I blogged Israeli industrial designer Yael Falk's (aka Etsy seller YooLa) delicate crocheted wire creations not too long ago, but I'm nuts about her new pendant lights (like the Pomegranate Lampshade, above, $90).

I love the webbed shadows the lights cast -- crazy cool.

Scheherazade Lampshade, $180

Each shade comes with a brass halogen light socket and a 78-inch electrical cord. Click here to see all of YooLa's Etsy offerings.

It's interesting how traditional galleries are no longer the sole provenance of art shows -- more and more boutiques, it seems, are also turning their wall space over to notable local and even national artists.

San Francisco, of course, has several great home shops that double as stellar art spaces, including Rare Device, the Curiosity Shoppe, Park Life, BellJar, and others. Here in the East Bay, Relish at Home, Mignonne, FiveTen Studio, Vessel, and the Gardener also host regular art shows.

As far as I know, though, it's still pretty unusual for clothing boutiques to moonlight as art galleries. But that hasn't stopped August, a chic fashion retailer on Oakland's College Avenue, from featuring some really great local art. And although my skinny-jean-sporting days are long past, I often pop into August just to admire the store's lovely artwork and stunning decor.

This month, August hosts new work from British ex-pat Bella Bigsby (previously blogged here), whose melancholy landscapes and nature studies will take your breath away. There's an artist reception from 5 to 9 p.m. tonight, November 12, and the show will be up at August through the end of the month.

Check out more of Bigsby's art right here.

I'm positively drooling over the beautiful and unusual new lamps and light fixtures that Jeni just added to the shop over at RianRae. (If I ever win the lottery, I won't spend the money on fancy cars or designer clothes -- I'll blow it all on lamps.) Above: Annabelle Porcelain Lamp, $338

Riviera Iron Pendant, $387

Distressed White Driftwood Lamp, $397

Reeves Large Nickel Pendant, $598

Chunky Industrial Desk Lamp, $840

Industrial Hanging Pendant, $487

Click here to check out all of RianRae's brand-new goodies.

Tomorrow, November 15, from 5 to 8 p.m. Oakland art gallery Johannson Projects hosts an opening reception for Collapsitalism: The Holiday Recession Sale.

The exhibition "is an attempt to [visually] connect art prices to stock-market fluctuations beyond ... charts and indexes" -- not to mention giving strapped art collectors a break and helping to support working artists who are feeling the economic pinch. Nearly a dozen emerging and established Northern California artists, including Zach Houston, Marci Erspamer, Nathan Cordero, Hunter Longe, Eric Larson, Susie Grant, Carson Murdach, Joan Moment, Andrew Benson, and Alex Case will have new, original pieces available for less than $500 each.

Collapsitalism will be up in the Johannson Projects Project Space through January 2.

I'm still on the hunt for a new sofa for our living room. Not that we have the cash to be buying major pieces of furniture right now, but hey -- that's never stopped me from looking and wanting before.

Almost all of the ones I have my eye on seem to share a few key traits: simple, relatively clean lines (though I am a sucker for a bit of button-tufting and perhaps a slight bohemian-louche vibe); tight backs; single-cushion seats; slim, sexy legs; and yummy gray velvet upholstery. My current faves: Long Snooze Sofa, above, from Ochre (No idea on the price, but I suspect it's steep.)

Jamie Dream Velvet Sofa, £2,075 (about $3,276) from Graham & Greene

Loring Sofa, $999 from Room + Board (I love the price and the look, but unfortunately this model wasn't that comfy when I tried it out in the store.)

Reese Sofa, $1,499 from Room + Board

Andre Sofa, $1,699 from Room + Board

Ditte Sofa, $3,498 from Anthropologie

Lampert Sofa, $2,950 from Jonathan Adler

Nell Sofa, $5,495 from Jayson Home & Garden (This one may just be my favorite -- but, ouch, that price!)

Wilshire Sofa, $2,950 from Williams Sonoma Home (This photo from the WSH website doesn't really do the couch justice; I've seen it in person and it's gorgeous.)

None of these has every single thing I want -- I'm lusting after a really deep sofa to curl up in, for instance, which seems to be hard to come by in a more tailored style. And none even has enough of my wish-list items while also being within the realm of financial possibility for us right now, so the search continues ...

By the way: Anyone out there know anything about having a sofa custom-made, or how much that costs? If so, please let me know!

Opening tonight, November 6, at Mark Wolfe Contemporary Art in San Francisco: Simultaneous solo exhibitions from Seattle's Diem Chau and local sculptor Danielle Giudici Wallis.

Chau (previously blogged here), creates incredibly intricate and beautiful embroidered china and impossibly tiny and delicate carvings from crayons and pencils. Her work "drifts into new territory by exploring the periphery of the narrative, moments forgotten and faded, or too brief to retain." I simply think it's breathtaking.

