quilted mundane

Have you ever looked at the quilting on your toilet paper or paper towels...
they're kinda pretty...

Obsessive Consumption

I love the drawings that Kate Bingaman does at Obsessive Consumption. She documents her daily purchases by hand drawing each piece. She even has drawn her credit card statements! Just goes to show you can find inspiration in anything. check out her site and online shop here.

Karia Nomoto

LIFE to mundane!

Just saw these on design-milk. I need these so bad!

Functional Piles

Have you ever felt your life is just a series of endles stacks and piles... piles of papers, books, magazines, bills... etc... My place can easily become "pile central," and "cleaning" sometimes ends up being just moving one pile to another side of the room! The clever designers at Mio have come up with a seating concept that puts your pile(s) into good use- to act as a base for a chair. The "Bale" chair consists of a molded plywood seat shell and plywood base, made from responsible harvested wood, nylon levelers, and two recycled polyester webbing straps with steel buckles. To assemble this design, you just put a pile (obviously the height is adjustable!) to the desired height, and the secure with the webbing. This would be great if you happen to have a stack of old encyclopedias that is taking up too much space, or collection of magazines that you can't get rid of, but also don't want to hog up your shelves... it will give a little function to the madness... you can find out contact info and availability from their website.

Blue Plate Special

I do loves me a "greasy spoon." They are always one of the best part of road trips, as well as the stage for post late night hijinks... These disposable Diner placemats have been out for awhile, featuring the beautiful photographs of Martin Yeeles, but I just noticed they now come in melamine plates too! My favorite is the image with the honey bear.

Good Beat

Sometimes... I just want to hear a good beat.

S&P + brownies

Lots of people collect salt and pepper shakers, and I could easily see myself doing that. However, already being a compulsive packrat, collecting S&P shakers is the last thing I need to start doing. That being said, I might have to break down just a little bit because I am in love with these two sets of S&P shakers. (sigh, I'm hopeless, I know...) The first is this great set from Crate&Barrel. I spied them while I was picking up some brownie mix (more on that later!). Anyway- love the bold graphic "S" and "P"- It's so straightforward and to the point. Then there's these lovely lovelies, that are the epitome of "to the point." They say... just what they are. Total "plain wrap" style, and that is so happy mundane! Can you guess where they're from? The color should give it away... and they were only 99¢, and I post about this place constantly...(anyone? anyone?)

Going back to Crate&Barrel... so if you will remember my geek-fest post about FoodNetwork, and meeting Ina Garten at the NYIGF (here's a pic of her autograph, I put it on my fridge), I mentioned her amazing "outrageous" brownie mix that she was promoting. Well, I found out Crate&Barrel is selling the mix, so I had to rush and get some. Keep in mind I am no culinary master. I had a hard time getting started (how do you "flour" a pan? hehe, don't worry, I figured it out!) Anyway, add eggs, butter, dump in the mix, whip it up, and voila! yummy yummy brownies with a hint of coffee/espresso in them... yum....

Blue Tuesday: save the manatee

Well, monday was a holiday, so I'll have to do another blue Tuesday instead. It feels like "monday" to me though- does anyone else feel this way? Anyway, today's blue is about the manatee. Just got this e-mail from SavetheManatee club, and it reminded me that these cute creatures are still endangered. There are only about 300 manatees left in Florida's waterways, and that population could be reduced by as much as 50% in the future from growing human-related threats, red tide, and habitat loss. Boat strikes continue to kill manatees in huge numbers as well. I got this little wind up toy awhile back, and it continues to bring me a smile. It (You can get one here-) It is sad to think that potentially, this little toy could be the last reminder of what these gentle creatures really are like. More importantly, you can adopt your own real manatee by going to www.savethemanatee.org. Plus they have these cute plush toys, and proceeds go to benefit the foundation. (Christmas is coming by the way...)

P5

friday news

I can't believe its September. Where did the "summer" go? I'm not sure if I'm feeling sad or excited. Luckily here in So Cal, the weather will stay "summer"-like for awhile longer, so I guess I still have a little time to left to enjoy. Fall brings changes so that's always interesting and exciting. Anyhoo, for today, I've been meaning to post some pics of the store window displays I took during my recent NY visit. These were from the Anthropologie store by Rockafeller Center. My local Anthropologie stores have similar themed displays, but I was really impressed with the NY ones. I love the plate with the little clippings in it. I also really liked the layered look of the papers with the windows cut out. That would make such a neat window covering... I hope everyone here in the States is going to have a great LaborDay weekend. What are y'all up to?

