Happy Mundane is a blog that celebrates the ordinary and the extraordinary, good design of any kind, and takes a moment to appreciate some things that get overlooked in the everyday. There’s beauty in your dishsoap. Created in 2006, it is also home to the “mundane” musings of the editor, Jonathan Lo.

Jonathan is the principal and founder of J3 Productions- a multidisciplinary design studio + consultancy. J3 is based in Orange County, California, and was established in 1998. Jonathan has also acted as the former creative director for Poplife Magazine, contributed as a regional editor for Apartment Therapy.com, and has been featured as an on-air expert on HGTV’s “Small Space Big Style.”

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I hope everyone is having a good holiday! I’m heading off to explore the new City Center in Vegas (Vegas baby!) If you’ll recall, my last Vegas trip was kinda a bust, so hopefully this one will make up for it. I probably won’t be posting here the next few days but you can follow my twitter (also in the right column) for updates, reports and pics!

woo hoo! Happymundane is nominated for a “homie!’- shameless plug: please vote for me! click here and “add” it along with your other favorites

…Not a creature was stirring… not even a Pepé…
Merry Christmas!

Totally awesome work by artist Michael Johansson- loving the color palettes and juxtaposition of objects. check out more at his site (via Flavorpill)

happy munday!

speaking of marshmallows, i picked up some homemade ones over the weekend at the farmer’s market, from my favorite local bakery, Blackmarket Bakery (their office is just around the corner from my office and we use them for all our gifting) These are mint ones- YUMMY!

In my last post on the 2009 Ornament adventure, I was struggling with going with some new ideas versus keeping my existing tree look. Well, I decided to stay with most of what I had and just freshened it up a bit. I really liked how my new geometric ornaments turned out, but really don’t have the time to completely redo my tree this year. So, I’m going to hold that for next year (visions of plexiglass and neon were dancing in my head…), and thanks to HM reader Mintage Home for the comment and saving me from extra and unnecessary holiday stress! Anyway- I started out by spray painting the new ornaments a matte gray. I used this automotive primer that dried really quick. Then, I placed them on the tree as a starting point, and slowly added back in some of my existing ornaments. In the end, I left off much of the gold pieces from previous tree incarnations, but I still kept the star on top. (Click here to see how it looked before). And voila! my tree for 2009… The last thing I had planned for my holiday decor is some sort of table centerpiece. Last year I did these yarn wrapped branches (see here). This year, I’ll probably keep with my new geometric theme… and maybe also repurpose a few other pieces. Once you get me started spray painting (and I was loving how the matte gray was looking…), it’s hard for me to put the can down! Suddenly my eyes start wandering around the house… I think the Spray Paint Bandits may strike again… if you have any suggestions- let me know in the comments- stay tuned!

awesome wood scrap wreath over at Rock Scissor Paper!

It’s friday. finally. kick it old skool. Check the rhime (rhyme?) y’all.

JOYEUX NOËL from UnitedFakes on Vimeo.

As a big fan of Sanna Annukka’s work, I’m gaga over her new pieces at her online shop- LOVE these wooden birds and the new screen print is amazing as well. Check out more here.

Very enchanted by these images that are part of a larger fashion editorial in the recent POP magazine. The story is called “The Aspen Players” and was done by Shona Heath and Tim Gutt .

Muji Rocks. How awesome is this little press up pterodactyl toy!

And so, after finding inspiration (see previous post), I started out trying to make something with these sticks. The stick gluing was interesting. I just started out by cutting little notches at the ends of the sticks to do makeshift mitered corners. Then add a little super glue, press and hold and after a few seconds, slowly release. I wasn’t necessarily looking to do perfect angles, just random ones. And I just kept joining points together until it looked like an interesting shape. Note: be prepared to get little bits of super glue on your hands and make sure you’re place scrap paper underneath. I used an old magazine. Again, you could probably use a glue gun. I just opted for super glue. Anyway- they look like little neato scupltures. I definitely think I will be painting them.So you know how sometimes you do one thing, thinking it won’t be that big a deal and affect anything, and then midway through, you realize it actually changes everything? Alas, that is happening again to me with these ornaments. My original idea was to simply try something new, and add them to the existing tree look I’ve had. I really have enjoyed my tree the past two years, but just felt like trying something new. Well, now that I have a few of the new ornaments made (see last post for my inspriation)- I’m starting to feel like, if I go with these, everything else needs to change with it. Oy. Now I’ve gone and done it! I’m not sure where this is going, but stay tuned…

If you’ve been following my blog, you may recall for the past two years, I’ve been a little crafty when it comes to my Christmas decorations (click here for last year’s wreath, and the year before’s ornaments). This year, I’m still keeping with the current theme, but I wanted to try to mix in some new ornaments. My friend Em sent me this link to Maryam Nassir Zadeh. I was so inspired by the “study in balance” necklace. I mean- gorgeous right? So it got me thinking about maybe doing something along those lines for new ornaments. I also knew I wanted to do something with wood. So, I went to the craft store and picked up a package of these little match sticks, got me some glue (opted for super glue gel, thinking that it would bond fast and then I also wouldn’t have to deal with those pesky glue gun spider webs), grabbed a blade, and started the adventure… If you followed my twitter this weekend, I posted a sneak peak. So far, I’m liking how they’re turning out, but I’m debating on painting them. Also on what kind of string to use. Anyway- stay tuned!…

I’ve mentioned artist Karen Kimmel before, and I’m so excited to share that she has launched a new stencil kit for kids. The kit includes a series of her organic shaped stencils and a awesome neon pencils. The kits encourage children to explore abstract thinking, color, shapes, and forms. Check out more here and they’re available in individually or in an “All in one” set (with super cool zipper canvas bags)- at A+R.

Need a cool calendar? This one is quite nice. by Jollygoodfellow in Stockholm. Available at Supermarket.

I forgot to mention a few weeks back, I saw this amazing housetour on AT. It’s the home of Beth Evans, who lives in England. OMG. Just looking at the images made me feel so happy. The home is sort of what I envisioned my home to feel like when I first bought my place- except that Beth’s home is done they way it was supposed to be, (unlike my current messy hodgepodge! hehe). Anyway- check out the tour here if you didn’t catch it before. Love how the whole house is very white based- then mixed with all the hits of colors, vintage fabrics and pieces. Especially love the “before” shots of how the home looked in it’s original heyday. (all images via AT, by Liezel Strauss and Beth Evans)

I realize it’s not Oct/Nov 09 anymore, but happened to see a leftover copy of Interiors magazine at the local mag stand. Totally love this cover. Gorgeous color combination of the white with accents of yellow/gold and hits of deep purple, reds, orange, and a little grey. Feels modern and fresh, but also warm and festive! You can check out the issue online here.