(Photo via Ocean Pacific Properties)

The other day, Yahoo! Homes ran a CNBC story on luxury homes with bold features. It got us wondering: If money (and maybe taste) were no object, what would you include in your home? A slide, like pro poker player Phil Galfond had installed in his Manhattan penthouse? A retractable glass atrium "allowing for unlimited stargazing and sea breezes" (pictured), or perhaps a "jungle in which you can catch fresh fish for dinner" -- both of which CNBC's complete slideshow featured?

We posed the question on our Facebook page, and I've also looked through the comments on the original story. Here's an edited wishlist:

• A fitness center with all the perks.

• A koi pond with a water feature.

• Beautiful paintings with a secret: big-screen TVs behind them.

• "I have always wanted a drinking fountain."

• A big library with tall shelves, plenty of natural light, a grand piano at the center, and comfortable seating.

• A foam pit, like the ones at gymnastics facilities.

• An indoor basketball court with cameras

Guess it's true what industry insiders are saying about the rental market heating up. Manhattan recently welcomed a new rental listing with a monthly chit that's in the neighborhood of America's average mortgage balance: $150,000.

Let's not be too cynical about this, though. You get a lot for the money. First, it's a residence with an impeccable pedigree. Designed by architect Charles Henry Pierpont Gilbert and completed in 1916, the Woolworth Mansion at 4 East 80th Street on New York's Upper East Side is one of a trio of townhouses commissioned by American retail tycoon Frank Woolworth for his three daughters. A 25-foot-wide mansion on either side hugs the center building that's for rent -- and 40 percent wider. (Take that, sisters!)

According to Brown Harris Stevens, the firm handling the listing, it's New York's only mansion fully renovated in traditional pre-war style that is "formally" available for rent. Your monthly rent payment includes the furnishings, if you want them.

You

I've had my eye on the Clutch oak floor lamp at CB2 for quite some time -- in fact, since the lamp was available with yellow shades, not this more versatile matte gray (although at my house, yellow practically counts as a neutral).

I love its simple, plays-well-with-others lines, and because the light sources are magnetic, you can position the shades just about however you like.

But the website and catalog actually undersell the merits of Jannis Ellenberger's design, if you ask me. I've seen this piece in real life, and its true virtue is in the fact that you can do considerably more with it than the pictures show. The electrical wires are attached to the powdercoated steel lampshades, not to the pole, which means you can pull the domes free of the base to set them on a desk or coffee table. If memory serves, you can even stick them to a filing cabinet or other magnetic surface instead. You could also buy a second lamp, set aside its base and stick four lampshades to your original

What home decorating ideas will they think of next? More to the point, which of these DIY projects will you make next?

In my search of the top DIY projects on the Web, I spied a number of helpful, if typical, top 10 lists we all see at this time of year: top 10 kitchen projects, top 10 designer bathrooms, top 10 handcrafts, etc.

But I also spotted a rather ambitious, not to say over-the-top, totally great grouping of 100 DIY Projects That Will Make You Proud. This collection of handy home decorating how-tos showcased by CasaSugar (shameless plug: now a regular contributor to Yahoo! Homes) runs the gamut of must-make goodies to just plain good ideas. Whatever item catches your eye, there's sure to be a fun doodad (or do-mom) for your home.

You'll find projects for handmade furniture, custom wall hangings, decorative table settings, and everything imaginable in between. My favorites, pictured from the top: a tub that tantalizes with multicolored glass tiles, a sweet shabby-chic

I know, I know, it's Labor Day weekend, and maybe your mind isn't on home design. But I had to share with you this truly fabulous sale on Fab.com, a membership-only website with flash sales. These butterfly chairs are just gorgeous to look at, even if you're not buying -- I love how the desktop version's colors scroll down a big screen.

The chairs are made with vintage kantha fabric from India, which gives them an extra layer of specialness that no mass-manufactured item can touch.

Each chair is $154, discounted from the usual $225. Not cheap, I know, but each chair is one of a kind, and the impact you'll get in a room helps justify the price (at least to my rationalizing mind).

Act soon, though; they're going fast. The sale started this morning and continues through Wednesday morning, and eyeballing it, I'd say maybe a third of them are gone at the time of this writing -- including the one below. (But the one above is still available! Click either photo to go to its listing; you'll

Around the first anniversary in your new house, you'll probably get a notice from the warranty company offering you the opportunity to renew the service contract for another year or longer. Should you bite? Warranties can also be purchased by existing homeowners, and if you don't like the current company you're with you can switch to a competitor. But are these service contracts, which can run $300 to $600 or more annually plus co-pays, which can be $0 to $100, worth the expense? Here are six tips from the experts before you sign on dotted line.

Get your copy. "If a company is asking you to renew or soliciting you to buy a new service contract, ask for a copy first," says Stephen McDaniel, assistant executive director of the Service Contract Industry Council in Tallahassee, Florida. "A reputable firm isn't going to pressure you to buy a contract if you want to read over the details on your own time. If they don't want you to see it before you buy, assume there's a problem."

Don't

You're probably wondering what back-to-school, Maria Montessori and Google could possibly have to do with the subject of homes.

It's not just a naked gambit for search engine traffic, I promise. (Not just a naked gambit.)

Today's Google doodle celebrates Montessori education -- of which Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are prominent, appreciative graduates -- in a way that reminds me how lovely toys can be. The simpler the toys are, the warmer they are, and the richer they are in imaginative possibilities for children and decor-minded adults.

Here's the Google doodle, illustrating typical Montessori toys:

The cursive lowercase G is a sandpaper letter meant for a child to trace with her finger, feeling its rough contours. Here's a noncursive version of Montessori-style sandpaper letters, available for about $15:

A similar cursive manipulative (about $25) is offered by Kid O, a New York-based store that sells a lot of simple, attractive designs including a puzzle like the

This brick beauty in Washington has the proportions of a supermodel, all height and little width.

Listed for $549,999 by Tom Lewis of Redfin, the 2-bedroom, 1.5-bath row-house-without-a-row somehow manages to look surprisingly roomy and modern, thanks to some clever interior customization.

The floor plans show an indoor footprint of just about 12 feet wide at its widest by about 26 feet. The lot size is listed at 423 square feet, which means WYSIWYG when it comes to a yard -- a pocket garden in the front, nothing in the back. Yet the house manages to eke out nearly 1,300 square feet of living space spread over three levels, and that's not  including what Lewis calls a "potential" rooftop deck (buyers to verify that potential, of course).

It's situated on an awkward piece of land on a triangular block in D.C.'s Shaw/U Street corridor. The house was built in 1910, and it's showing its age in places, particularly along one exterior wall coated in tar. (Click any of the photos here to go