CasaSugar -- Home sweet home.

Nice and New: Travelmate Portable Fireplace

casasugar — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 08:30:14 -0700

When it comes to most of the products I recommend, finances are usually the only thing keeping you from taking them home. OK, maybe your husband would be opposed to mirrored furniture, but, moving on . . . There's one thing that's never been an easy purchase, and that thing is a fireplace. Why? Because a fireplace requires a chimney, which requires a contractor, bricks, etc.
To find out how to get around those pesky requirements,

Love It or Hate It? Rabbit Lamp by Front

casasugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:30:24 -0700

Need a little Thumper in your study? Then throw down the bills for a Rabbit Lamp by Front for Moooi ($539).

Love It or Hate It? Rabbit Lamp by Front

Love It

Hate It

Undecided

Love It or Hate It? War Bowl

casasugar — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:00:06 -0700

The Dominic Wilcox War Bowl ($400) for Areaware is an art piece made from melted and partially melted plastic toy soldiers, that makes "a statement on the futility of war." It's also available in red, white, or blue. Coincidence? I think not. If you wanted to eat your Top Ramen out of it, or decorate with apples in it, you'd be out of luck: it cannot support food. What do you think? Would you put this bowl in your home? Do you agree with the statement it tries to make?

Love It or Hate It? War Bowl

Love It

Hate It

Undecided

Crave Worthy: Kokoon Free Standing Hammock

casasugar — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:30:44 -0700

If you're too lazy to DIY a hammock and have got money to burn, the Kokoon Free Standing Hammock ($10,620) might be right up your alley. The luxe outdoor furnishing will bring Summer Style to your terrace or lawn, and serve as a private escape from whatever ails you this month, especially if you add its optional set of curtains. You might want to have someone check in on you every once in a while: I don't know that I'd ever want to leave it. And, when it's not in use it'll just look good in your yard; I love its x-shaped base . . . as much, if not more than those x-base tables and stools I've written about.

If Money Weren't an Issue . . .

casasugar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:01:34 -0700

. . . would you put this Bracelli floor lamp ($8,846) designed by surrealist artist Salvador Dali in your living room?

If Money Weren't an Issue . . .

Absolutely — that's a gorgeous piece of artwork, and I love Dali!

Wow, it's beautiful. But it wouldn't work in my home.

Maybe, but I might have to redecorate.

No way! It's so odd looking.

Other. I'll tell you in the comments.

Love It or Hate It? Tord Boontje Transglass Mirror

casasugar — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:30:48 -0700

Who would have ever thought that Dutch designer Tord Boontje would be inspired to create a mirror based on Guatemalan tribal masks? The Dog Mask Mirror ($2,200) is just that: one big woof of Guatemalan inspiration. I'm a big Boontje fan but I'm kind of thinking there's a reason why the Atlantic separates Europe and Central America; maybe Boontje should consider making some mirrored klompen instead.

Love It or Hate It? Tord Boontje Transglass Mirror

Love It

Hate It

Undecided

Crave Worthy: Philippe Starck Royalton Sofa

casasugar — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:45:00 -0700

Though I'm not a mathematician by trade, I still believe that the Royalton Sofa ($9,335) — designed by Philippe Starck in 1991 — can be expressed by the following formula: Settee + Headboard = Royalton. The ever-resourceful and always surprising Starck is responsible for many unique designs, including my fave, the Louis Ghost Chair.

Of course, I'm more likely to spend 10G on my garden than on this piece of furniture — let's face it, if your dog secretly jumps on your sofa, it's never a good idea to drop a lot of money on such a royal piece. However, a girl can still dream, right? The Royalton, a few Louis Ghost Chairs, a luxurious rug . . . my dream living room's out there somewhere, even if it's only in my imagination.

Crave Worthy: Lily.mgx Lamp

casasugar — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:00:17 -0700

Obviously embodying a form that's been inspired by nature, the Lily.mgx lamp ($502 for small table lamp shown here), is the type of small, precious object that could make an otherwise sparsely decorated room glow. Designed by Janne Kyttanen for Materialise, the lamps are said to resemble a lily-pad flower, though I think they look a lot more like an artichoke myself. While the lamps may look simple, apparently they were designed using a 3-D material printing process that sounds rather geeky and complicated. But hey, if you're going to geek out, you might as well make it as impossibly chic as this lamp.

Crave Worthy: Bodo Sperlein Niagra Chandelier

casasugar — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:00:24 -0700

From a young age, like many little girls, I fawned over butterflies, scribbling them everywhere in crayon. In fact, I even wrote this poem in kindergarten:

Butterflies are pretty things
Floating lightly with their wings
Higher, higher in the sky
Oh how I love the butterflies.

Nowadays my adoration of the insect is fleeting, and I actually find them rather lame when reproduced (thanks Mariah Carey). But, when a product like the Bodo Sperlein Niagra Chandelier for Lladró ($45,000) sails my way, I resort to that childhood fascination. The design pays tribute to Lladró's love for nature, taking the magic of the forest and its ethereal creatures and turning them into contemporary fixtures for the home. If this chandelier doesn't have you penning poems, what really does?
Source

Can You Guess What This Product Does?

casasugar — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:00:14 -0700

This product kind of looks like an anatomical heart. But obviously, it's not. It's actually used to trap something. Can you guess what? Name the thing that it traps.