I love roosters almost as much as I love dirty jokes. Roosters in the kitchen, roosters in the bedroom…what? You were expecting me to use a synonym, perhaps?

Here are three playful — and reasonably priced — rooster rugs, a rooster runner in ivory, the rooster meadow rug, and a rooster garden rug in yellow. I don’t know that I’d do up my entire living room in rooster paraphernalia, but a rooster runner in front of the kitchen sink? Bring it on.

Making your own Escher-inspired patio is easy when you’re using tiles from Gecko Stone. Here’s a super sweet lizard tessellation in the courtyard and entrance of the Tjapukai Theatre.

If you’re using tile, you can always use the Sunshine City floor in Tokyo as your starting model. Hint: It’s just squares and halves of squares.

And this? Those who have the patience can emulateAndrew Lipsom, who built Escher’s Impossible staircase in his attic. That really blows my mind.

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When I start to feel sad that Martha Stewart’s Blueprint mag got scrapped, I need only recall passages such as the one that follows to feel better.

You know your peach paisley duvet has to go. But so does the Heineken bar mirror he’s snoozed beneath since college. To build a unisex bed where nobody feels short-sheeted, start with hues that aren’t too masculine (dark, opaque browns and grays) or feminine (light, powdery pinks and blues). Here, yellow sheets, a teal blanket, an ash-gray duvet, and soft-brown shams create a bright, cheery combo that won’t make him feel marooned on planet Venus. And while you’ll be avoiding all things frilly, you can still have fun with textures, like quilted canvas, fuzzy wool, and menswear-inspired stripes and checks.

The planet Venus? Well I was going to fill my bedroom with an opaque layer of highly reflective clouds of sulfuric acid, but I guess I won’t.

Now I don’t know about you, but my husband has never given me the slightest reason to think that he cares at all what our bedroom looks like. I’m not saying that no men care, but a quick poll of my guy friends has shown me that there is a distinct lack of decor preferences on the XY side of the spectrum. Ladies, care to weigh in? Or maybe the gents should comment to tell me how wrong I am and that the average guy totally gives a toot about the color of his bed linens!

I just love it when I can do good while shopping. Tiny Showcase has been running a unique print sale since 2005 wherein a percentage of the money from each print sold is donated to a charity chosen by the artist.

Deth Sun, for example, has chosen to donate $250 to the San Francisco SPCA no matter how many copies of Infinite Possibilities he sells.

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Every so often, I get a hankering for pretty things…girly things, even. One of the best sources of feminine (but not quite frilly) accessories for the home is Cath Kidston, with her vintage inspired prints and whimsical kitchenware. Her gorgeous retro fabrics are to die for, and her playful baby gear is cute enough to leave out on the shelf even after junior is a little old for cowboys.

If you have any trouble ordering from the web site, never fear — there is a smallish selection of Cath Kidston bed and bath accessories on Amazon.

All you have to do is click!

Arg! Halloween is almost here and work has kept you far too busy to dig the giant hanging spider out from the basement! What to do, what to do? You could do what Sylvar did and transform cheap Ikea accessories into re-usable holiday decor.

How did he do it? It took:

• One 8 ml tube of cadmium orange Cotman water colour ($6 regularly, $4.50 on sale)
• One 17 ¾” REGOLIT paper lampshade ($5)
• One HEMMA lamp cord ($4)

It also took about one and a half hours. Sylvar is calling it a harvest moon, which I think is an apt description. You could also tape black paper eyes, a nose, and a toothy grin onto the REGOLIT to make a jack-o-lantern that magically becomes a lamp when Halloween has come and gone.

Repeat after me: I do not need hot chocolate specific stoneware. I do not need hot chocolate specific stoneware. I do not need hot chocolate specific stoneware.

I do not need…OH GOD, YES I DO! Bring it on, Kristen Grace!

Um, no thanks. I think I’ll stand way back from this creepy hanging noose lamp designed by Marie Thurnauer. While Halloween is just a few short weeks away, this morbid piece of decor is meant to hang in one’s lair 365 days a year.

That’s not the only reason I’ll be standing back, however. At 4750.00 €, this lamp is downright scary.

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All you need to make your own fabulous headboard is a little paint…and a little talent with a paintbrush and a steady hand, I suppose.

Domino says “Linens from the other side of the color wheel amp up the whimsy” in this unique bedroom. I like how subtle the pattern is because it’s just a few shades off from the color of the larger wall. If it was white, this painted headboard might me less elegant.

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An acquaintance of mine recently announced that she has completed all of her holiday shopping. When I picked my jaw up off the floor, all I could do was nod mutely. Suddenly I felt guilty…it’s never too early to start thinking about holiday gifts, after all. Then I felt livid! Why should I feel guilty when Thanksgiving is but a glimmer in my hungry husband’s eye?

Nonetheless, I simply cannot stop my Type A brain from contemplating gift ideas. Money’s tight this year, what with a baby on the way, so I’m trying to keep costs down or at the very least keep costs reasonable. Last year, we made gifts, and many hours and burned fingers later, I’ve come to realize that my time and my digits are too valuable. My preliminary gift search led me to Branch and the Gifts Under $50 section of their web site.

From reclaimed wood salt and pepper shakers or spice blocks and eggs that grow herbs to organic bamboo cutting boards or utensils and worker-friendly bamboo bowls, Branch has the kind of gifts appropriate for MILs and grandparents who already have everything but are happy to receive some pretty new thing.

Yes, everyone in my family loves to cook but me. How could you tell?