Painted furniture - you either love it or you hate it. I think painted furniture has a lot of potential. The top image is taken from Danielle Thompson's flickr page. I think you could easily find some images out on the web, download them, cut out the pattern and turn a boring piece of furniture into something new and fun. You could also do something really simple like take a piece of furniture, paint it your favorite color and add a gold or silver trim to the edges. Painted furniture has endless possibilites. Imagine a piece with a painting on it from Jen Renninger. I can see a small child's chair with a collage on the back similar to Colin Johnson's art work, or a white chair with pink flowers from Fifi Flowers. 
Man vs. Nature by Colin Johnson. Wow, this guy is living right here in St. Paul. It makes me want to run out and start clipping my magazines. I wonder how he makes such beautiful collages. You can see more of his work at