If you are looking for uniuqe furniture or housewares, Etsy is the place to go! This marketplace allows independent artisans and designers to sell their wares online. Here are some gorgeous furnishings we found…

Imagine crowding around this rustically beautiful table for Thanksgiving dinner! We love how the wood has kept the natural characteristics of the tree.

Walnut Natural Edge Wood Slab from jeffharden.

This vintage restored piece looks like something off of a 1930s movie set.

Antoinette Chair from ShopEla.

Who wouldn’t want to sleep in this quirky yet  gorgeous bed?!

Dingle Canopy Bed from Delia Furniture.

The curviness of this bench makes it very cool.

Check out Etsy.com for more great finds!

Display Inspiration: Art in the Bathroom
Apartment Therapy
Prettify your potty with these ideas from Apartment Therapy.

5 Things To Consider When Buying A New Mattress
Charles and Hudson
“Here’s a few tips we picked up during the shopping and purchase process, and I thought I’d share them with you so that you, too, can enjoy a blissful night’s sleep and wake up with the energy to tackle your list of DIY projects.”

Engine Table 
Design Milk
“Currently on display at Decoratum Gallery in London, the Cylinder Radial Engine Table is made from a US Army Boeing-Stearman PT-13 engine acquired from the Canadian Museum of Flight, Langley, British Columbia. Constructed between 1936 and 1938, the innovative piece features a simple clear glass top so you can see through to the complex engine workings below.”

Two Ways to Reinvent a Serving Tray
Shelter Pop
Watch this video about reinventing or creating a serving tray!

DIY: Gemstone Cabinet Knobs
Casa Sugar
“Two decorating secrets in updating a kitchen on a dime are to change the color of the walls with a fresh coat of paint, and swap out dated cabinet knobs with new ones. In my kitchen, you don’t have to do the tedious task of unscrewing each knob to give them a fresh look. Upcycle your old knobs with a colorful collection of geodes, sea glass, or minerals and ultrapowerful glue.”

We can add this into the collection of “innovative design but would you put it in your living room?”.  Behold this chair by Pini Leibovitch (via Design Milk). It’s part of an exhibit at Design Museum Holon in Israel and the colorful strands that make up its material are actually balloons. What do you think? Is it a wonderfully wacky conversation piece?

Image courtesy of Design Milk

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?

We’ve seen some cool home products lately and thought we’d share them here. Because we believe you, like us, appreciate cool things for your home.

At a recent electronics industry trade show, Samsung showed off a television with a transparent screen. It sounds kind of cool, but it looks even cooler:

That photo is courtesy of Geek.com, which points out, “a transparent wall-mounted display in the home would be desirable. At the moment, when the TV is turned off, you are left with a big black rectangle on the wall. With a transparent display it would be possible to hang a picture behind the screen which would be seen whenever you aren’t watching the TV.”

Take a look at this clock by Umbra, which features an orb of walnut wood that seems to float underneath a glass dome. The good folks at Dwell magazine write, “We can’t cop to knowing how the heck this walnut clock face hovers, seemingly without support, inside its domed glass cover. But we will admit it caught our eye and we can’t stop thinking about how cool it would look on a mantle, making every time check a mystifying experience.”

Karim Rashid, famous designer and friend of Marvin, has designed a neat egg-shaped chair that would be equally cool in a kid’s room or in any other space designed with a modern feel.

Included in a Wired.com round-up of gifts for the handy do-it-yourselfer in your life was this gorgeous wood cabinet on wheels. It’s tough and useful and could function as anything from a utilitarian kitchen island to a stylish workshop toolbox. It has a hefty price tag ($549), but as they say, you get what you pay for.

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

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

We recently talked about some (supposedly) passé decorating trends. According to The Nest, there are seven big mistakes you can make when decorating–even if you avoid the aforementioned trends. In no order of importance, they are:

1. The unanchored rug–nothing on top of it? Then why is it there? We’ll make exceptions for small rugs used by doorways to avoid tracking dirt in.

2. Really big furniture. If it takes up most of the room, it will look ridiculous.

3. Bad paint. It can’t be said enough–test your paint in various lights and sleep on your decision. Maybe in the morning that tangerine accent wall in the living room will seem less kicky.

4. Too much of everything. The article evokes the old Coco Chanel adage that says that before a woman leaves the house, she should take one thing off (e.g. a piece of jewelry or a scarf). The same is true for homes. If course you want it to look lived in and not empty, but too much stuff=clutter. Fast.

5. Decorating from a single era. Yes, you want your furniture to fit your home. And you don’t have to go completely crazy, but don’t be afraid to put a piece of African art in your Cape Cod, a Ligne Roset chair in your Victorian or a piece of chintz in your modern house. After all, you don’t live in a museum.

6. A BIG TV. Look, we all like the idea of a home theater. but consider your room’s proportions. Also look at the pattern of use. For a basement rec room, a very large TV might be just the thing. For a living room used for multiple purposes, such as gathering after dinner and entertaining guests, don’t let your television become the focal point.

7. Bad lighting. It’s unflattering and causes eyestrain.

Of course, this is all opinion, and in the end you should do what you are comfortable with. But the thread that runs through all these “donts” is a lack of consideration for living and for human interaction. Clutter, TV, distracting walls and bad lighting will detract from the warm human element that home should bring to mind.

What are your decorating donts?

Image courtesy of Chris Campbell on Flickr.

One of the most fun things about redecorating is studying all the latest trends. When it comes to execution, go lightly, though: Go too far and it starts to look like a newbie designer did your living room.

MSN Lifestyle recently listed some trends they think have gone too far. They include:

• Antlers and taxidermy
• Inspirational sayings
• Buddha sculptures
• Ghost chairs
• Poufs
• Accent walls
• Boutique hotel chic
• Black chalkboard paint

Does your home have any of these “passé” trends? We say that, in and of themselves, none of these are wrong. If you like it, go for it! It’s your home and your space. You should like what you look at. But one (or maybe two) at a time, please.

Consider context, too. Antlers and taxidermy will seem more in place in a rustic hunting lodge then they might in a suburban home. Chalkboard paint can work well in children’s bedrooms and on kitchen doors (somewhere to write the grocery list!), but is probably out of place in the dining room. And as the article notes, Buddha statues are religious pieces, not eclectic home decor.

Tell us in the comments if you or disagree with these and what decorating trends you choose to skip.

Photo courtesy of jawcey on Flickr

Home and interior design inspiration comes from many sources. An oft-repeated piece of advice is to keep some sort of a file with inspiring images–pages ripped from magazines or photos you took of a house in a nearby neighborhood that speaks to you. Inspiration comes from many places though. And if you are a movie buff, why not mine those depths for your perfect home look?

Design*Sponge has an amazing recurring feature called “Living In” where they do just that. They take a film and based on scenes and the overall “feel” they come up with home objects (and the occasional clothing) that evoke the movie. Whether it’s the sunny Greek isle of Mamma Mia!, the New York of Annie Hall or even the fantastical Labyrinth, you’ll be amazed at how you can style your home to evoke your favorite movie.

Check it out and make sure to think about how your favorite films can influence your home design and inspiration. Don’t forget the popcorn!

Image courtesy of Vlastula on Flickr.