To Each his Home

I know we all love looking at modern home magazines and books. However, often times things can start to look the same, or at least- you start to notice the similar trends- the same pieces, etc... It's all good and all, but it gets me extra excited when I come across rooms that are completely original and full with the owner's point of view. There's a new book out called "To Each His Home- Inspired Interiors as unique as their owners." Written by Bilyana Dimitrova, it's a refreshingly fun book that highlights eight homes that "unabashedly express the personalities of their free-spirited owners." I always admire people that have no fear and make their home... theirs. I was most intrigued with the home of Lenny Weiner. It kind of reminds me of that house in Great Expectations, where everything was covered in cobwebs... except this place is full of life and greenery. But it's almost like the houseplants have taken over! All the homes in this book are full of colors, stories and life. Some are kooky, some kinda creepy, (and some border on just plain scary!)- Even if everything isn't to your taste, you can take inspiration in their creativity. The fact that these people have been able to transform four walls, surround themselves with things they love, and make it into their ideal vision of "home", I think deserves kudos- (I'm available to be invited to the dinner party anytime!)

mundays.

i'm having one of those mornings...

 

by Jenny Holzer

Feelin' Green... (well, olive)

The October 2008 issue of Metropolitan Home has got me feelin' olive right now. Olive is such a great and sort of unexpected neutral that seems to work with almost everything. It tones down combos that may be a bit too bright, warms up areas that might be a little cold, and right now, it's perfect for fall! I love how the olive touches in the cover feature home, (by designer Shamir Shah), really make the spaces. In the cover shot, those olive pillows add just the right amount of unexpected pop (and I love that they added the turquoise asterisk on the bottom left- which could easily be translated into a vase or something...) Also, in the bedroom, the muted olivey colored nightstand/dresser keeps the whole space from feeling to boring/neutral. Paired with the white, just makes everything feel really fresh. I also love how it looks paired with blue, as shown in this Atlanta home, also in the October issue. Over at Crate & Barrel, they have these beautiful vases in the olive-y family, as well as these two great textured pillows (here and here- although this velvet one is pretty snazzy too). Hm... may just need to add more olive into my home's diet...

TGIF huge video break: fabulous, sexy and mysterious

It's friday! woo hoo! why not have a fabulous, sexy and mysterious weekend... (of course, all while smelling amazing...)

Rachel Perry Welty

This morning, I was going to cut up my yummy fuji apple and I had to stop and peel off the sticker. It reminded me of this article I read in the recent Readymade Mag on artist Rachel Perry Welty. They featured this piece called "Fruit Bowl IV." It's composed of tons of little fruit stickers that Welty "cuts, twists, and tapes into highly detailed collages..."- It's pretty amazing to look at. A little googling found a few other pieces. I love these doodled on take-out containers! more here. (via Readymade)

I need confirmation!

I need confirmation! Ok, so I have a small confession (again). I've kinda been addicted to facebook lately. I started out as a myspace-r, but some of my friends sucked me in, and now... fully addicted. I put up Happy Mundane as a blog but I need to be "confirmed"- so... if you're a facebook-er- let's be friends! and confirm Happy Mundane!

Carved Animal bookends

These carved animal bookends from Roost would make a fun addition to any bookcase. Totally reminds me of something you'd see at Mr. Toads Wild Ride!

(My favorites are the rabbit, squirrel, and beaver) I'm thinking they might also look amazing painted in a bright glossy color, though the natural wood is quite charming... Available at Velocity

Snow & Graham 2009 calendar

Beautiful letterpress calendar from Snow & Graham at Delight.com!

More here.

simple things at Fred Flare

I love this image from an email the fun folks at Fred Flare sent out this morning.

mundane aesthetic: sunrise on my sunset

 

sunrise on my sunset.

Becky Fukumoto

More Post-it amazing-ness videos, this time from Becky Fukumoto for HP. Click here, here, here, and here to watch the videos.

(via VLU).

desktop landscape

Desktop Landscape — How To from keenley projects on Vimeo.
Desktop Landscape. (via)

motivation

We all could use a little motivation right?
More info here. (available here)

TGIF video break: Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps

Masking Tape Window Screen

Over at AT:LA there's a fun post on using masking tape as a screen. I don't know about the practicalities of it (ie. tape on windows with sunlight over time...), but it sure looks stunning. More here. (image via AT:LA via here)

Target-o-rama Fall08 pt 3: Domo for Target

Well, if you've been into Target lately, I'm sure you'll have noticed that Halloween is already there (and I think that's the real scary part!) Anyway, this year, they went with a totally unexpected theme- DOMO! Now, some of you may know that I've been a huge fan of Domo since... forever?! I have a Domo doll above my couch that I got from Giant Robot several years ago- During the recent Back to School season, Target had started introducing a few Domo pieces, like this fun folder and notebook. But whoa, they went hardcore Domo for Halloween! They have a fun little brochure I picked up in the displays that gives recipes and tips for decorating. Online, they even have little Domo movies that were made in Japan, and a behind-the scenes clip of how they made it. I love that its stop-motion animation! Check out Domo for Target here.

Target-o-rama Fall08 pt 2: fall style 08 catalog

Continuing with the Target-o-rama posts, over the weekend I got the new Fall Style 08 fashion/beauty/home catalog. Have you seen it? (I couldn't find it online yet, but if anyone finds the link, please leave it in the comments!) This time they've combined their fashion/beauty with their home collection in one showing. I guess it makes sense to combine it all since really, they are very tied together. One thing that caught my eye was this wall treatment used in this photo. I know it was just for a set, but I'm thinking it could be fun inspiration if you have a boring blank wall and are looking for something to add some visual texture. It's like a more updated approach to wood paneling. Maybe instead of the whole wall, just do half of one side. I like how the bold wall color pops through. Of course, i'm not sure where you'd find raw wood planks like that, but... still a fun idea. I could see maybe doing a light wash over them in a light grey?

