(Photo: Shutterstock)

There are a lot of great things about Thanksgiving: good food (like my family's favorite turkey recipe), quality time with family and a little bit of time off work.

In addition to all the obvious perks, one of my favorite things about the holiday is the decorating that goes along with it. It's a chance to dress up my home and show it off in a way I don't normally get to.

If you're like me, you know it can be tough to navigate the holiday decor trends. You want your home to look festive, not cheesy, and don't want to take away from the everyday design elements you've worked hard to implement in your space.

Fortunately, decorating for Thanksgiving doesn't mean turning your home into a modern-day pilgrim village. If cornucopias and giant turkeys aren't your thing, check out some of the chic design trends that are hot for Thanksgiving 2012.

(Photo: Shutterstock)Natural elements. Conjure up the feeling of the first Thanksgiving without setting the table outside. Instead, bring nature in with things like

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The Balance Bookshelf from Cush Design Studio on Etsy is a visual pun that you can take to the next level: In the product description, designer Chris Cush suggests using the Balance Bookshelf to weigh your must-read list against your already-read list -- but what about cookbooks on one shelf vs. diet books on the other? Or self-help books vs. travel books? Or you could go extra arty and do, say, carrot vs. stick.

The Balance Bookshelf is $120, which seems pretty reasonable considering that it goes to support a designer and artisan. I definitely don't want to discourage you from buying it on Etsy. Still, if you want to go the full distance creativity-wise, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that you could rig up a version of this yourself. Cush says the shelves "do not actually balance themselves out," so it shouldn't be too complicated. This version is made with black pipe fittings, pine and twine (see close-up); substitutions could include a larger book for the pine, maybe

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Click the photo to go to a slideshow of aerial views of Sandy's devastation. (Photo credit: Mike Groll, Associated Press)Obviously this link list is in no way comprehensive, but I thought I'd collect links to a few of the more interesting and perhaps easy-to-miss pieces I've come across since Sandy hit.

The storm wrought havoc on architectural treasures including projects by Frank Gehry and at the World Trade Center site; Architectural Record has a slideshow.

Cool, eerie long-exposure photos illuminate New York's deep darkness on PetaPixel.

A feared tide of rats failed to materialize, probably because they all drowned, says Forbes. Ew.

"Breaking the Frankensilence" and "Climate change policy evolving at the local level," Next American City: This is a fine line I'm treading, because it might seem that I'm making a political point in recommending these stories. But this seems like an opportune time to explore what is and isn't happening in American cities to fortify infrastructure. Even if you  disagree with the writers' perspectives, I think you'll still find their observations about local vs. federal

Read More »from Good reading, post-Sandy

Just a few of the good reads I've come across lately in real estate and housing:

"Housing prices and income inequality," New York Times: Is the high cost of housing the main wedge that's widening the gap between rich and poor?

"The key to the housing recover is still investors," CNNMoney: What kind of rebound will this be? Depends on who's buying.

"Bust to boom: Why housing matters, economically," NPR: An improving housing market could have a ripple effect. Fingers crossed.

"Homeowner Kimberly Smith's mortgage loan modification saved her only $1.61 per month," AOL Real Estate. Her story was televised; then the lender came through with a more significant modification.

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If you're a home improvement warehouse, a hurricane and its aftermath will certainly test your ability to serve customers. So how do you stock up and prepare? CNBC has an interesting interview with Home Depot emergency response captain Doug Spiron:

The Starry Light Lamps by Anagraphic are designed with two light intensities, to cast bright direct light downward while throwing "a magnificent and exact view of the night sky" onto your walls. (Click on either photo to go to a slideshow with other views and colors for the Starry Light Lamp.)

Because the lamp is handmade, it's customizable to the night sky of a given time and location. The standard versions are the equinoxes and solstices of the Northern Hemisphere.

The lamps are not yet available for purchase, but the Starry Light Lamps website and Facebook page promise they will be soon. Me, I've already signed up for the email notification list.

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Click any photo for a slideshow tour of Peter Medine's hip San Francisco house. (Photos: Greg Keraghosian)

Whoever gave birth to the term "man cave," she's got one famous child. The concept is everywhere in popular culture, with entire websites devoted to building them or showing them off.

But something about the man cave strikes me as, well, caveman-ish. It's too often stuck in arrested development with quirky knickknacks or frat-boy clichés -- combination easy chairs/beer coolers or the leg lamp from "A Christmas Story."

A sanctuary for the married man is all well and good. But what about the single, grown-up dude who has more than one room to furnish and wants to do it with style that goes beyond flat-screen TVs? What about the man home? Peter Medine of San Francisco has figured it out better than anyone I know — on a teacher's budget, no less.

"I have a man cave," Medine said. "It's my garage."

Medine, 39, doesn't eliminate his nerdy side. If you know where to look in his modest-sized, two-story house, you'll find memorabilia from "Star Wars" or his beloved Detroit Lions. Not to mention Read More »from A stylish man home that’s more than a cave

With mortgage rates at or near record lows, many homeowners are contemplating a refinance. Most assume a standard loan is their only option, but that's not always the case. Nontraditional loan products -- fixed rate mortgages with shorter repayment terms -- are also available.

"The big upside [to a nontraditional mortgage] is paying off the loan in the same number of years," says Joe Caltabiano, senior vice president at Guaranteed Rate. "Many people have said, 'Okay, I plan on working until I'm 65 and took this loan out when I'm 45, I want to stay on the same schedule.' This type of loan lets them do that."

Nontraditional loans allow homeowners to refinance and lock in record-low rates while paying off their loan in the same amount of time. Instead of homeowners replacing the 30-year mortgage they've been paying on for five years with a new 30-year loan, they can instead take out a 20- or 25-year mortgage and have their home paid off by the time they retire, or when their child is

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