Gifts for people are easy, but great gifts for people’s home can be a lot more difficult to find. With that in mind, Manolo for the Home has put together a Black Friday list of ten(ish) gifts for the home and for the men and women who live in it in case you’ve found yourself at a loss as to what to buy her or her or him. Have a look and see what inspires, then tell us what are your favorite holiday gifts for the home?

1. A less expensive lookalike:

It’s not always possible to give the best when you can’t afford the best, which is why copycats are so pervasive. I can’t afford the Herman Miller Eames reproduction, but I can afford this Eames-inspired cradle rocker at 24% off with free shipping. Not everyone is cool with designer furniture knockoffs, but if you are, this chair isn’t a bad deal.

2. A little DIY inspiration:

We all know someone who manages to have kids (or dogs), a house, a full-time job, and 15 hobbies, none of which get neglected. Me? I don’t have much time for projects these days *sniff* but I’d still love to get some books like The Big-Ass Book of Home Decor, Real-Life Decor: 100 Easy DIY Projects to Brighten Your Home on a Budget, and DIY Art at Home, which are all on sale at 25% or more off the cover price.

3. Something to cuddle:

Too many throw pillows? Not so great. Just enough throw pillows? Great. I love little pillows because they’re such an easy way t add some fun color to a space without a lot of commitment. What’s on my gift giving list? Some of these, definitely: a Owl Nature pillow (a steal at $18), a Union Jack pillow, and a gold sequin pillow. Don’t they look fun and cuddly?

4. You can’t go wrong with:

… aLe Creuset 5-piece cookware set at 34% off! All right, so it’s kind of a big, probably for someone special on your list.

5. Quickie gifts:

Who hasn’t found themselves scrambling for a last-minute gift for someone friendly but not exactly a good friend? The Martha types will keep a store of small gifts around for just such occasions. Here’s a trio of good keep-around gifts for emergencies: a sure to please Burt’s Bees gift set, a Feng Shui gift set (under $20!), and a cute rainbow utensil gift set.

6. A way to keep your books in check:

As recently discussed, book lovers with lots of books can end up with books falling off of every conceivable surface. To keep books in check, give the gift of fabulous bookends, like James the Bookend, adorable Polar Bear bookends, and these neat Arrow magnetic bookends.

7. Gifts for the wintertime green thumb:

Indoor gardening requires the right tools. That’s why I love my Threesixty indoor gardening tool set, which was just $19.99. And I wouldn’t mind receiving a Smith & Hawken mini greenhouse so the cats would stay out of my herbs. Or a pair of toasty, dry Bogs Classic Hi Fern boots, for that matter, when I do have to go out in the muck.

8. A tasty treat or two:

Sweet treats to eat, drink, and prepare make always appreciated gifts. Who wouldn’t want a Bodum coffee press or a nice big package of King Leo peppermint bark or even a Sierra fondue set for those mid-winter get togethers that aren’t precipitated by any particular holiday?

9. A quick fix for almost anything:

It goes without saying that homeowners and apartment dwellers will need at least some must-have tools. Give the tool deficient recipient on your holiday list a Denali 115-Piece Home Repair Tool Kit and you’ll have the comfort of knowing they can deal with all the little mishaps of modern life.

10. Something to bank on:

And finally, for the little ones on your list who are hopefully saving their pennies, piggy banks are in again. My faves are the clean white Cilio Piggy Bank, the silly McPig Posh Piggy Bank, and the awesome Pink Piggy Pirate!

To all those in the States (and anyone who isn’t but just happens to love turkey and cranberry dressing) I wish you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving! Make the most of the feasting and football and the family, for such excess is permitted but once a year.

“…I think Thomas Wold just solved our furniture hoarding problem!”

“How’s that?”

“Well, so far as I can tell, the solution to our problems isn’t taking home less furniture.

“So what *is* the solution, then?”

“We’re just not making the most of our vertical space!”

