There are some decent options out there for environmentally conscious home decor. But really...some of them are kinda beige. Or cookie cutter same-same, or just too burlap-ish crunchy, you know?

Relax, you have options.

For one-of-a-kind decor, in the words of 1stdibs.com, "Do the planet a favor, buy vintage."

I'm a big fan of all of the amazing independent designers out there. In an effort to get inside the mind of the indie designer and find out just what makes all of these creative types tick, I present to you an ongoing segment I call Indie Designer Interviews.

Today's interview is with Claudine Hellmuth, a nationally recognized collage artist, author and illustrator. She creates quirky, retro-inspired mixed media collages, including custom commissioned artworks.

Tell me a little about your work. I am an artist, author and illustrator. I create custom artworks for clients using their photos of themselves, their kids and their pets. I weave them into a collage artwork. I would say my look is whimsical with a retro twist. I have also written a couple books about my techniques and filmed 3 DVD workshops. And I create illustrations for various companies for greeting cards, calendars and advertisements etc.

How did you get started as an artist? I have been an artist all my life. I went to art college and graduated with my BFA in fine Art in 1997. After I graduated I knew I had to get some sort of day job and the internet was just really starting out then, so I learned HTML and got a job designing web sites. I did that to pay the bills meanwhile building my art career on the side in the evenings and on weekends. I got laid off from my web job in 2001 and have been working for myself ever since! I was actually so worn out from working both my day job and for my art that by the time I got laid off I was relieved!

What are your top fashion & beauty must-haves?
beauty: bare minerals make up and my proactiv system!
fashion: a great pair of jeans!!

Still waiting on spring to arrive where you are? Got those dreary winter day blues? Maybe the d°light Huggable is the answer you've been looking for. This light-up pillow is inspired by sunlight and designer Diana Lin created it to give people the chance to embrace the essence of the sun in their arms.

The pillow is soft and fuzzy like a pillow should be and it's made out of a unique silicone material that feels almost life-like. It's like your cute new glowing pet!

The d°light Huggable is available in three colors (white, hot pink and gold) and for $160 each, this pillow is a bit of a splurge. But it could make a great gift for lonely urban dwellers with the winter blahs, or maybe a last-ditch effort to sooth the kid who just can't get over their fear of the dark? Either way, it's pretty freakin' cool!

I'm a big fan of all of the amazing independent designers out there. In an effort to get inside the mind of the indie designer and find out just what makes all of these creative types tick, I present to you an ongoing segment I call Indie Designer Interviews.

Today's interview is with Brooke Fuller who runs an online boutique stocked full of great original handmade goods from other independent designers.

Tell me a little about yourself and your shop. I am a busy woman! I run a shop at The Pear Project that focuses on artisan goods in everyday life along with a blog at thepearproject.blogspot.com under the same theme. At The Pear Project I carry handpicked goods from a variety of artists focusing on modern handmade items that can enhance everyday life. I have a love of sales, advertising and marketing that fits in well with running this shop.

I also am a trained photographer. I have a commercial portfolio, but most of my practical experience has been with portraits. I love Polaroids and spend a lot of time thinking of how I can transform my photography into more than prints on the wall. I have a popular series of sx-70 manipulations I did when that type of film was available along with a series of resin necklaces. I have also used my photography for inspiration in other mediums as well.

Felting is another passion of mine. I am currently working on a series of 4x4 wall pieces with theme of simplicity inspired by nature & a line of brightly colored felted bracelets that will include the actual bracelets along with a kit for those who would rather do it themselves. I enjoy dry needle felting and use it as a sculpting medium. The texture draws me in and I am always amazed at the finished product.

I also work with enamel, resin, paper & a few other mediums. Variety is the spice of life, and I don't think I will ever be able to specialize in just 1 thing!

Who are your favorite designers? This is an easy question because I carry many of my favorite designers in The Pear Project shop. To name a few off hand ... I adore the paper products from Papered Together. I can't even count the number of times I have given out the coasters we carry in the shop as an affordable, unique gift. They are just perfect! I also love to give salt shakers by Gamiworks too.

What are your top fashion & beauty must-haves? I love mineral make-up! It gives a great natural look while evening out my skin tone. I also have a bag and purse habit.

I'm a big fan of all of the amazing independent designers out there. In an effort to get inside the mind of the indie designer and find out just what makes all of these creative types tick, I present to you an ongoing segment I call Indie Designer Interviews.

Today's interview is with illustrator, mother, and indie business owner Holly Jones, who runs Vinyl Wall Art along with her husband. These wall art decals are a fabulous inexpensive way to liven up a room, and Holly creates many different designs that range from kid-friendly to chic and sophisticated.

Tell me a little about yourself and your company. I worked 6 years as a designer & Illustrator for a major scrapbook company. Recently I quit to work at home so I could be with my two cute little girls. My husband and I started Vinyl Wall Art last July. I design all the wall art we sell.

What inspires your work? Fabric designs, greeting cards, children's clothing, everything I see!

Designers are very intriguing characters, I must say. Their entire lives are built upon deciding what is or isn't beautiful, and yet many of them are fashion disasters themselves. Just take a look at Mr. John Galliano. I'm sure you've got the point.

Betsey Johnson is another one of those strangely garish designers that dress themselves and their environment to look much tackier than their sold creations. Johnson's tackiness can be a bit of an exception though, because, at least when it comes to her home, she can make it work. Check out this spread that Elle Decoration did for Johnson's very pink, very retro-cool home. The mix of items is very eclectic and is wild enough to make it clear that she did it intentionally. When it comes to something as crazy as this, the envelope has to be pushed.

