Crazy Rooms (That We’re Crazy About) From New York Magazine
Shelter Pop
“This week’s issue of New York focuses on extreme design…and we’re extremely excited. Check out our five favorite spaces.”

Do You Dance While You Iron?
DIY Life
“Everybody, at some point, has busted a move while cleaning. These people were kind enough to share their methods on YouTube. ”

America’s Most Decadent Kitchens
MSN Real Estate
“Forbes compiled a list of some of the most luxurious kitchens in homes now for sale, with help from Realtor.com, Trulia.com, Sotheby’s International and Coldwell Banker.”

How Much Can You Save with Green Remodeling Tax Credits?
Calfinder
“Happy Earth Day, folks! In honor of the 41st anniversary of this greenest of holidays, I’d like to share a breakdown on energy-saving home improvements, and the federal tax incentives that make them affordable.”

We recently showed you Karim Rashid’s very cool egg-shaped chair. In another cool chair entry, we found this this beauty on Design Milk. From Spanish company Joquer and designed by Ramón Esteve, its  space age sexiness would add interest to any room and serve as a real conversation point. It looks comfortable too! What are your opinions on bold furniture such as this?

Wallpaper is an amazing way to add color, texture and pattern to a room. And it doesn’t need to look like it came from your grandmother’s house — there’s all sort of fresh, modern stuff out there. Here are a few of our favorites. What sort of wallpaper do you like, and where would you choose to put it? Let us know in the comments!

Gravity (designed by Emil Kozak) from ferm LIVING
This bright blue, boldly geometric wallpaper would add oomph to any room. For an unusual twist, try it on the ceiling.

Fornasetti Collection from Cole & Son
This whimsical wallpaper would be perfect for a walk-in or entryway closet.

The Vibe from Afro Chic
Afro Chic’s funky print is surprisingly versatile and would work well in a modern living room or a girl’s bedroom.

Pure Paintable from Graham & Brown
Paintable wallpaper may sound like an oxymoron, but in reality it’s the best of both worlds. Use this wherever you want a little subtle texture in your house.

Kinky Vintage: Naughty Noir by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen from Graham & Brown
This darkly elegant flocked wallpaper is described by Graham & Brown as “Marrakesh meets Marie Antoinette”. It might be too much for every day use, but if you have a guest room you’ve been dying to experiment with, or a library/office, it could be just the ticket.

Ice Castles Grown by a Minnesota Man Using Geothermal Heating System
Inhabitat
“Winters in Minnesota are cold and the best way to get through the bone-chilling season is to have fun with it, just like Roger Hanson does. For the last four years the ice builder has been growing ice castles in his front yard with the help of his geothermal heating system, some fancy sprayers and a computer program he created himself.”

The $200 Microhouse
New York Times
“For ingenuity, thrift and charm, Mr. Diedricksen’s tiny structures are hard to beat. Made of scavenged materials, they cost on average less than $200 to build. They often have transparent roofing, which allows a fine view of the treetops, particularly in the smallest ones, where the most comfortable position is supine. They have loads of imaginative and decorative details: a porthole-like window salvaged from a front-loading washing machine, a flip-down metal counter taken from the same deceased washer.”

How Many Recycled Cans Does It Take to Make an Airplane?
The Daily Green
“The good news is that my yearly office cleaning gives me a chance to sort out the hundreds of press releases and news clippings I’ve saved during the year for my annual Top Ten Shocking Eco-Facts blog post. Remember, being the Green Cheapskate, that’s “eco” as in ecological as well as economical.”

DIY Home Humidifiers: Humidify Your Home for Less
DIY Life
“The cold winter weather outside, coupled by indoor heating systems, easily sucks all the moisture out of your home. Low humidity levels can also lead to a host of problems including dry skin, sore throats, along with cracks in paint and wood furniture. Adding a humidifier is an easy way to replace this lost moisture in your home, but at times humidifiers can require high maintenance and more space and money than you would like to expend. Luckily, even on the tightest of budgets, there are inexpensive tricks to humidify your home.”

Recession Buster: DIY Wall Art
Calfinder
“There are some great things you can do in a weekend to revolutionize your living room—and installing affordable wall art is one of them. Check out how.”

diy project: homemade leprechaun spirits
Design*Sponge
“Saint Patrick’s Day is right around the corner; it will sneak up on you before you know it, so you might want to prepare! The tradition of drinking on the holiday comes from a legend called Patrick Pot. This project honors that tradition.”

On Design Milk, we found this, well, let’s just call it “seating” because it’s not really a couch. It’s made by German design company Taurus and is called Circula. Very intriguing concept!

It’s unusual and could promote community and conversation because users have to face each other. On the other hand, it could be a little difficult to fit into a room, although it can be divided into various configurations (visit Design Milk to see more). What do you think? Would you use something like this in your home?

Image courtesy of Design Milk

In honor of our last post of 2010, we’ve decided to round up our most popular posts ever. Below are the top 10. Enjoy and we will see you next year for more great home living information! Thanks for reading this year.

