Do you know any real-life morning people? The kind who hop out of bed five minutes before the alarm and immediately spring into alertness? If you're like me, those people are exotic objects of your envy, while you try to will yourself to sleep at night and have a stress injury from hitting the snooze button too much. Sleep researchers say the most important sleep and wake-up cue for your body is light. Is the light in your life messing up your sleep cycle? More

Bear with us here for a moment, set aside your pragmatic sensibilities, and check out the Cryoscope concept by Robb Godshaw. It's a fascinating piece of technology which communicates the weather forecast in a tangible sense, the all-aluminum cube heated or cooled to the exact temperature fetched from online weather data!
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It's no secret, we love seeing people bringing a little worldliness to their spaces by using maps in their decor. Naturally this inexpensive IKEA hack caught our eye. More

Did any of your New Year's resolutions involve waking up earlier? Working out more? Establishing a routine? Here are some fashionable modern and retro alarm clocks to help you get out of bed on time...or early, if you please! More

It's no secret that we are obsessed with clocks. The way different designers interpret the simple telling of time has always intrigued us—thus our repeated roundups of the best-of-the-best each year. Take a look at our picks for 2011 and add to the list with your favorite by leaving a comment. More

Specialty: Customizable clocks for the textually inclined

Price Range: ($$) Mid-Range

A professional educator and security consultant, Doug Jackson loves making electronic gadgets. He also really loves teaching others how to make electronic gadgets. Which is how a simple gift designed for his English teaching wife resulted in a surprisingly successful enterprise in clock making and education. Word clocks tell time using (you guessed it!) - words. And they may be just the coolest clocks I've ever seen... More

It's commonplace to see wooden dining tables surrounded with plastic modern chairs or brightly colored mismatched chairs or even intermixed fabric patterns, but you rarely see mismatched wooden chairs with a wooden table. Even adventurous decorators tend to be wood purists, and an oak table with pine chairs can look off, if not combined correctly.

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For your friends with an appreciation for details, a love for raw materials, and an admiration for clean lines, check out this architecture lovers gift guide. Here are a few ideas that focus on reinventing everyday items and honoring the built environment. More

If you are looking for gift ideas for a design appreciator, we have compiled some options that can serve as inspiration. This can also serve as a quick guide for those that don't know what to get YOU. Just send them the link and say, "I really love this!"
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Kit-Cat Clocks have been around for 80 years. Their bold, graphic look is simultaneously modern and nostalgic, and we are suckers for anything with rolling eyes and a wagging tail. Created during the Great Depression, Kit-Cat Clocks were designed in hopes of bringing some levity to hard times. More