CasaSugar

Love It or Hate It? Mismatched Nightstands

CasaSugar — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:00:30 -0700

Aside from its dissimilar nightstands, this romantic bedroom is very symmetrical. In general, I prefer rooms to be slightly unbalanced - it gives a feeling of spontaneity and a less formal attitude. But, seeing how uniform this bed is otherwise, a part of me feels like it just looks off.Source

Get the Look: It Takes Two

CasaSugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:00:03 -0700

I may have been mystified by the synchronized swimmers during the 2008 Olympics, but they're not the only proof of value in symmetry. By using symmetry as a starting-off point for decorating your interiors, you can create a strong visual theme that looks polished, but not necessarily stiff.

To get this look, you should start by centering your sofa on one wall, preferably in front of a window. Then, pair a set of bookcases and a set of chairs on either side. In front of your sofa, set a trio of modular side tables and an area rug beneath them. Set a pair of matching throw pillows on the sofa. You've now created your room's architectural focal point, so it's time to offset that with some accents. To learn how to choose your color palette, offset the symmetry, and see products that'll help get the look, read more.

Stick with no more than four colors. Here, the palette includes chartreuse, gray, black, and white. Note that there are no patterns: add interest instead with texture.

Try a set of white faceted vases filled with tall flowers or greenery to make a bold statement. Then, fill in the space with a mix of decorative accents, such as vases, trays, and bowls, that share the same color palette. Below are some accents and furniture that I've rounded up to help you get this look.

The Furniture:

Lillberg Rocking Chair - $149.00	Leksvik Bookcase - $179.00
Sloane Leaning Desk/Bookcase Set - $377.95	Parsons Cube Side Table - $169.00
Shelton Side Table - $299.00	Knihult Sofa - $349.00
PB Square Slipcovered Sleeper Sofa - $1,749.00

The Accents:

Source

Get the Look: Patterned Symmetry

CasaSugar — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:30:52 -0700

I've told you before that I'm not a fan of matchy matchy. But sometimes, repeating the same simple pieces in a room creates a luxurious effect that's muted, not headache-inducing. In this bedroom, the furniture and accessories sit in perfect symmetry, while the split headboard and sunny yellow pendant lights add a playful element that lightens the mirror-image mood.

Furniture: For the bed itself, you can go with a basic frame. As for the headboard, pick up a fabric with a palette matching your duvet, with a big graphic pattern such as these bursting chrysanthemums. Stretch the fabric over two tall canvas frames, a few inches less than half the width of the bed, and staple them to the frames. Pick up two matching nightstands in a medium wood with clean lines, such as the CB2 Acacia Nightstand ($149).

There's still lighting and accents to hear about, so read more.

Lighting: Bright yellow pendant lights, such as the Perch Walker Pendant Light ($190), hanging low over the nightstands will add a playful element and a boost of color.

Accents: Setting an array of small green glass vases and carafes by the bedside makes the nightstands mirror each other, but not to the extreme. Try the Pottery Barn Vintage Green Glass Jugs ($29-69).

Bedding: Start with crisp white sheets and pillowcases. Then, pick up a bedskirt and two throws with the same subtle, green/blue stripe. Next, find a duvet or matelassé with a big botanical pattern to set at the foot of the bed, and pick up textiles in a matching palette for the headboard. Two accents pillows with a graphic pattern in a coordinating color, like the Area Alma Pillowcases ($30 and up) will add an interesting visual element to the space.

