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Casa Shops: Spring

casasugar — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:00:05 -0700

After the birth of their son, Oliver, Lucas and Margi Heldfond were motivated to open their Russian Hill, San Francisco eco-specialty store, Spring. What's the correlation? They were troubled by the fact that air-tight homes seal in air pollutants. The Heldfonds took a look at the way chemicals find their way into our homes through paints, household cleaners, dry cleaned clothes, building supplies, furniture, electronics, and personal care products, and decided to specialize in green products for a healthy home. And thus, Spring was sprung.Spring now offers home products such as air purifiers, natural cleaning products, organic bedding, organic mattresses, natural personal care products, home accessories, steam cleaners, furnace filters, encasements, HEPA vacuum cleaners, and more. All of these eco products help to reduce our exposure to chemicals, toxins, and pollutants in our homes. This not only ensures environmental health in general, but also contributes to residents' personal health.

Concerned that all this sounds a little too hippie-crunchy granola for you? Not so fast! Spring is loaded with the most stylish, eco-friendly, and eco chic products around. The store even sells no-VOC paints in custom colors! So San Franciscans, go ahead and put a little Spring in your stomping ground. And for everyone else: here's hoping the Heldfonds get their web shop up and running before you have our own little Olivers. To see Spring's 12 steps to a healthy home,

Midday Muse: The Subtleties of Spring

casasugar — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:00:05 -0700

While it's been in the 90s here in the San Francisco Bay Area (too hot!), Spring arrives a bit more delicately in other parts of the country. A friend recently posted this photo of the woods behind his home in the upper Midwest. Fiddlehead ferns are one of the harbingers of Spring in that area, and they are as delicious as they are beautiful. Can you see where they got their name from?

Open House: How Do You Ready Your Closets For Spring?

casasugar — Sat, 03 May 2008 08:18:55 -0700

Spring is finally here. That means, among some other Spring projects, it's time to examine what's in your closet and shed some layers. So for this Open House, I want you to tell me all about your plans, if any, to update your closets for the change of season. Do you box and store your Winter wardrobe to make room for your lighter apparel? Do you leave all of your clothes in your closet year-round? Do you store your ski gear and bring out the surfboards as the snow melts and ocean temperatures rise? Do you haul your snow tires to the attic? Do you move your wool blankets to the back of your linen closet? Do you keep your out-of-season items in a cedar closet? Do you toss receipts that are so last season? Do you pull out your melamine picnic plates? Do you shed the junk you've collected (and hoarded) during the year? Will you be making a trip to the Container Store to stock up storage boxes? Or, is the idea of "Spring cleaning" your closet of no interest you? Fill me in on your plans by commenting below.
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May Must Haves

casasugar — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:15:19 -0700

As we travel one month closer to warm temperatures, all of the Spring weather has me itching to make some changes in my house as well. Are you afflicted with the same decorating bug? I hope so, because I have a lot of great accents and furniture finds to inspire you this month! Source

Su Casa: Lovely Garden Colors

casasugar — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:00:41 -0700

Recently, Rubiesymusica wrote about the transformation of her home's outdoor space with the coming of Spring. She wrote, "Usually everything is in full bloom by Easter, but the lack of rain has pushed it back by two or three weeks. The lilies are starting to bloom, but the big pink and purple flowers that line the siding of the house are already gone!"
Do you want to post photos of your home? To join the Su Casa group, just follow this link and click "subscribe" beneath the photo on the lefthand side of the page. Once you're subscribed, click Share in the upper lefthand menu of any TeamSugar page and choose what type of post you want to create. If you have just one photo and some text, create a blog; if you have a gallery you want to share, select photos.

Open House: Spring Projects

casasugar — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 05:21:17 -0700

Spring has officially sprung! That means several things. A) I need to start shopping for some fab sandals. B) I need to befriend someone with a sailboat. And C) I've got to get my house into shipshape for warm weather fun. One of my friends recently built herself a deck and is digging a ditch and ordering concrete in an effort to build herself a pool. Impressive, right?