morning miso

Every now and again, I enjoy a traditional japanese breakfast (even though I'm not Japanese) of miso soup and rice. There's just something very soothing and calming (not to mention delicious!) about miso in the morning to start your day. Anyways, I also love eating miso in a big bowl, using those big soup spoons. Sadly, I find my soup spoons always slip into the soup. During my last Marukai 99¢ Super Store run, I spied these cool spoons that had ridges on the back. They rest onto the sides of the bowl and prevent it from going in. Genius! Now back to my soup... yum....

yellow and tan towels

I guess it's a natural progression (or diversion) from the grays, but I've been feeling another neutral combo: yellow and sand(or light taupe/tan- in addition to touches of gray)... Bowiestyle mentioned it and has some nice examples, and the image below from Marimekko is also another great example.During my last visit to Walmart, I was excited to see these great "bath sheets". They are part of their Back to School "Get it together" group and are so modern. Sand/light taupe/tan solid on the front, with muted yellow accent trim- and the back is reversible with the yellow as the solid. The best part is they are only about $9 each. (unfortunately not online, but they are in-store)

weekend stroll

Over the weekend, I made a quick grocery run to the japanese store, and it is right next to the Kinokuniya bookstore, so of course I had to check in. Lo, and behold, they had a pleasant surprise for me! A book by the incredible Japanese illustrator, Rica Takada! I first found out about Rica's work from a post at Imedagoze, introducing us to the fabulous japanese store, BG-shop. From there I found Rica's site, and also found out her prints have been used on other home furnishings as well! Someone needs to carry these here in the states so I can snatch them up! For now, I am just... smitten with the book, and did another little video clip so you can see what's inside. By the way, the ISBN number is ISBN4-86020-034-9

Blue Monday- wallet

Poppytalk posted this amazing wallet she found on etsy! I'm such a sucker for anything "plain wrap" and writing in simple helvetica- plus its in cyan- I want!!

time after time

I don't remember how I came across this video on Atom films, but I am just fascinated by it. Artist Ahree Lee took a snapshot of herself every day and three years later compiled it into a short film. I wonder how much or little I've changed within just a span of a year, let alone 3 years....

Elle Decor: September 2006

Happy Friday! It's a sad notion that Summer is almost over. However, I'm holding on as long as I can, because frankly, I haven't had my "summer vacation" yet! By the looks of September's Elle Decor (US), they're doing the same. I love love the cover shot with the summery combo of green and yellow. I normally wouldn't be attracted to such a combo, but the way they did it looks fresh, warm, and modern. The inside images are amazing as well. In a nutshell, this house rocks! They definitely have touches of the whole "hollywood glam/regency"- but they didn't go overboard, which could have easily happened and then have become too "theme-y". Instead, they always threw in a suprise element that keeps it balanced and cool. Of course the owners happen to be style makers themselves, (one is an interior decorator, and the other the executive creative director for Coach) but that doesn't mean we can't be inspired by their bright, bold, and beautiful choices. Although, what makes this a wee bit depressing is this is just their "beach house in Southhampton...." oh well... you may not have a complete house as a getaway, but you could maybe transform one room... (that's what I tired to do...) Enjoy your weekend!

mundane aesthetic: traffic sights

Interesting what you can see when you are sitting in your bubble of a car...
in the daily joy that is known as traffic...
(Disclaimer: I do not recommend taking photos while driving. Safety first kids...)
What have you seen while sitting in traffic?

Virginia Johnson

One of the many artists I saw at the NYIGF was Virginia Johnson. She had these great home-textile designs and I just fell in love with her artwork. She also has a clothing line (but since this was a home show, it wasn't really an emphasis.) There's a pureness to her designs that I really appreciated, most of which was inspired by nature. Aside from textiles, she's also an illustrator, doing illustrations for the likes of another favorite of mine, Kate Spade. There's a really interesting audio/slideshow here, that gives you a fun inside look into her creative process. Her latest linesheet had amazing photographs and illustrations that were intermixed with the catalog of pieces, such as these: They're very happy mundane, no? Find out more info here.

paper + Stefana McClure

I was doing a little shredding with my electronic paper shredder (is it just me, or isn't the act of shredding just sooo satisfying?) I started to think about what to do with all that shredded paper... unfortunately, I opted for the model that shreds stuff into confetti (it's a party! hooray!) but if you have the kind that just makes it into strips, well, you might consider doing what Stefana McClure does, and make amazing 3D sculptures out of thin strips of paper. Mocoloco did a little write up on her and I am so fascinated by the map one. Its so brilliant how a flat map of the world, all sliced up, can suddenly become a globe! The map piece is actually 22 inches in diameter! It can be seen here.