notNeutral - Ribbon Etched Carafe - $29.00	Vintage Green Glass Jugs - $69.00
Arcade Glass - flores vase by arcade - $283.00	Kensett Sheet Set by Nautica, 100% Cotton Sateen, 350 Thread Count - $69.99
Area Day White Sheets - $140.00	Blake Nightstand - $449.00
Acacia Nightstand - $199.00	Sleepy Hollow Storage Shelf-Nightstand - $149.00
Perch! - Walker Pendant Light - $190.00	Foscarini - tite suspension lamp by marc sadler for foscarini - $313.00
Fontana Arte -caffe lamp by fontana arte - $141.00	Nordstrom Twilight Lumbar Pillow - $68.00
Area Alma Pillowcases - $30.00	Bedford Jacquard Bed Skirt - $129.00
Ludlow Full Dust Ruffle - $29.99	500 Thread Count Damask Stripe Bed Skirts - $19.99
Matine Toile Duvet Cover & Sham - Powder Blue - $29.00	Block Print Duvet Cover & Shams - $198.00
Manuel Canovas Botanical Bedding - $95.00	Custom Comfort Trinidad - $44.99

Source

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

Casa Interview, Part II: Domino Founding Editor Deborah Needleman (and an Awesome Giveaway!)

CasaSugar — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:00:39 -0700

Deborah Needleman, the founding editor of Domino, is a goldmine of savvy advice on decorating your home, honed from years of experience heading up the style-centric magazine as well as decorating her own home. You can read the first half of my interview with her here. Deborah's tips and thoughts on decorating continue in the second half of this interview.

Our homes are really personal spaces. Considering that most of us are shopping from the same few décor retailers and finding inspiration in the same shelter magazines and blogs, how should we go about personalizing our homes?
Every home definitely needs a few old things and a couple unique things. And when most of what we have is mass-produced, it's more important than ever to have some things made by actual human hands, whether it's pottery, rugs, pictures, whatever. It is essential to find a few things that no one else has, whether you find them in a shop, at a tag sale, bring them back from a trip, collect them from nature, or even make them - like just tacking up drawings or notes from friends. Stuff that is meaningful to us, what we love or collect or find is interesting to our guests. I also do think it's really nice to have one really good piece - whether that's a table, rug, chandelier, whatever. It gives your room some substance, some weight - and also ensures it doesn't look like anyone else's.

To read the rest of the interview, read more.

I love your home, which I saw featured in New York magazine a few years ago. I know that you’re a big fan of neutrals and white, or at least you were when that article was written. Are you still a neutrals gal?
Thanks. It's funny, in New York City which is so chaotic and where I get easily overwhelmed, I need to be a neutral gal. It totally calms me down, and keeps my head clear. But upstate, where I feel more relaxed, I love layering patterns and color - florals, suzanis, chintzes, Indian prints, etc. I'm covering my sofa there in purple linen, my study is painted black, and one room is the craziest color green I've ever seen.

I love how your home is elegant and adult-oriented, yet still kid-accessible. What is your advice on and personal experience with creating gorgeous spaces that are also kid-friendly?
I have never understood dumbing down design for kids. No one had kid-friendly homes when I was growing up - people just had the homes they had and their children lived in them! A family home is for adults and children - why on earth would anyone give over their living room to let it look like a play room?! I'll probably get hate mail for this, but aside from a gate so children don't tumble down the stairs, and maybe a lock on the cabinet if you have the kind of children that want to eat the Ajax or whatever, children can be taught that table edges are sharp and that food is to be eaten in the kitchen and that open markers can't be left on the rug!

Other than that, if you have a fairly light palette like I do, you have to accept that you won't have the cleanest house in the world. Fortunately I like a bit of a patina on things! I like that the floor is scuffed by skateboards in part because I love a house where children feel free to run wild, have loads of friends over, and make forts out of the sofa cushions, but also where they have a sense of responsibility and respect for things. Oh, and I have cheap rugs, so if they get destroyed, I won't be sad! And I certainly wouldn't choose a linen velvet sofa fabric if I had to do it again! Kids don't rule the roost, they share it.