Wherever you are, the heat is just around the corner, and I'm sure there's something you'd like to get done so you can enjoy it when it comes. So, for this Open House, I want to hear what's on your To Do list for Spring. Does your garden need a reno? Should your pool be filled? Need to hire a landscaper? Build a balcony or give your patio a makeover? Does your AC need to be fixed? Let me know by leaving a comment below!
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The Card Shop: Hippity Hop Letterpress Bunny Card

casasugar — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:00:39 -0700

Although it may not exactly be tradition to send cards for Easter (Christmas, yes; birthdays, yes), I'd be delighted to receive this Hippity Hop Letterpress Bunny Card ($3.50). I'm loving the cute bushy tails and long whiskers of this quintuplet of rosy bunnies. Considering that Easter is fast approaching, and Spring has officially sprung, I most definitely endorse sending some in celebration of the vernal equinox, too. If Trix are for kids then bunny love should be for grownups, right?

Name This Flower

casasugar — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:00:53 -0700

Today is the first day of Spring. Happy Spring everyone! Can you name this beautiful bloom that's brightening up my garden right now? (Hint: It's an early riser.)

Casa Craving Recap: Springy Placemats

casasugar — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:00:35 -0700

Well, the gorgeous sunny days here in San Francisco have continued, and all of this Spring-like weather has me eager to welcome the season into my home. I wanted to start with my tabletop landscape, so, for this week's Casa Craving Challenge, I asked you to hunt down and bookmark your favorite springy placemats. They could be plain and colorful or utterly drenched in flowers, so long as they evoked Spring in your home. Take a look at the widget below for all of the great finds.

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Roundup: Farm Fresh Rugs

casasugar — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:27:37 -0700

Since I'm überpsyched for all the colors of Spring, I figured I'd get the leaves turning with some fresh green rugs. Grow one in your living room, kitchen, or dining room — well, any room in the house! Be sure to throw in some pink and green accent pillows and perhaps some verdant vases. Green plays well with most everyone on the color wheel, so you're bound to find something that fits your palette. Here's some green to hold you over until the grass really starts to grow:
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Nice and New: Galvanized Steel For the Garden

casasugar — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:45:38 -0800

As part of its new Spring line of products, Ikea is offering some great-looking (and perfectly priced) galvanized products for the garden. I love the look of galvanized steel — it adds an instant sleekness and modernity to a patio garden, something that sometimes is hard to achieve with ceramic. Even better, galvanized steel is rust resistant, so it won't get funky after Spring showers. With prices starting at a mere 99 cents, it's hard to go wrong with these products. I'm especially fond of the cute galvanized Varen plant tags, which you can write on with pencil to identify your flowers, herbs, and veggies. Check out their full line of new garden products for more Spring gardening ideas.

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Round-Up: Pink and Green Accent Pillows

casasugar — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:00:39 -0800

We're fast approaching the end of Winter, and my eyes are turning to bright accents for freshening up your furniture. What better way to do so than with some pretty pillows? Lately, I've been especially inspired by the pink and greens that Amy Butler's been using in many of her inspirational lifestyle photos. I love the freshness of light green when it's combined with pink, and it'll definitely add some needed pop to bedding or upholstered furniture that's asking for an infusion of Spring colors. Take a look at the widget below for some of my favorite home accent pillows in this color scheme.

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Love It or Hate It? Google News Cushion

casasugar — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:02:53 -0700

My buddy geeksugar posted a poll about this Google News Cushion ($120), and I'm curious to know what you guys think. Designed by Elodie Blanchard, the statement-making pillow is emblazoned with the top 10 Google News stories of 2006. (2003 and 2005 versions are also available.) The more I look at the limited-edition design, the more fascinating it is— though it feels slightly exploitative to have a pillow that reads "Hurricane Katrina" on my couch.

Love It or Hate It? Google News Cushion

Love It

Hate It

Undecided