The Latest Craze in Home Decor: Chatchkies

Expert in Nebraska says: "Nothing says "home" like useless junk and random decorations."

Design experts are raving these days about a hot new decor trend and it's not feng shui or oriental scatter rugs. Designer to the stars, Lela Pumpkins claims that Chatchkies are "so hot." "There are so many great things about chatchkies," Pumpkins says. "You can have themed chatchkies, like squirrel collections or random assortments" [like the one mentioned above].

And you can't just stop with one chatchkie. Once you place the first piece on that empty spot on your book shelf, your home will start filling up. "What is so great about them is that you can just keep buying more and putting them wherever you find an empty space" Pumpkins says.

Pumpkins also claims that chatchkies help you cut down on your cleaning time. "You'll just stop dusting, because it is way too difficult and time consuming to move all of the little chatchkies, dust and then put them back up."

Chatchkies can come from anywhere and are easy to obtain. Good places to purchase or steal chatchkies include antique stores, dumpsters, friend's homes, and junk piles in the woods. Designer Elle Moodoo claims that one of her most successful design jobs for a well-known celebrity included a rusty car bumper that was found near a swamp in Georgia. "I mounted it above her fire place and charged her a lot" says Moodoo. "It's that simple."

Photo above

Some chatckies from the author's home, L-R: Fiery Nun from toy store, crab shell, metal owls from Greece, porcelain poodle from fiance's parents home, broken rabbit salt shaker (it's so eclectic), succulent plants in vintage planter, plastic monster and masks (a gift from the Prime Minister of Agriculture from China.)

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