CasaSugar -- Home sweet home.

Trend Alert: Apparel as Home Décor

casasugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:15:37 -0800

From inspiring shelter magazines to the portfolios of interior stylists and photographers to haute décor shops, I've been seeing our bodies' garments artistically displayed on the beautiful bones of houses around the world. At a time when fashion rules the pavement and the print pubs, names like Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent prolifically roll off the tongue, celebrities are becoming designers left and right, and Birkin bags take 48 hours to make, it's no wonder that apparel is making waves in our homes as well in the buzzing media world. To see where I've found frocks and accessories in bedrooms, living rooms, and beyond, check out this slideshow. Source

Midday Muse: A World-Class Backyard

casasugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:00:27 -0700

Designer Selina Lake created this world style-influenced backyard vignette using a vintage suzani, feminine-hued throw pillows, and a jaunty crystal-accented parasol. While you might not have all of these elements in your garage or attic, I bet you could round up a few to create a similar cozy outdoor space at your own home. I'm currently contemplating taking our old coffee table out of the garage and setting it on a back deck platform in our yard, adorning it with lanterns and throw pillows, and inviting friends over for a midnight Scrabble marathon. How could you create some Summer style using elements you already own?

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Home Library: Bazaar Style

casasugar — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:00:00 -0700

After months of heated anticipation, I've finally had the blessing to read Bazaar Style, an interior design book from beloved Designer Spotlight, stylist Selina Lake, interiors writer Joanna Simmons, and interiors photographer Debi Treloar, which was just released in April. Chock full of salivating images of homes furnished with French flea market and Moroccan bazaar finds, alongside modern design classics, big-box buys, and inherited antiques, the book will reveal the potential in your beat-up furniture and a can of
paint, inspire you to paint the surround of a window to frame the view, and liberate you to break conventions, be it by setting your table with mismatched china, or duct taping fresh flowers to the wall. While the photography alone would be enough to sell me on this title, unlike some of its contemporaries, the ratio of editorial advice to image content is not negative, let alone meager; Lake and Simmons have channeled their industry expertise into hundreds of tips, suggestions, and solutions for achieving this unprecedented style in your home. To hear more about this impressive book and see some photos from it,

Designer Spotlight: Selina Lake

casasugar — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:45:01 -0800

In today's Spotlight, the designer is actually an interior stylist. In other words, as Selina Lake said in her recent interview with decor8, her "role is usually to produce images, which are used to sell products, and to inspire magazine and book readers," rather than "to design residential and commercial properties," as an interior designer would. Her editorial experience ranges from decorating and house features to styled shopping shoots and makeovers. At only 26, her client list already includes Marie Claire, LivingEtc, Ikea, House Beautiful, Real Homes, Elle Decoration, and more. She also
recently shot a book called Bazaar Style for Ryland Peters and Small which will be published and on sale this Spring. She's a staunch advocate of shopping for vintage treasures in flea markets and charity shops, and, trained as a surface pattern designer, she's also really interested in decorative fabrics and wallpapers, which you can spot in her shoots. To see an inspiring gallery of Selina's work,