Kate Spade 2009 calendar

Ok, I know it's the middle of summer. It's waaaaay too early to be thinking about next year already, but I just noticed at Fred Flare, they have the new 2009 Kate Spade calendar!

 I've always loved the collages in them, and this year's looks to be is no exception.

 My favorite is the one with the feet at the bottom with a magazine, in front of a Palms Springs house... where I need to be right now... Order one here.

casa da abitare June 2008

Remember that colorstory I was obsessed with a few months back? Well, the colors on this gorgeous cover of the June 2008 Casa Da Abitare feel like a natural progression from them. I guess they could be the Summer version? I love the unexpected combination of the muted peachy-salmon with the yellow, tan, sawgrass green, and hunter green, but it's the muted turquoise that really seals the deal for me. Has a slight vintage 60's feel... love it.

bathroom ch-ch-ch-changes

It's Tuesday night and I just finished cleaning out all my bathrooms (I have 2 1/2). Why? Well, I have a confession. I've lived in my home for just about 5 years now (yikes- time flies). It was a brand new home when I got it. The only upgrades I did from the builder was hardwood laminate floors, adding in a stainless steel sink, and upgrading the carpet in the bedrooms. Wait- no tile? yes. I couldn't afford to do any bathroom upgrades. So... I chose the most unoffensive vinyl flooring pattern that could be considered "standard." It was fine for the most part... until now. One thing that sucks about vinyl flooring is that it's very temperamental in reacting with certain substances. I've learned first hand the joys of discovering the lovely yellow ring that won't go away, due to a chemical reaction with the rubber backing on a floor mat. Also, some bathroom cleaners don't like vinyl either (I guess it helps to read the labels) and can leave really attractive stains that resemble urine and won't go away either. Yeah. Nice. But the worst part- in two of my bathrooms, there's actually... brace yourselves- carpet! yeah, I didn't really get it either, but I didn't really have a choice and I always knew I would change it later. At least it wasn't where the toilet/tub area was (except for the downstairs guest bathroom, but that was rarely used.) Anyway- fast forward. 5 years have passed. Luckily, things have changed. I'm happy to say that I'm finally able to upgrade (which I've tried to hold as my theme for this year). So. I've chosen some tiles and bright and shiny Wednesday morning, the contractor is coming to change my bathroom world. Stay tuned!...

Tulip Torchere at PBTeen

For me, one of my pet decorating peeves are those halogen torch lamps. Big in the 80s and early 90s, they pretty much became a staple for all of my friend's family decor. I don't know an Asian family that doesn't have one in their house. But truth be told, they are quite practical- just a bit dated. I just spotted a version at PBteen that actually is quite cute and would not offend me. It's a bit girly, but if your decor skews on the feminine side, this could be perfect! It obviously could also work very well in a kids room. I love the scalloped edge and the mod-60's nod to a Saarinen tulip table. It's very Disney's Alice in Wonderland no?

Postfossil's Torre Pot

Functional, beautiful, and inspiring. "Individual earth filled units are attached to the base of the pot allowing seedlings to grow and flourish with freedom to stretch their roots." More info here. (via Inhabitat)

mundane aesthetic: Alaska airline carpet wall

Flying home today. I really like the tonal grey dimensional triangles (top border, not really the middle) on the wall of carpet that is in the Alaska Airlines cabin. Would make a great hanging art piece.. . or... i guess rug too...

on the road again and TGIF video Headlock

I'm in Seattle... again! Currently in Bellevue- my work has found me once more in the lovely state of Washington. I'm seriously becoming almost like a local... ok, not really, but whatever. The weather was actually really nice today, which was great because I had to go all over the place. Excuse my lack of photos as I totally forgot to bring my cable for my camera (grr....) I'll be back home tomorrow (Saturday) and will have lots more to post over the weekend. In the meantime, today's friday video break is by the UK artist Esser, who has this new single that has totally managed to get stuck in my head. Please enjoy some awkward dancing, weird haircuts and funky beats!

Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter

A few weekends ago, I did a quickie weekend trip down to San Diego. I stayed at the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter. Nice hotel, I liked the way they did this clustering of pendant lamps using normal table lampshades.

They also had this clustering of ottomans that was kind of fun.
I really loved their outside lounge-y area.

They had these raised beds of grass on large castors that could be a good DIY if you're patio doesn't have much planting area. I loved the weathered wood, mixed with frosted glass, industrial stainless steel and the gray faux-wicker with the yellow accents.

blue munday: Busy Forest Monogram plates

I saw these at Anthropologie over the weekend (sorry, blurry photo), and was really tempted to get some.

 

Couldn't decide what letters to get though, so ended up walking away (probably a good thing). The ones at the store I saw had fish on them, but online, they have birds, bees, and blossoms...

 

Very pretty...

Amadana

The latest issue of Monocle came with a 2008 Design Guide, and in it I was introduced to the beauty of Amadana. Retro styling, yet totally modern. and amazing. and I need all of it. Check out their desktop audio player!

Recently they did a some limited edition pieces collaborating with Dj Towa Tei (of Deee lite fame). It apparently includes a phone, some awesome earphones, and an all black or white version of the audio player.

Everything from their coffee maker, to calculator is incredibly designed. The art direction for the brand is done by another one of my favorites, Tycoon Graphics. The Japanese side of the site has more products, and EVERYTHING is hot. It's like Gucci meets Muji.

It's everything I want my "when I grow up" home to have and be. Check it out here.

