I have a fancy for Chinese home accessories - particularly if they're supposed to bring luck :-) In London's Soho I frequently find Chinese lucky items or just pretty amazing decorations:
I gave these to my mother in the hope it would bring her luck... The shop assistant made a point in extensively explaining how lucky these little items are: Buddha is always supposed to be a very auspicious symbol, the round thingy on the right one resemble coins which obviously are beneficial for finance, the knitted knots on top are supposed to be 'lucky knots' and anyways, red in itself should be a lucky as well...
I've got this one in my room. Again, we've got our 'lucky knot' (and here even two of them), and the pattern in the middle would be made out of amber elements (with amber being a lucky stone, apparantly) and, uhm, plastic I guess... The vital thing, however, would be the red drawing on that amber / plastic pattern: a dragon. And dragons are supposed to be extremely powerful symbols for luck, power and weatlh (this one I got from a book, not some shop assistant...).
These balls (well, they're supposed to resemble lanterns) are hung up during New Year to ensure a lucky and nice year. They are always red (lucky colour!) and are often embroidered with Chinese letters or other lucky symbols. In London's China Town, the whole place is plastered with these lanterns during New Year (and remember: Chinese people normally celebrate Chinese New Year somewhere in January / February. In 2012, the Chinese New Year would be on January 23rd) and I've got on of these in my room on a permanent basis - just to be sure I get as much luck as possible...
