We all know where to find the local furniture store and how to shop there. But I’d like to tell you about a new kind of furniture store—one that is stocked by artists instead of manufacturers. This furniture store exists in the mind rather than in the traditional places such as downtown or the mall, and you cannot shop it in the traditional way.

The furniture store of the mind contains merchandise in a profusion of styles and materials, created by talented artists from across North America who combine the artistic with the functional in each individual piece. Their merchandise is not mass-produced by machine.

There are several entry points to the furniture store of the mind. If you are looking to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary in your home by finding just the right pieces of furniture to meet your unique needs and tastes, here are a few to check out:

I can’t tell you that the pieces in the furniture store of the mind are less expensive, although they are not necessarily more expensive, than manufactured furniture. I will tell you that this furniture is a bargain in quality. Artists take old-world pride in what they make, creating furniture for today that will certainly become the heirlooms of tomorrow.

Daffodils are my favorite flower. My grandmother grew them, so they remind me of her and my childhood, especially the long summer weeks she and I spent together.

This time of year, I have the incredible luxury of watching several varieties of daffodils grow right outside my door, which means that these beautiful flowers, memory laden, find their way inside my home almost every day.

The association with memories is a constant theme with so many of the favorite things with which we surround ourselves, whether it’s treasured family photos or a quilt passed down from generations past. Intuitively, we seek out objects and artwork that have meaning, connection, and transcendence for us. For me, the color yellow or the image of a daffodil transports me in time, the same way a torn page from my favorite travel book to Italy does.

Oscar Wilde wrote, “Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.” My glass vase with daffodils serves as a bookmark in my own personal diary of memories.

It isn’t the things that make a home; what makes a home is the loving spirit in which those things are gathered. In the process of gathering, we happily re-connect with the people and times that have made us who we are today.

A new book, written by my good friend, Donald Clark, recently arrived on my desk. Titled Making a Living in Crafts, the book covers every aspect of running a craft business, from product development to marketing the finished work.

Flipping through the chapters on writing business plans, hiring staff, dealing with insurance, accounting, and legal issues, I am reminded that artists must be multi-faceted business owners in today’s world. Many are lucky to have partners or spouses who help with the variety of tasks that come with creating and selling artwork, but it is still daunting!

The best artists I know approach their businesses with the same creativity that they do their art. They are consummate entrepreneurs, striking a positive balance between art and commerce. And Clark’s new book is another helpful tool for the professional artist’s toolbox.

Remember when Jimmy Carter confessed that he had lust in his heart? Well, let me confess that there is lust in my heart…for hefty salad bowls and coffee mugs that make my hand want to linger. For colored glass vases that are as beautiful as the tulips they hold. For glowing lamps that change the atmosphere of a room, and paintings that transport me out of the room to somewhere else entirely. For handmade furniture and rugs, teapots and pitchers, sculpture and objects, and oh so much more.

These things hold a power over me that I cannot explain. I wake every morning to one of David Moose’s paintings of clouds on my bedroom wall, and the day is off to just the right start. A Vivian Wang figure sitting on my living room shelf never fails to delight. And it brings me joy every time I use my Jan Schachter ceramic casserole dish.

As each of us search for means of individual expression, we gather and collect. The works of artists, so steeped in meaning, allow us to rediscover the personal significance of the items that fill our homes.

Do you covet beautiful things? Do not feel guilty! Instead, keep in mind the words of the Irish poet, Thomas Moore:

“We work with the stuff of the soul by means of the things of life.”