Western Spaghetti by PES

(Via freepeople blog)

Simon's Cat

mundane aesthetic: Hillcrest

Pretty in Pink aesthetic

Ok, totally going to date myself here... I'm a bit embarrassed that I'm actually posting about this- so don't tell anyone, hehe. but... I caught the movie Pretty in Pink on tv the other night. I don't know what's scarier- the fact that I suddenly realized this movie was from 1986, which is over 20 years ago, or the fact that the decor still felt fresh to me. I am not admitting anything, but I may or may not have been a little "Ducky" in my high school years... ok- swiftly moving on... I loved the asian graphic detail around the seafoam door behind Molly Ringwald's character when she has to go back to Iona's apartment-

Also, I really loved Iona's apartment. It was the perfect eclectic mix, which I guess now could be considered "bohemian chic."

I loved the juxtaposition of the Memphis 80's grey checkerboard pillowcases, with the vintage 60's thriftstore green blanket.

Also, Andie's room had a lot of fun elements in it that I could still see being relevant today. (sigh) good times...

color coded books

I love this. it's so brilliant. I was never a big fan of the whole arrange your books by color thing- I mean, it looks great on a shelf, but it would drive me up the wall trying to find a book only by the color of the spine. I always have to organize books by subject or theme, etc... This could be a great way to marry both worlds. Maybe just using colored paper- or design something on the computer and print it out? More info here. (via mocoloco)

More hanging pots at Ivy Hotel!

Another thing that caught my attention in the Vogue Living Australia May/June 08 issue was a piece on the Ivy Hotel in Sydney. So. Glamorous. But what I really loved was the outside terrace. They did it all black/white, with lots of lush green plants. Always a winning combination. I love their wall of staggared white hanging pots, similar to the concept that I did (although mine are more ghetto, hehe) Erin Lang Norris mentioned in the comments of that post that she was going to spray paint hers white to match (which is a fantastic idea)- Here's some more inspiration for ya Erin!

Carolyn Quartermaine's studio in Vogue Living

I always find myself attracted to white rooms with bright pops of color - especially if there's a little fluorescent hit mixed in! In the May/June 2008 Vogue Living Australia, they feature the studio/home of french designer Carolyn Quartermaine. Coincidently, the April/May 2008 issue of Maison Cote Sud, which I mentioned the other day, also features the same home. Both editorials were shot by Martin Morrell. I think the shoot was really to showcase her latest fabric collection, but that's fine by me, because her fabrics are gorgeous. So feast your eyes on some happy bright colors, perfect for a summer day...

  

 

Everyday Design

Apparently the AIGA had a show back in April called EveryDay Design and I totally missed it! However, there's a fantastic Global Gallery that has tons of amazing happymundane images from people all around the world. Definitely check this out! (via Core77)

light up the stairwell

I clipped this image from the April/May 2008 issue of Maisons Cote Sud magazine. With Summer in full swing, outdoor entertaining is on my mind (my first one of the season was over July 4th- more on that later...). My favorite time to entertain is right before sunset. The midday heat has passed but it's still light enough to see what you're doing. I love these bowls they've placed on the stairs. Black on the outside- gold on the inside. Makes me want to spray paint something gold inside too... maybe to the inside of some terra cotta pots? I'm sure the light from the candle reflected in the gold looks amazing. Anyone do this in their home?

I.D. magazine July/August 2008

I love the cover of the 2008 July/August issue of I.D. magazine (the design one, not the British i-D fashion/culture/music one). I know the whole "faceted" trend has been around for awhile, but it continues to feel fresh to me, especially the way they've done it with the wood and  yellow and white. I also love the compositions (i think they're called tangrams?)

  

 

TGIF video break: Bunny letter opener

I need one of these.

Framed up

I saw this simple idea in the June 2008 UK Homes & Gardens. I liked how they positioned the frames so that they form a clean and contained area. Kind of a "picture made of pictures", as opposed to having it more free form. I'm thinking it could be a fun alternative for a wall that you want to have some sort of large impact . It think it's especially effective that they kept all the frames the same finish and with  the same color toned imagery.

pot rings

As I mentioned in the last post, I spent part of last week catching up on a few house projects I'd been wanting to do. One of them was to do something to spruce up one of my fences in my patio. Originally, I had some creeping vines on it. However, awhile back, my HOA sent out notices that they were going to repaint all the metal fence work in our complex, so I had to cut my vines down a bit. Sadly, they never recovered, so it left a big empty spot. I had the idea to put up some pot rings. My first idea was to see if I could find something that would just hook on top, but couldn't find anything. I was going to use some of these pot holder things from IKEA, (i have one already on my upper porch) but then I found these pot rings at Home Depot (very similar to this one) and ended up simply attaching them with small black cable ties. For a little added grip, I double-stick taped a small piece of that grippy shelf liner stuff to the support bar. All in all, super easy, and now I can have some hanging plants to help block some of the view. Plus, it's totally removable as well.  Just clip the cable ties and you're good to go!

Here's a few more pics:

Green munday: Marie Claire Maison

I normally do a "blue munday"- but today I just had to post these beautiful images from the May/June 2008 Marie Claire Maison. This all green editorial spread is soo beautiful and fresh feeling, perfect inspiration if you're considering a casual and elegant summer soireé. My favorite is the table shot, but I also love the bird pillows on the bed. Photography by Mark Eden Schooley, Produced by Nelson Sepulveda, assisted by Marie Laure Baudet

 

M.I.A. Holiday

Apologies for the quietness here at HM the past few days. Having just completed a large project at work, I was pretty brain dead, but also I wanted to take advantage of the timing to take a few extra days off. Some friends came over on Friday for the Fourth of July, but it was really an excuse to motivate me to finish up some much needed domestic projects I've been putting off, namely cleaning and getting rid of a lot of things that have been accumulating since... Christmas? Anyway... The weekend is nearly over (sad) but I feel a little more refreshed and excited. Now that I've cleared the way (literally) of excess things that were cluttering my home (and mind), it leaves room for new things to come in- case in point, look at my Nasturtium! It's blooming! yipee!