While a dish called Mushrooms Three Ways would indeed be divine, I am of course talking about mushroom themed decor. Now, no one is suggesting that you fill your home to the brim with mushrooms like the mother of an ex of mine did with country-style ducks (again, not a dish, sadly) all year round and in the wintertime, snowmen. But a mushroom as a showpiece? It’s just unusual enough to work! Here are three examples that I found in my virtual travels and loved enough to bookmark:

In designer Masako Sato own words: “During the rainy season, it’s very humid in Japan. One day I found moldy wall in my room. I was worried if mushrooms were coming up. But at the same time, I imagined how funny mushrooms are growing on the wall. Some people drive nails into walls, but I don’t like it. It may damage my clothes and myself when get caught on and even looks painful. Mushroom Hook is made by silicone rubber. It is soft and welcome your return home.”

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I wouldn’t give up all of the trees in my back yard for anything, but they sure drive me crazy this time of year. What’s your least favorite thing about autumn? (Other than the fact that it heralds the coming of winter, of course.)

It’s probably not often than one comes into possession of a full-sized card catalog cabinet, but it happens now and then, as it did to the Lentine Family of Dream Book Design. And, oh my gosh, I just cannot believe how they spruced that bad boy up. Seriously, I am salivating over here.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Curious as to how they did it? I was, too. Luckily, the Lentines are sweethearts and posted a pretty specific tutorial that includes the supplies they used and how they used them. You know, just in case you end up with a card catalog on your hands.

Images via Dream Book Design

P.S. – Happy birthday to me!

Here are two things that tickled my fancy today:

First, the Spilt Milk Bowl by Fred and Friends. Made of silicone, it is malleable and durable, easy to clean, and a great size for cereal or one-portion dishes. The perfect gift for the cereal addict in your life.

And then this, a customized IKEA ‘lack’ side table that offers up 3025 cm^2 of organic green space by ISO 216. I’m thinking you could easily DIY this with a little no-frills patio table, some plastic edging, dirt, and grass seeds. Voila! Your very own lawn!

Apparently in urban Switzerland at least every fourth household is kept by a single man. And finally, FINALLY! someone is out there, thinking of novel solutions to the single man’s unique lifestyle problems. Like what to do when a lady friend stays the night but hasn’t brought her toiletry kit and how to eat in front of the TV without spilling food all over oneself.

Valentin Engler, Marius Morger, and Daniel Grolimund created Der Allein Wohner project – they studied the single man’s lifestyle, researched the single man’s needs and problems, and developed eight interesting products to make his life easier.

My fave? The Birdhouse, a hedge against loneliness without all the muss and fuss that comes with owning a pet.

A pet is ideal against the single man‘s loneliness. But a hard working single man can‘t take the responsibility. Our birdhouse is glued on the outside a window, so the single man can watch his birds grow up from the inside!

Just glue your modern single man’s Birdhouse onto a convenient window and wait for a new little friend to move in!

Is there a toast lover in your life? Toast lovers are an interesting breed – if you think there’s not much one can say about what is essentially re-heated bread, I am here to tell you that thousands of people would love to prove you wrong. There are blogs devoted to toast (Dr. Toast loves two things: music and toast)… lists of ways to enjoy it… and heated debates concerned with how to properly toast bread and which toasters will rock your socks off.

Now that you know about toast lovers, here’s a little something that they might just love:

Namely, these Toast It trivets designed by Patricia Naves for Design Studio OITI. Cute, no? It just kind of works out so perfectly that the cork most trivets are made from happens to be a nice toasty brown!

Have an old burlap coffee bag, potato sack, or rice bag squished up somewhere in your closet because it was just too interesting to throw out but too large to use as a lunch bag or tote? Never fear! Some of my favorite bloggers have got you covered with burlap bag craftiness that is in many cases, super easy. And in the cases where it is, the results are super awesome. Here are some of the ideas that got the crafting center of my brain humming:

A sweet burlap pillow (via)

A useful burlap apron (via)

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