Your HomeGoods StyleScope tool helps home decorators find their style. How would you describe your own style?
I think I'm fairly conventional at core - I couldn't have furniture at funny angles or a bed floating in a room or anything too wacky or "fun." I dig symmetry. I like things that are classic in shape and form - not overly embellished, but I appreciate many kinds of design. I think I take this fairly classic base and mess it up a bit. I'm certainly not traditional. I like to layer on personality and quirk with ethnic textiles, cushions, interesting objects, fabrics, and art. I love stuff from India, Morocco, England. Thus, Bohemian Classic.

And to revive a favorite Domino feature of mine, what are 10 things that make you happy?
Hilarious question! Well, first of all, we never let people say their children or their dogs!!! Too boring and obvious.

Nearly all Santa Maria Novella products (if I could only choose one thing, it'd be their potpourri. But I'm crazy about the milk body cream, the honeysuckle perfume, and the pomegranate soap and bath salts). I am obsessed with scent - on my body and in my home!
My veg garden. (Really, seeing my children eat their way through our veg garden, but at Domino I would've edited that out as too sentimental!)
Making flower arrangements for the house.
My white parsons table (I have two) - and a brilliant new parsons side table in the pitch-perfect green color.
Comfy chairs in kitchens and bathrooms.
Cheap weekly blowouts from walk-in, no-appointment places.
Summer dinner outside with friends.
Staying in a lovely hotel room (never a trendy hotel, I like old-school, old-fashioned hotels). I love that nothing belongs to me and the beds are perfectly made. The Duc du St. Simon in Paris is pretty excellent.
Bobbi Brown makeup. Makes you look sun-kissed, not dolled up.
I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't say this, but having a decorator!! Specifically having the genius Rita Konig as a decorator!

Thank you, Deborah! We have a special giveaway for you CasaSugar readers on the way. One of you lucky readers will win a $500 gift card to HomeGoods! Check back for more details about the giveaway later on today!

Etsy Find: Handcrafted Bamboo Hangers

CasaSugar — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:30:53 -0700

In my how-to on organizing your hangers, I talked a lot about choosing the right type of hangers for your wardrobe. But in guest rooms or coat closets, or when you're using apparel as home décor, sometimes aesthetics take priority over clips, clamps, and rubber grips. If that's the case, consider the Pretty Plum Sugar Handcrafted Bamboo Hangers ($25 for 10). These hangers are absolutely gorgeous, each crafted from a single piece of bamboo. Seeing as they're all made from real bamboo, the color of each varies, creating an interesting visual effect. I love the symmetry of the hooks on these hangers; it's almost too perfect. Are you hung up on these, too?

Casa Capsule

CasaSugar — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 10:30:58 -0700

Ferm's new wallpaper collection is nice and new.
TLC premieres its new show Over Designed tonight!
Bored? Turn your spare Netflix flap into a popcorn tray.
HGTV's Rate My Space host Angelo Surmelis's kitchen was in the news.
One Su Casa member achieved a gorgeous dining room transformation.
Feeling lopsided? Why not get the look of symmetry?
Throwing a party or getting hitched? Try to do it DIY and green like me.
We had a blast teaming up with Ikea for Park(ing) Day!

Source

Coveted Cribs: Abigail Edwards' Stylish Eye

CasaSugar — Wed, 14 May 2008 08:30:16 -0700

Interior stylist Abigail Edwards has a gift for bringing out a sense of symmetry and balance in the homes she shoots for magazines like House & Garden and Inspired Living, as well as clients such as Bemz. Take a look at the slideshow to check out her inspired interiors. Source

View Slideshow ›

Tempo Velvet Chartreuse Pillow - $36.95	Tetra Rug - $299.00
Pure Ceramic Vases, Woodland Whites - $29.00	Baldwin Table Lamp - $149.00
Bamboo Thermal Roman Shade - $60.00	Bussolari - brac lacquered tray by bussolari of italy - $150.00
Denby "White" Serving Bowl - $67.00	Lucy Vase - $5.95
Jonathan Adler Tamarind Vase- White - $198.00	Eklo - Green Vase - $24.99