Giudici Wallis's "surrealistic sculptural works explore 'place' and domesticity through the use of architectural references," toying with "the distance between private and public, interior and exterior, and physical versus psychological space."

The shows will be up at Mark Wolfe through December 24. Click here for more information.

Today is the big day! So what's it going to be, America?

Vintage Zoo-Line Wooden Donkey. Current bid: $10 (the auction ends Sunday, November 9).

Vintage Kay Bojesen Wooden Elephant. Current bid: $54 (the auction ends Wednesday, November 5).

(Me? I'm of the donkey persuasion. But you knew that.)

Of all the rooms in our home, the living room is the one that seems to forever be morphing. (You can see earlier incarnations here and here.) In fact, the only thing that doesn't change much is the furniture placement. We've tried moving the big pieces around, but this seems to be the only arrangement that doesn't look wonky in the space. Still, the colors, smaller pieces, and accessories in this room are constantly shifting.

It's still not quite there (I'm desperate to repaint, for one), but I thought I'd show you the latest incarnation:

Yeah, I know it looks a bit cluttered in this shot. It doesn't feel that way in real life, but now I see that I should probably continue to edit a bit. (Ah, the accumulation of "stuff." It's a sickness.)

Anyway, other than the seating and the bookshelves (which came from Crate & Barrel and a local "unfinished furniture" store, respectively), we got just about everything in this room from the Alameda flea market or eBay.

The bullet planter is from Hip Haven; the SubPop/Jeff Kleinsmith poster can be found here; the lamp was $10 at the flea market (my best find there this year); the little planter trio is from IKEA; and the vintage teak entry chest is an eBay score.

Except for the mirror and the books, everything in this picture was found on eBay; the metal "sculpture" is actually a vintage industrial cake beater. The latest evidence of my incurable lamp addiction always seems to end up on this cabinet.

The credenza, Buddha head lamp, metal H, vintage letterpress letters, and ceramic bird figurines are yet more eBay finds; the black-and-white photo was a flea market score; the tiny print is one of Chris Crites' paper bag mugshots; and the ceramic pear is from Heather Knight's Etsy shop.

The ceramic garden stool and vintage coffee table? Also eBay. I want to replace the table's small marble top with a larger one, but haven't quite gotten around to it. The pillow is from Henry Road (purchased on the cheap at the last Modern Economy sale). The "amazing shedding shag" rug is the Quinn from Pottery Barn, but we got it for about half-price on eBay. It's a good thing, too, because if I'd paid full retail for this thing -- which I kind of love but which is the absolute bane of my existence -- I'd be upset.

The stone planter head was from Wisteria; the vintage teal bowl is from eBay; the tall "Try Everything" print is from Advice to Sink in Slowly; and the blue bird triptych is by Hadley Hutton.

I'm just going to say it: I kind of hate the couch, chairs, and ottoman. Once I figure out what to replace them with -- and if we ever save enough pennies to actually buy those replacements -- they're going straight up on craigslist. Nick and I are both pretty tall (6'2" and 5'10"), so the couch is more comfortable for us without the back cushions.

The throw draped over the back (a birthday present from my mom) is from Designers Guild, and the linen pillows are from Anna Joyce (a splurge from Portland's Olio United), Sharon Spain, and Paper Cloud (both bought on super-duper clearance at Oakland's Atomic Garden); the floor lamp is from IKEA.

I used the Orla Kiely wallpaper left over from my dining room hutch project to back the bookshelves, but came up one length short. (Anyone have 52 inches of this paper to spare?) A vintage wooden soda crate turned on its side displays bud vases from Heath Ceramics and a few other odds and ends. The teak money, vintage hat form, phrenology head, limestone chunk, vintage globe, ceramic horse head, and turquoise dish all came from eBay (yes, I have a problem); the oval "tree head portrait" is by Sarah Ogren; the cream vase and nesting bowls are by Sara Paloma, nabbed at one of her studio sales; the paper-maché vessels are by Up in the Air Somewhere; and the white bowl is from Perch!

The round metal table is from the flea market, and the round white side table is (a vintage Saarinen knockoff) is from eBay.

Now, as for paint colors: I'm a little stumped. All I know is that I have to get rid of this butterscotch-camel hue. It's a nice color -- I'm just sick of it, and I want something a bit brighter and fresher. Should we paint the room white? (I can't believe I'm actually typing that, since Nick and I spent more than a decade waiting for the day when we'd have a place of our own that we could paint anything but white. But I'm much more into Scandinavian brightness and simplicity these days, so I've got white paint on the brain.) Maybe dove gray? Other ideas? Anyone? Anyone?

(P.S. If you missed my earlier House in Progress posts, you can see them all here.)