• Built Around You: Laundry in a Closet
• Remodeling Using ‘Quality Over Quantity’
• Unusual homes: Cool conversions
• How To: Grow Tomatoes Upside Down
• Space-saving ideas for small spaces
• Built Around You: Stylish Bathroom Overhaul
• Small on Space, Big on Style
• New Uses for Old Windows
• Amazing Windows Created By Amazing Artists
• myMarvin Architect’s Challenge: Lake Cottage

DIY Project: Handmade Gift Wrap
Design*Sponge
Ever wanted to add an extra personal touch to your gift giving? Try making your own gift wrap. This how-to takes you through the process.

Which is Greener, a Real of Fake Christmas Tree?
The Daily Green
“For many families, the centerpiece of Christmas celebrations is the luminous, awe-inspiring tree set up with care in the living room. But with all the options now available, how do you know which Christmas tree is the greenest choice for the environment?”

Foodie Holiday Gift Ideas for Kids of All Ages
The Epi-Log
Wondering what to get your young gourmand? Here are some ideas from the editors at Epicurious.com.

Design & Decor Books: The Best of 2010
Apartment Therapy
“Even the most die-hard design blog addict will admit there is something special about flipping through the pages of a real, tangible book on home design. Throughout the year we have posted on a host of books about the home — from inspirational (and “aspirational”) glossy tomes to instructional and downright technical guidebooks.”

5 Last-Minute Green Gift Ideas
Re-nest
“‘Twas the weekend before Christmas, and just like this blogger, you’re scrambling to find some good green gift fodder. You forgot someone important (how’d that happen!?) or a few extra folks are coming to celebrate, and you don’t want to resort to some plastic crap that the giftee will end up sending to Goodwill anyway. What to do? We have some ideas.”

Dig Digs recently featured two very cool home decor pieces that straddle the divide between functional and stylish. Let’s shine the spotlight, shall we?

This stool by Stefan Lindfors looks great when you need a little extra seating. And when you have to reach a serving platter stored in a high cabinet, this stool acts as a step stool — form and function! It also won the 2010 GOOD Design Award.

It’s a toy! It’s a bookcase! Actually, it’s both. Whether you want a quirky place to store your books, or want something for your budding architect’s bedroom, this Harry Allen for Skitsch bookcase could be just the thing.

Photos courtesy of Dig Digs

How many battles will be lost to Christmas trees this holiday season?

Between all the sap stains, fallen pine needles and horror stories about house fires that started with a dried-out Christmas tree, it’s a wonder we even bother.

But it’s a tradition, right? If not for the Christmas tree, where would the gifts go, along with the ornaments, lights and candy canes?

For those not up for the hassle of erecting a 12-foot Evergreen in their living room, here are some fresh takes more inspired than the traditional green plastic Christmas tree:

(from Shelterrific)

This fake bonsai tree is Christmas gone minimalist, but it works well in a smaller room or as a centerpiece. The sparsity of the tree creates a charm like something from A Charlie Brown Christmas.

(from DigsDigs)

BUILD, a Seattle-based architecture firm, came up with this plywood Christmas tree made of two leaves that notch together. There’s no trouble with establishing ornamental symmetry here and the lighter wood really makes the ornaments pop.

(from Remodelista)

This Christmas tree, made from recycled wood planks, gives Christmas a rustic feel perfect for a cabin on the lake. There’s very little of the traditional red-and-green seasonal colors, yet it still feels festive and lively.

Of course, no matter what you go with — real or alternative — it’s not about the Christmas tree, but rather the people gathered around it.

It’s that time of year when we maybe get a little introspective and start to take stock of how the last year has gone. Did we lose that weight we wanted? Read all those books? Finally get on board with this whole Twitter thing we’ve been hearing about?

Since home is, for many people, an important extension of self, Apartment Therapy recently featured five home resolutions they’ll be keeping in the next year. Great ideas, and it inspired us to think about what resolutions we want to do, home-wise. Here goes:

• Organizing: We’re going to rid ourselves of extraneous paper and shred old bills, as appropriate. We’ll also be organizing our closets and not just shoving the mess into there. New closet organizers, boxes and bins may also be pressed into use.
• Cooking: Eating out and supporting local restaurants is great, but cooking at home not only saves money, but allows you unprecedented control of the food you put into your body. Plus, you can flex your culinary muscles and become known for sparkling hosting and fabulous dinner parties.
• Curb appealing: With all the zeal over interior decorating, it’s easy to forget the home’s exterior. No more! This year, we will be painting, repairing, refreshing and landscaping to make our houses the envy of the neighborhood. New walkway? Flowerbeds? Our only limit is our imaginations!
• Greening: We want to make this year the greenest ever. So we’ll be looking at ways to make our homes — and our lives — more energy efficient. We’re going to try to re-use stuff more, evaluate whether we really need something and think of ways to buy locally as needed.
• Learning: We’re going to attempt to pick up some sort of DIY skill this year. Whether that means something like learning some home repair basics, or a softer skill like making our own throw pillows, we’ll be doing it for ourselves.

New Year’s resolutions are notoriously difficult to keep, but we believe that if you start small and have a purpose, it can be done. What are your home resolutions? Let us know in the comments.