Art of Darkness: Jimmie Martin Furniture

Jimmie Martin has been creating one-of-a-kind furniture with a decadent, urban appeal for Londoners since 2004. The line of punky and playful hand-finished furnishings is finally making its way to the U.S. at the design showroom of Kara Mann, set to open this week in Chicago.

While the company's work is very pricey (thousands of dollars per piece), their site is worth a look just for the sake of inspiration. Most of their furniture features traditional lines paired with very non-traditional finishes. It's something to think about if you have heirloom furniture that you love but that doesn't fit with your style. If you are brave and not a little cavalier, a black painted finished or a screen-printed upholstery fabric can take the formality out of a stodgy, antique silhouette.

Of course, if there's any question about value, you might want to have piece appraised first. I'm fairly sure that this is the sort of thing The Antiques Roadshow's nightmares are made of.