Does this strike anyone else as a touch odd? I like logs in the fireplace (not that I have one) and I wouldn’t kick a tea light off the table, but I’m not a fan of the combo package. Bellacor describes this product thusly:

The rustic charm of a flickering fire is recreated with this clever, handcrafted resin log sculpture. Set right in the fireplace for a no fuss alternative to lighting.

I’d actually feel safer with a proper fire set off from the room itself with a nice decorative grate. Eleven tea lights at floor level means eleven flames drawing the attention of curious pets, curious babies, and clumsy house guests. I suppose you could use flameless tea lights, but just how faux are you willing to go?

I have these two friends. One is a die hard New Yorker and a subwayphile. The other is loathe to pass up any opportunity to snap up an old street sign that happens to be lying around. If I had a few thousand bucks burning a hole in my pocket, you can bet I’d be placing an order for a few of these chairs. Designed by Boris Bally, they are crafted from aluminum and steel signs rendering each chair unique.

As Michael Monroe (wait, that Michael Monroe?) so aptly put it:

“An attraction to the bold graphics of discarded highway signage inspired Boris Bally to collect, recycle, and fabricate furniture of great wit and distinction. His chairs – with fragmented words, symbols and arrows splashed across their surfaces – seem to symbolize urban grit and rhythms.”

Indeed…of course, I love weird highlight pieces like this. You wouldn’t want to outfit your whole house with them–at least most people wouldn’t–but they’re awesome in a starring role. My main stand-out piece is a beautiful and striking Russian khokhloma side table that my grandparents brought back on some excursion some years ago. What’s yours?

I always regarded the novelty plungers Adam Sandler sells in Punch Drunk Love as being fairly ridiculous…until, that is, I stumbled upon the surprisingly wide world of novelty toilet seat covers. You want barbed wire embedded in acrylic? No problem. How about faux marble? It’s out there. Yes, you’ll find everything from roaring tigers to Asian script to leopard print, not to mention fish.

But the fun doesn’t end with fishies, though I must say I do pity the poor things. Below the cut you’ll find several more, er, interesting toilet seats. Me? I like a plain white bathroom where appliances are concerned because I can see that everything is squeaky clean.
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The nice thing about buying a house is that you own everything in that house. Conversely, the bad thing about buying a house is that you own everything in that house.

Right now, I own cheap kitchen counters that are made of some sort of porous material that absorbs stains as a matter of course and a stainless steel sink that is slowly falling into the kitchen cabinets underneath. For this, I can thank the previous homeowners and their half-assed approach to DIY home repair.

Speaking of that gravity-impaired stainless steel kitchen sink, I’m in the market for a shiny new one… and I can’t imagine buying the kitchen sink itself without buying a new faucet set to go with it. Curious to see what I’m considering? Read on for pics and what to me are incomprehensible contractors stats.

The Polished Brass Single Handle Kitchen Faucet with Spiral Handle and Sprayer:
-3-Hole Installation -1/2″ IPS Inlets -11-7/16″ Spout Height -6-1/2″ Aerator Clearance -9-15/16″ Spout Reach -3″ Maximum Deck Thickness -Ceramic Disc Cartridge -Spiral handle with porcelain index button

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When I first heard about Clocky from its creator Gauri Nanda during an interview, I was already in love. These quirky little alarm clocks finally went on sale many moons ago but I still don’t have one. Why? Because when I was interviewing Nanda, it was the original Clocky that stole my heart.

The “new” Clocky has modern curves paired with vintage colors, and that’s cool. New Clocky looks sweet and forgiving. Original Clocky, on the other hand, is rugged, big, and meanly anthropomorphic. He’s not going to take your crap–try to sleep in and he’s going to roll over to your neighbor’s yard and destroy their lawn gnomes. Still not ready to get up? Original Clocky will ransack your living room until he finds those compromising pictures of yourself you took in college.

You can’t avoid the realities of the morning when Original Clocky is on the prowl…

It’s hard to get up off the couch when Mother Nature herself is telling you to sit back…to relax…that whatever important stuff you have to do can wait for another few hours. Bring the outside in at your own risk, people. Botanical prints may cause a blissful lethargy that leaves you feeling way less stressed…and way less productive.