is plush with original Parisian details such as gilded moldings and French doors opening onto petite balconies. It's also steps from the Picasso Museum and Place des Vosges, the oldest square in Paris. Apparently Monsieur Lacroix has already moved to another apartment in the 'hood; why he'd want to, I don't know. But, I'm sure Lacroix will carry his theatrical style - and fabulous furnishings - wherever he goes. Check out photos of la maison when you read more.

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Coveted Crib: Marc Jacobs's Paris Apartment

CasaSugar — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:00:01 -0700

Los Angeles-based interior designer Paul Fortune took the design of Marc Jacobs's Paris digs into his own hands - an intimidating task, I must say. Fortune's distinct style highlights, rather than competes with, Jacobs's extensive art collection and the apartment's traditional French architecture. Check out this slideshow for a tour! Source and Source

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Cool Idea: Le Petit Paris

CasaSugar — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:00:00 -0700

Gerard Brion took up the challenge of building a miniature model of Paris 15 years ago. With 18,000 hours of painstaking work logged, he has crafted a miniature city, known as Le Petit Paris, in his garden in Vaissaic in the South of France out of salvaged items like old concrete blocks, baby food jars and soup tins. 150,000 visitors a year experience over 40 Paris monuments, such as the Champs Elysées, Montmartre, the Seine River, and the Eiffel Tower on a 1:130 scale set in a French-style garden planted with 400 bonzais. Year-round, the miniature city keeps up with the times, too: a miniature military-parade along the Champs Elysées on Bastille Day; Easter Eggs in the Bois de Boulogne in April; a true French Cancan show in Little Moulin Rouge featuring animated dolls; and demonstrations and traffic-jams along the little Paris boulevards keeping with typical French social unrest. After Princess Diana's car crash, Brion even smashed a miniature Mercedes car with a hammer and exhibited it under the Alma Bridge. In 2004, Brion opened the Little Louvre Museum, exhibiting 100 pieces of his own work and personal collection, including paintings, drawings, models. The small capital, open to the public on weekends and holidays, takes an hour to visit. How about that for backyard décor? Only in France . . .
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Home Away From Home: Hôtel du Petit Moulin

CasaSugar — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:15:42 -0700

When your Vera Wang wedding dress comes off, you and your hubby can ditch your designer duds for designer digs and check your newly married selves into the Christian Lacroix-designed Hôtel du Petit Moulin in Paris. Housed in Paris's oldest bakery, dating back to 1900, the hotel, which has preserved its typical French boulangerie façade, is in Paris's trendy, fashion-centric Marais district — in other words, it's the hippest hotel since sliced bread. If a "haute-l" pun were ever appropriate, the time is now: The lodging looks to be one step off of the runway, filled with daring, devil-may-care creations, be it a heart-shaped Venetian mirror on glossy, scarlet-red tiles, a clash of rustic and Zen, or a vividly-hued Jacobsen Swan chair against old-fashioned toile de Jouy wallpaper.
To see a gallery of photos, and to find out more about this hotel, read more.

Like a column of models debuting a new collection, each of its 17 rooms bears 17 distinct atmospheres, ensuring that your honeymoon will be a truly unique experience, differing vastly from that of the über fashionable couple next door and the weekend anniversary escapes you'll squeeze in down the road. Of his fantasy-like design, Lacroix has said, "When I designed l’Hôtel du Petit Moulin in Le Marais, I had the impression of rediscovering an erstwhile childhood dream, left by the wayside. A dream of living in a hotel, building a décor, day after day, in the colors of the times, putting ambiances together into volume and space and not only on paper or through fashion collections." Those with a cookie-cutter relationship might prefer to stay in the Four Seasons or any beige-on-beige chain hotel, but this eccentric boutique hotel is for stylish, unconventional lovebirds. If and when the novelty of your couture suite wears away, you can take pleasure in the reality that you've got Paris and a long marriage awaiting you at your doorstep.

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Casa Quiz: La Nouvelle Tour Eiffel

CasaSugar — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:30:15 -0700

I recently shared some interesting news with you about the Eiffel Tower, which many of you weren't too thrilled about. The Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel has decided to restructure the iconic Paris building.

Can you remember some of the details of my post?

Take the quiz