Remember when I wrote about a well-edited kitchen? I shared my plight of way too many pots, pans, gadgets, and dishes that I’m just not ready to give up. Well, it looks like I’ve finally exhausted all my current organizing options. While I intend to do a massive cleaning out over the next few weeks, I’d really like to put up a shelf and a bar for hanging pots in my kitchen. The walls in my pre-war apartment have the ability to elude the most accurate of stud-finders, so the only space sturdy enough for a shelf would be the window frame. I’m hoping to replicate this shelf, adding a sturdy bar underneath for pots. Does anyone have any idea how to do this? Should I get a tension bar? Should I put up hooks and a curtain rod? What hooks should I use to hang the pots? Help! — Erica P.

While having dinner over at a friend’s house the other day, I fell in love. HARD. For her potato masher. Yes, really. The object of my affection was one of these fabulous Simply Mash devices from Chef’s Planet. It’s designed for you to mash by rotating your palm rather than using an up and down smashing motion, which is supposed to save 50% of your mashing time and result in lighter, fluffier spuds. I loved the way it felt in hand, it’s cephalopod-esque looks, and best of all, its ease of cleaning. And since potato mashing season is in full swing, I just may have to upgrade. — Megan B.

Tikoli has been on our radar for awhile, and you can probably see why — founder Maja Brugos got tired of finding nothing but cutesy kitchen goods, so she started making her own modern textiles. The results are amazing. The fractil pattern? Swoon. Mummy? Lovely. Blok? A far cry from kitchen kitsch. At $10 each, Tikoli towels might be an investment for your kitchen. But as art, they’re downright affordable.

Ah, the holidays — our favorite time of the year to spend an inordinate number of hours at the airport. Designer Eric De Nijs of Nieuwe Heren addresses this problem with his Suited Case. Like an upholstered Transformer, larger suitcases combine with hand luggage to create a couch built for two. While I’m a fan of classic suitcases, it would be nice to have my own couch to sit on while playing the waiting game this holiday season. View more photos at Dezeen. — Sarah C.

We picked up some animal crackers at Trader Joe’s the other day. I don’t exactly expect the cookies inside to look like they’re straight out of nature, but…

Seriously, what is that thing? It’s not a bear, because there appears to be another shape that more closely resembles a bear. And it’s not a fluke; there are many in the package that look just like it. The closest I could come is that maybe this is a depressed spider. (It’s missing legs, hence the depression — this made sense to me when I was thinking about it.)

Then I tried inverting it. Does this look familiar to you?

How about now?

This one was more problematic. Your guesses are welcome:

There are also lots of cookies that look just like this, whatever this is:

Hmm, what if we…

Nope. That doesn’t help at all. — Mary T.

Just having fun, Trader Joe’s! You know I love you!

Human heart diagram via Osovo

Are designers having more fun with dishware these days, or am I just really lucky when it comes to stumbling across these tongue-in-cheek goods? The Hot Plate design by Amrita Takhar really made me chuckle. I think these would be especially fun as reusable dishes on a picnic. A set of four melamine plates (two are 7.8″ in diameter and two 10″ in diameter) are $30 over at Imm Living. — Erica P.

There are thousands of deadly plants out there, but some are particularly villainous. It’s the plants that “you don’t want to meet in a dark alley” that made it into best-selling gardening author Amy Stewart’s latest book, Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities. According to Stewart, “wicked plants” include plants that “have been used as a murder weapon, plants that are illegal or immoral, plants that have started wars, plants that inflict pain, and plants that are badly behaved — they explode, they burst into flames, they smell terrible or destroy other plants in particularly diabolical ways.” Only those plants with back stories and body counts made the cut, and this sounds so deliciously terrifying that I must read it immediately. Let the killer algae nightmares begin! –Sarah C.

1) Funny comments are funny. We don’t know who T Bone is, but s/he always makes us laugh with comments like these: “Food just tastes better when it’s served from a dinosaur.” “That will not impress the postman if they deliver Martha Stewart’s mail. I hear she’s making edible holiday envelopes out of pine cones and pie crust.”

2) Pets can be memorialized in many ways. Some of you offered condolences to Sarah C. on the loss of Buster, and others shared ideas on remembering him. Adeleno5 says: “I had a silhouette made of my rat terrier and it helped a little to be able to remember her the way she looked in happier days.” She had her silhouette made at Cut Arts. For more ideas from donations to animal shelters to turning dog tags into ornaments, see the original post.

3) Baked oatmeal is an eye-opener. Lori Paximadis says: “Oh, thanks for this! I’m not a fan of liquidy oatmeal, but I would like a way to eat more of that oaty goodness without resorting to full-on cookie recipes. This looks like good middle ground.” See the recipe here.

4) Sometimes displaying CDs is simple. Frankly, most of you just hide or get rid of your CDs, but Ellie has two ideas: “Maybe a line of plain thin picture ledges would hold more?…I also inserted some between books on my bookshelves, so there is a line of books and then a deep pile of CDs with the front one showing amongst the book spines every so often, like so: |||||[ ]|\…I’m ashamed to admit I picked my favorite ones that match the room decor to front the shelf…” Ashamed? Sounds logical to us! Do you display CDs?

5) You know your furniture. A lot of you aced the high design or cheap furniture quiz. Bianca says: “100% for me, too. clearly i spend too much time on design blogs… i could tell by the wood finishes and colors. big box furniture is of either the basic or the primary color variety.” Can you tell the difference?

Photo by berving

Sometimes people say not to mix warm and cool colors. Casa Sugar proves not only that you can, but it can look great.

Meanwhile, Colourlovers says that brown and beige are on their way in — is that good?

First there were plates from tattoos, now there’s a tattoo from a plate.

Methodtweet alerted us to this post at Apartment Therapy on things you can wash in the dishwasher (that aren’t dishes).

Via Badder Homes, we learn that the alien abduction lamps we wrote about long ago are now available for purchase — gift list, anyone?

Also at Badder Homes, check out the books you can’t read — so cool.

Visit Shelterpop for Elle Decor’s Margaret Russell on style and substance.

In case you didn’t hear, learn about an important safety recall of Maclaren umbrella strollers at MSNBC.

Here are tips on visually “raising the roof” at Art + Home.

Color me jealous that I work in a standard cubicle farm with ghastly florescent lighting! These pictures from Wired documenting the amazing offices of San Francisco game studio Three Rings Design make me want to get their HR person on the phone immediately! Designed by husband and wife duo Jillian Northrup and Jeffery McGrew of Because We Can, the offices pull inspiration from Jules Verne’s fictional submarines, Victorian parlors, and pirate ships. They include a secret room behind a bookshelf, a plush break room with couches scavenged from a Craig’s List post, and a treasure chest which opens to reveal an Xbox 360 and flat-panel TV (of course). How much better would your Mondays be if you could lounge on plush octopus tentacles? — Katie D.

Photos via Because We Can