happy mundane

Thursday, May 28, 2009

blue thursday: enjoying the view

Aloha!- sometimes you just have to heed the call of the island- I somehow have found myself spontaneously booking and running away for a really quick trip back to Hawaii. Posting may be a bit spotty- but I'll be back over the weekend. Just a reminder that if you're in LA, next week (thursday) is the Blog Out Loud event at Patio Culture. More details here! Be right back- the beach is calling...

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

continent pillows

Travel the world without leaving your sofa! Love the simple graphic-ness of these continent silos- made via batik process- Set of 3 available here.

mundane aesthetic: watermelon

hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend- Does that mean it's officially summer now? I'm so ready...

I (finally) got the hook up(s)

Awhile back, I mentioned I was looking for some sort of wall hook/coat rack to my entry situation. Well- I finally got round to figuring out a solution. It was surprisingly quite a mental journey. I started out with the intention of having just a one-piece wall mounted coat rack. I looked around the local stores and ended up purchasing this one from Umbra. However, I still wanted something above it because the wall is so high and it just felt empty. I had a small picture ledge from IKEA left over from another project, and figured I could use that. However, it just looked kind of awkward when I placed it above the Umbra piece. Then, I spotted this great DIY idea over at DesignSponge and was totally inspired. I thought about returning the Umbra piece and using a plain piece of wood as a backer and putting a couple random hooks together instead. I also was thinking to do some sort of modern paint or paper treatment- perhaps just paint half the wood white, or use grid paper... So, I was all set on doing that- went and returned the original wall hook, and was starting to look for individual hooks to try. But then I spotted these "hook up" hooks by Three by Three Seattle- and everything changed- again. I thought to myself- y'know- all I really need are three of these guys and I can call it a day. They were modern, clean, already white- and only $3.99.

The original wall coat rack I got was $29.99- and I would have had to find at least 3 other random hooks for the DIY idea. That would take awhile to scout and be a major hunt- and when all completed could've ended up costing the same if not more- So I decided to scrap the DIY idea and just go with the "hook ups."

It turned out to be just what I needed and I'm happy as a clam (and the total was only $12, since the ledge I already had). The ledge worked out great above and I was able to find a place for some random art pieces that hadn't found a home yet. Yay!

(Whoa- Sorry- that was totally a way too long story for such a simple result! Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions)

Friday, May 22, 2009

TGIF video break: Chanel No 5

Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie) + Audrey Tautou + Chanel No 5. yes please.
(more here and here)

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Blog Out Loud

Calling all of you LA based peeps, whatcha doing Thursday, June 4th, 2009? (that's in two weeks) I've been kindly asked to participate in a creative blogging discussion panel that's called "Blog Out Loud". It's being organized by Megan Arquette from Beach Bungalow 8, and Rebecca Orlov from Loving.Living.Small. If you've been thinking about starting your own blog, or interested in networking with other local bloggers, or just looking to hang out with nice peeps and mingle- this should be a fun event! Other people on the panel include Richele Silva from Richie Design, Audrey Woollen from Parcel Post (and Urbanic) and Megan and Rebecca. Oh yeah, little ol' me will be there too- (I'll be the only guy on the panel... wait... what just happened here? hehe) so if you're a local happy mundane-r- please come down and say hi! It's going to be at the awesome Patio Culture in Venice from 7:30 to 9:00pm. RSVP is needed since it's kind of a small space- so RSVP early!

Check out all the info and to RSVP here. There's also a fun blog started here.
Hope to see you there!

Target Up & Up

Wait- what's this?- really? Just read this release from Reuters- Target is changing their private label brand packaging to now be called "Up&Up"- Over at the My Private Brand blog, there's a bunch more shots of the rebranding and more info of this new look.

I haven't really noticed these new rebranded products filtering in yet at my local Target, but now I definitely am going to keep an eye out- I kinda liked the original really basic packaging with the bullseye logo, but I guess the new look isn't bad either. what do you think of the new design? do you think it will make an impact or difference? (images via MyPrivateBrand blog)

parakeet pillow at west elm

aww... who doesn't love a little parakeet? ... or two... or eight... hand screened on silk, from west elm.

Oliver bath collection by Veratex

Saw this while walking through The Great Indoors- Neutrals with pops of yellow-y golds and oranges- love the chocolate uneven stripes too- great summer-y color inspiration! Available here.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

martha crafts on sale

If you've been itching to do some crafting, (perhaps this long weekend?) swing by Michaels- Martha Crafts are on sale now through this Saturday May 23, 2009-

orange peel candles

what a genius idea! could be DIY inspiration for your next outdoor shindig? (although not sure how you'd get the peel to stay like that...)- Anyway, the genius behind it is David Steinurzel, for the "design for a dollar" exhibit from Pratt at ICFF- check out more student ideas at AT's coverage of this year's ICFF. (via AT)

painted sections on fence

Spotted this in the June 09 Dwell- Great detail from the wall of a Polish country house designed by Peter Kuczia. Love how only small sections of the wood fence are painted in bright contrast colors. Could be a fun way to dress up and add some interest to a fence in your yard. (original photo by Tomek Pikula from June 2009 Dwell)

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

blue tuesday: fish prints and sprayed rocks and shells

Aside from the pretty cover, the June 09 issue of Martha Stewart Living also has this incredible craft section with "Fish Prints and Shells" and "Pebbles sprayed on Paper."

I have always loved those fish prints. There's a store in Hawaii that I always go into that has these amazing ones that this japanese artist creates. However, this DIY tutorial uses rubber fishes (who knew they had those?) and you do them on rice paper. So pretty. The photography by Ditte Isager is so gorgeous for this editorial.

I totally want to try out the sprayed shell/pebbles thing NOW. Tutorials here and here. (all images via Martha Stewart Living June 2009)

Green Summer: Martha Stewart Living June 2009

I'm totally inspired by the June 2009 cover for Martha Stewart Living.

The bright green colors looks so fresh! I would never usually think of it as a "summer" color- but it totally works with the wood and white and feels right for the season. You can see the rest of the house here.

Monday, May 18, 2009

slice of kleenex? Kleenex "perfect slice of summer"

Fancy a slice? Saw this tissue box during the weekly Target run today- OMG. Kudos to the Kleenex packaging design people- so much fun and so cute! Apparently just limited edition for the summer. Also comes in orange wedge and lime wedge, but the watermelon was my favorite!