Despite the natural grimace that emerges on my face when I see so much soft pink, I don't think I would say no to living in this home. I mean, Johnson has a big Siouxsie Sioux glamor shot above her bed. Come on.

Ever dreamed of living like a celebrity -- partying like a rock star in the city, then crashing at your fabulous apartment with gorgeous views overlooking downtown Manhattan? Yeah, I have too. Now you can know how the stars live -- even take a tour of one of their fancy shmancy apartments. But if you want to have it all for your very own, you'll need to pony up $12 million.

That's how much Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen are asking for their swanky apartment in the West Village. It's a great location, amazing view, etc -- but I hope whoever buys it doesn't get stuck with their decor. It's almost uber-retro-chic, but still looks way too much like a high school girl's bedroom for any self-respecting grown-up to live there. The combination of these two drastically different design aesthetics is a total train wreck.

The twins design some decent clothing, so it's a little surprising that they can't the inside of the apartment look halfway decent. For $12 million, I think I'd be looking elsewhere.

For the hipster parents among you, working hard to raise your self-aware yet self-assured, eco-conscious, TV-free vegetarian child in an environment filled with ironic onesies, good design and old Pixies albums, here's some lights you might like.

Contemporary Heaven has tons of cute little critters to illuminate Apple, Oak, Shiloh or Ezra's room, including Ruby the Caterpillar Pendant Light (pictured at right), and, my personal favorite, the Sky Ceiling Light.

They're not exactly inexpensive, and I have a feeling your kid won't care one way or the other, but at least it's not Dora the Explorer, or something fashioned after those hideous little Bratz dolls.

Normally, implying that you killed some lady with red shoes and shoved her under your furniture isn't the most welcoming thing for guests. However, when that lady was a cruel witch who oppressed a good-natured civilization of singing, dancing Munchkins, I think you're sending a very clear message: "I'm good people."

I actually laughed out loud when I first saw the photo of the Oz Ruby Slippers Door Stop. The design is simple, straightforward, and fantastically clever. I'm not usually into kitschy home decor, but when it's this functional, and this drop-dead hysterical, I can make an exception.

Plus, it's only $15.98 -- a bargain basement way to make your home just a little bit magical.

Some products are great because they make wherever you live feel like home -- they're an expression of your taste and personality.

Other products are more functional. Take this Gold Man pee funnel, for instance. Now guys, I know we're all perfectly capable of aiming without one of these new-fangled toilet appendages, but if there's a special someone in your life that complains about ... spillage ... then this might be worth a look.

According to the manufacturer, "Gold Man is a toilet accessory that enables a regular toilet seat to be adapted to become a urinal for men avoiding the unhygenic practice of urinal spillage during toilet usage." Plus, it "May be lifted in place as and when needed," so you can hide your pee funnel when your friends come over, and avoid feeling completely emasculated.

Now, if they could only make a Gold Man that wasn't a complete and total eye sore, they might have a product worth buying.

[via Neatorama]

I grew up in a town along one of the Great Lakes, which meant on a summer evening the air was literally full of fireflies. Now that I live in the middle of Texas, the lack of luminous insects causes me considerable disappointment.

But, for people like me, who equate "lightning bugs" with fond childhood memories, there's now the Firefly Lamp -- a great way to get a little down-home comfort, no matter where you live.

From the designer: The firefly lamp is a marriage of simplicity and function. A thick square base made from recycled acrylic holds a nickel plated rod and fixture with a 5" bulb that encloses five miniature "fireflies."

Sounds cool, but unfortunately that comfort won't come cheap -- the lamps are $99 each from the company's website (they'd be $250 if you tried to purchase them at a retail outlet), and come with only one bulb each. Plus, it doesn't look very practical, as I can't imagine the bulb actually gives off much light. (That said, neither do real fireflies, so maybe that's the point.)

And -- lamps aside -- if you never had a chance to run around catching fireflies when you were a kid, I highly encourage you to give it a try. Nothing lights up a dark room like a plastic bottle filled with glowing bugs.

Chances are, you haven't spent a lot of time debating over which toilet roll holder expresses your unique design aesthetic. Maybe you chose between silver, gold, or wood finish -- but, most likely, you're still using whatever was there when you moved in.

Well, for the person that likes to have control over every design detail, here's a toilet paper holder for you: the Live Metal Works Paper Boy.

For only $44.95, you can own the handmade holder -- crafted from thin metal, and formed into a figure outline of a person. The figure's legs and left arm mount on your wall, and the right arm holds the roll. According to the blog, Damn I Like That: "He can be your very own assistant as you handle your bathroom business."

A little pricey, but worth it if you obsess over the little things.

If you've ever seen an unidentified flying object, are desperate to know what the government is hiding at Area 51, or just can't stop watching X-Files re-runs, you might be interested in this odd little home decoration.

According to Leslie Klein, the designer, it works like this: "A light source inside the UFO body lights up the windows and the cone shaped glass beam. The beam glass is frosted to diffuse the light enough to spread it in all directions." Sounds like an awesome -- if not slightly eerie -- way to light up your room.

If you're interested, you can find more of Klein's ideas about design (in addition to his theories about abduction), at a site he's created for the project.

The lamp is still in the concept stages, so it's not yet available. But hopefully it will be released to the public soon, so you, too, can have your very own alien vessel -- complete with the human or bovine abductee of your choice.

[via Neatorama]