Showtime House/Met Home

The folks over at Pointclickhome have put up a great roundup of the recent Showtime house. Basically Showtime had a bunch of top designers make over a house in NY with rooms that represent the best of Showtimes programs. My favorite one is the one that they did for the show Californication. I love the details they put in the living room, like a chandelier made of paperclips! (the main character is a writer). I also love the colors used (love that grey table).

Check out all the rooms and more here.

Target-o-rama Fall08 pt 1: John Derian

Ok- heads up- there's going to be three Target related posts back to back- cuz, well, there's a whole lotta stuff goin' on at good ol Targé. First up is the much anticipated John Derian collection. Have y'all seen it at your local store yet? Over the weekend, I saw some pieces in. First up was in the stationery area. Honestly, I was a little dissappointed.

I'm not really sure what was bothering me or what I was expecting. The gift bag with the butterflies was cute, but for some reason some of the other pieces just felt a little... eh. I went by the decor section and saw a small endcap with some other pieces.

The melamine bird tray looked nice and some of the bins were cool, but the shadow box art pieces just looked... eh? I feel like you could easily make your own with a trip to Paper Source and it would feel a bit more special. I dunno... it is all very pretty. but... I dunno... I'm waiting to see some of the other pieces come in. If you've seen it, what did you think?

influential blogs 2008

Our friends over at Home Rejuvenation are having their second annual poll on the 10 most influential design bloggers. Click on over and vote for your fav! This year, they're teaming up with a mag I mention quite frequently here, Wallpaper*. They will be picking three lucky voters at random to receive a year's subscription. There's also a handy compilation list of blogs, some you'll recognize, and some you may just need to click on and check out! Yours truly is listed, and if you feel so compelled to vote for me (hint hint plug plug)- It would be much appreciated! Click here for all the info.

simple rocks and stones

Love this image that Poppytalk posted, from Skonahem.
Easy, simple, and totally inspiring!

Extreme Sticky Note Experiment

Wow. I want to try now... (via Notcot)

Dirty Laundry

I hope to be able to get back to Hawaii again next month, but I wish I could be there sooner! Aside from the obvious reasons, there's a fantastic show going on there that I wish I could catch. At the Nuuanu Gallery, they're presenting Dirty Laundry: The Art of the Stain in Modern T-shirt Design.

"Dirty Laundry is a gallery show devoted to the concept of potential. Using stains as an integral part of the design and fashion of a t-shirt, the show seeks to shift our perception that something (or someone, for that matter) can be ruined. Whether it's grass, grease, or ketchup, participants of the show are challenged to incorporate the stain into a custom designed silkscreen, converting "ruin" to "remix." In step with a growing social trend, Dirty Laundry assigns value to those items deemed valueless, further broadening our understanding of the ever relevant mantra, "reduce, reuce, recycle." Perhaps the shirt's evolution parallels our own, hearkening Shakespeare's wisdom "every second is another chance." Or perhaps it simply offers an edgy solution to spaghetti sauce. Either way, the art of transformation begins with the perception of possibility."

More info here. (via Grainedit)

fashion fabulous

I don't normally post much about fashion on this blog, but I can't get these images out of my head today. So... fashion fabulous. Anne Hathaway for the new issue October 08 of W magazine, shot by Mario Sorrenti and styled by Camilla Nickerson. (more here) How striking would these be blown up on a wall?!

soon we'll be found

just an amazing video

Yellow vases

Still holding on to summer here, even though it's already Sept 9th?! Love this image of these graphic yellow vases in the July/August 2008 issue of Résidences Décoration magazine

penguins can fly!

This is awesome! well done. I love penguins!
The making of is here.

issues

I am blue this monday. I am having web/network issues. argh.

Here's a picture of a ginormously scary spider stuffed animal that I saw at the FAO Schwarz store at the Forum Shops in Vegas recently. It scared the bejeezus out of me. It was really soft though.

be back soon....

Jeffry Bilhuber's Gorgeous Grays House Beautiful 9.2008

Now that my master bath has gone through a transformation, I'm looking at the rest of my house differently. The September 08 issue has this amazing home designed by Jeffry Bilhuber. I love the colors used, especially in the living room. My current bedroom has many of the same colors, but I'm loving the mix of black and gray accents with some natural textures and pieces too... Check out the gorgeous house tour images here. (images by William Abranowicz for House Beautiful)

muted mix

great muted color combo in this Jackson Stripe Rug from Crate & Barrel

Chocolate Malted Crunch

Summer may be over for many, but I'm holding on as long as I can! It's been mighty warm lately here in So Cal, and for those of you that may have grown up around here, you know what that calls for... Thrifty Ice Cream! Sadly Thrifty stores are gone and are now all Rite Aid's, but luckily they kept Thrifty Ice Cream. My favorite part about it was the weird cylindrical ice cream scoop thing they used that made the scoops look like this. Anyway, last night I had to feed the need, so some Chocolate Malted Crunch to the rescue...

strangely obsessed with

I was watching this and then this. And now I'm obsessed with this.
I know it's wrong but it feels so right.

paper whale

Has anyone seen this bus shelter ad for Saturn? So cute! I didn't have time to take a shot of the whole ad, but they have these adorable folded paper looking sea creatures, like this whale. Now I have origami on the mind... I'll try to take another shot of the full ad soon...

good morning! Kanye + Murakami

Kanye West - Good Morning
Uploaded by kanyewestofficial

Related link: Happy mundane murakami post from last year.

cool bag!

Appreciating this simple graphic on this paper bag...
from Jack in the Box!