CasaSugar

Cool Idea: Play in Public

CasaSugar — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:00:07 -0700

We may not remember rocking away in bouncy seats as infants, but I'm sure we all remember playing on swing sets as kids. In either case, was it ever not fun? I think not. So, why are Trix just for kids? And why should play be relegated just to playgrounds and backyards? I think adults should get a piece of the fun and games, and play should be accepted in public, and apparently so does British industrial design student Bruno Taylor.The renegade playground builder has decided that it's about time we bring play back into public space. He has created a project which incorporates incidental play in the public realm, including a public bench that bounces, for all to use, and the installation of swings into existing bus stops. Is that rad or what? To see a video of Taylor's swing being installed guerrilla-style into a bus stop, read more.

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Open House: House Play

CasaSugar — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 08:15:38 -0700

Yesterday, I talked about one designer who advocates play in public, but today I'd like to focus on play at home. At my house, there's always a deck of cards and a Scrabble board on hand, if not littering my coffee table, and one shouldn't be surprised to find trails of paper penciled with hangman games throughout my home. And there's always play going on when my dog, Ozzie, is in the room (or the backyard). What about you? Do you still play? Is there a designated area in your home for games? Do you have a card table? Do you have a swing set? An indoor swing? Where do your kids play? Do you play sports in the yard? At the park? Tell me by commenting below!
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In the News: Cold Storage Living

CasaSugar — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:30:24 -0700

New York's "Warmer When Occupied" is a sneak peek into the TriBeCa home of architect Diana Kellogg and husband writer-director Neil Burger (Interview With the Assassin, The Illusionist). And, when I say "home," I mean a former cold storage warehouse. The couple had their eye on the place for years, "drawn to the mysterious qualities of the street and the house,” and finally jumped on it in 2001. Though a warehouse conversion is not uncommon these days, preserving its history is. In warehouse neighborhoods around the country, especially in New York, historic buildings are being transformed into distant semblances of themselves, looking more like a W Hotel than the remains of yesteryear. In this case, the couple opted to "preserve traces of how the building functioned,” rather than fighting it. They held onto to small details like "the drill holes for the hoist," as well as the open-floor plan of the space, setting kitchen appliances on the walls, rather than centered around an island. And not only did they preserve these features, they also made note of them; play swings for the children hang from hooks welded to the building’s steel support beams.
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Crave Worthy: Botanist Flora Cocktail Table

CasaSugar — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:00:29 -0700

Designed by Dario Antonioni and Brandon Lynne, the Botanist Flora Cocktail Table ($1,899) is a sleek choice for a number of design settings - including a chic poolside party. I'm particularly fond of how the floral designs balance the minimalist, modern lines of the table. Also good to know: the aluminum frame of this table, which is reinforced with a welded structural base means that the piece is both light and durable, so much so that it can be used as a bench, too. If you love this style but can't quite swing the price tag on this piece, check out these acrylic floral side tables.

Clear Out the Clutter: Artfully Organized (Part 4)

CasaSugar — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:15:48 -0800

On Monday I introduced you to Oakland, Calif., based realtor Hyland Baron, who specializes in finding affordable East Bay homes for first-time homebuyers. When she isn't running around Berkeley, Emeryville, and Oakland looking for great houses for clients, Hyland is helping people turn their piles of clutter into well-oiled organization systems with her sideline business Artfully Organized.

To see a photo of Hyland's next organizational system, just read more.

Hyland works with clients face-to-face in the Bay Area, and will swing by your house to organize those piles of old tax documents, holiday cards, and kids' report cards for the very reasonable fee of $30 an hour. Just contact her via her site to set up an appointment.

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Clear Out the Clutter: Artfully Organized (Part 3)

CasaSugar — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 05:45:50 -0800

On Monday, I introduced you to Oakland, Calif., based realtor Hyland Baron, who specializes in finding affordable East Bay homes for first-time homebuyers. When she isn't running around Berkeley, Emeryville, and Oakland looking for great houses for clients, Hyland is helping people turn their piles of clutter into well-oiled organization systems with her sideline business Artfully Organized.

To see a photo of Hyland's next organizational system, just read more.

Hyland works with clients face-to-face in the Bay Area and will swing by your house to organize those piles of old tax documents, holiday cards, and kids' report cards for the very reasonable fee of $30 an hour. Just contact her via her site to set up an appointment.

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Clear Out the Clutter: Artfully Organized (Part 2)

CasaSugar — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:00:44 -0800

Yesterday I introduced you to Oakland, Calif., based realtor Hyland Baron, who specializes in finding affordable East Bay homes for first-time buyers. When she isn't running around Berkeley, Emeryville, or Oakland looking for great houses for clients, Hyland is helping people turn their piles of clutter into well-oiled organization systems with her sideline business Artfully Organized.

To see a photo of Hyland's next organizational system, just read more.

Hyland works with clients face to face in the Bay Area, and will swing by your house to organize those piles of old tax documents, holiday cards, and kids' report cards for the very reasonable fee of $30 an hour. Just contact her via her site to set up an appointment.

Source

Clear Out the Clutter: Artfully Organized

CasaSugar — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:45:19 -0800

Oakland, Calif., based realtor Hyland Baron specializes in finding affordable East Bay homes for first-time homebuyers-no mean feat in the crazy-expensive Bay Area housing market. When she isn't running around Berkeley, Emeryville, and Oakland looking for great houses for clients, Hyland is helping people turn their piles of clutter into well-oiled organization systems with her sideline business Artfully Organized.

Hyland agreed to offer some of her organizing tips to us as part of Renewal month. One thing that I really love about Hyland is that she prefers to use simple, easy-to-navigate organizing systems that don't cost a lot of money. In fact, she often will utilize hampers, baskets, and cabinets a client already owns to cut down on costs. She also works with clients face-to-face in the Bay Area, and will swing by your house to organize those piles of old tax documents, holiday cards, and kids' report cards for the very reasonable fee of $30 an hour. Just contact her via her site to set up an appointment.

Over the next week I'll bring you a series of posts with photographs showing Hyland's systems. To see the first one, and to read a testimony from one of her clients, just read more.

"Over the years, I’ve hired 4 different interior designers. While they each brought some good ideas, working with them was stressful because they just wanted me to BUY more stuff and tended to view our offbeat collection of art as a necessary evil to 'work around.' Not so with Hyland. In a few hours, without spending a penny, and by simply using objects in new ways and snipping greenery from the yard*, she transformed our living and dining rooms into a show palace for the art collection. She even incorporated my 10-year-old daughter’s holiday crafts into the mix, which gave us all immense pleasure and made the space special for the whole family."-Julie