It’s so easy to get stuck when it comes to furniture. As in, ‘I don’t need a sideboard because I don’t have a dining room’ or ‘What could we possible use a bench for in our house?’ It’s especially easy when you have a chance to acquire a free piece of quality furniture.

But wait! Maybe you don’t need another dresser, but you’ve been looking for an amazing and different bathroom vanity. Or what you really want is a bookshelf by you keep finding bench after bench. Kitchen tables abound, but no desks… chairs, but no side tables… coffee tables but no desk and hutch combos. That sort of thing. My question is: Why get so focused on what a piece of furniture is? Why not focus instead on what is might be?

I know that repurposing furniture isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but who says you have to do it yourself? Maybe you have a friend who loves that sort of thing and will hook you up with your new shelves, vanity, or whatever for the price of materials plus a little extra. Or maybe there’s a pro in your area looking for some extra work. I mean, come on, check out this sweet repurposed furniture!

Inspired by Holly Golightly's bachelorette pad?

Two different shelving options, two different seats!

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Looking for something fun to buy the coffee, tea, or hot chocolate lover in your life? How about these Anamorphic Cups? The text on the porcelain saucer can only be viewed correctly though the shiny, curved, reflective surface of the cup, so the (rather pedestrian) message thereon is only for you or your dining companion. It’s indeed a cool idea, but don’t you think it would be a bit more clever with either insults or swears?

When I first saw the Akanbe Folding Basket by designer Houziyou Takashi, I was already in love. Part storage container, part play mat, the Akanbe also happens to be absolutely freakin’ adorable. Utility plus cuteness… cutility? How can you not like that? And I like it even better now that I found this description of it:

I’ll be fine also surprisingly heavy, magazines and accessories organized, easy to store children’s toys. Matt will use when playing as a spread, as it folded when put away are clear.

Smile♪ When you have a basket of cute, cute looks just like a hand that has Akanbe. Just to laugh it easy out there is no tongue. Thanks are Akanbe Bello, I have a painful hand basket.

Assemble felt like a piece of origami, it 留Mere button eyes, and made the basket. Not only fashionable and cute, which depending on how many ideas are useful and fun basketball.

Do you suppose that was Mr. Takashi’s original description of the Akanbe Folding Basket?

Plastic cheap? Perish the thought! Sometimes plastic can be downright pricey.

Kartell Frilly Chair by Patricia Urquiola

Pink lucite tables

Tube Top Colors Table Lamp by Pablo

Pink lucite tray via Living Etc.

Pink table by Yuka Izutsu for MoCo Loco

How adorably clever is DCI‘s clothespin trashcan? It appears to be available in Europe, but not ’round here which is probably a good thing as I don’t actually need another trashcan.

But you have to admit it’s a rather good buy (if you can find it for the U.S. price of $16 instead of the 20EUR price) when you consider it can accommodate not only plastic totes, but also paper bags and re-usable canvas or cloth sacks. You can even use the bag that the Clothespin Trashcan comes in as your first garbage receptacle!

Interestingly, the clothespin trashcan pictured isn’t DCI’s, but rather the work of Hung Ming Chen. Either that can looks a lot like DCI’s or DCI’s looks a lot like that one, or we have a case of parallel evolution on our hands. Which is entirely possible.

When you’re using an eco-friendly washing up liquid, it seems a shame to let all that potentially useful gray water swirl down the drain into the municipal sewer system. It feels particularly wasteful when you live in a city or state that has passed extreme water restrictions. And if you live in a country currently facing a water crisis, saving gray water is a no-brainer. But how do you collect usable waste water without sloshing a bucket round the kitchen? Hughie of Australia has one solution in the form of a removable sink insert with carrying handles and a conveniently placed underside drain. First you wash your dishes (or clothes or what have you) in it, then you take it outside or over to your winter garden and give your plants a good dousing. At $25 AUS it’s a pretty good deal if it will fit seamlessly in your sink, though if you’re not down under, you could just find yourself a Rubbermaid dish pan with handles and tip it out as necessary.

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When I lived in Berlin back in the day, the tiny kitchen we had in our otherwise massive flat contained a refrigerator that was orange. I mean bright orange. None of this white, cream, black, or stainless bunk for the Germans. Though I can’t recall if our stove was equally colorful, I can remember being surprised and delighted by the orange refrigerator that complemented our orange kitchen. That room in particular could easily be described as retro-modrn, and that was just the built-ins!

It’s a shame that the only places selling very colorful kitchen appliances here in the States seem to be Big Chill and Northstar. And then, of course, they’re quite expensive and really only work if you’re a fan of retro kitchen appliances. Sometimes you can find them at thrift stores, although they might need some minor repairs. However, you can find parts for retro appliances on sites like PartSelect

I do like them, but wouldn’t it be nice if some of the European kitchen appliance manufacturers would decide to sell to us here in the U.S. of A. so we could all have colorful refrigerators and stoves without having to opt for retro kitchen appliances. Of course, everything would still be quite expensive, but at least there would be some variety beyond the usual four-color palette!

With five cats, it sometimes feels like there is no avoiding cat hair in food and in drinks and on candy and in one’s morning coffee cup.

Méret Oppenheim, a German-born Swiss, Surrealist artist, and photographer incorrectly associated with the Dada movement, may have been thinking of this non-perk of mammalian pet ownership when she created Object (Breakfast In Fur) in 1936. While her cup was apparently created from the fur of a Chinese gazelle, it could just as easily been crafted from the leavings of cats or dogs or any of the other animals that shed their fluff into modern homes.

To avoid having one’s breakfast look like a piece of Surrealist art, I heartily recommend that pet owners purchase one of these:

Because having a Roomba means never having to say you forgot to vacuum.

Note: Art featuring coffee, tea, and hot beverage accessories is quite abundant. One wonders why… is it their ubiquitous nature perhaps?