Spruce up your home with timepieces
David Mink GateHouse Plus

Time is everything to human culture. There's never enough of it, yet we struggle to make it; it's always running out, and we're always trying desperately to take it when we can; it's against us from the day we're born, and we cling to the dream that maybe we can turn it back.

With such a crazed obsession gripping us throughout our entire lives, it makes sense that you simply can't go anywhere without running into a clock. Try it right now. I'm willing to bet, no matter where you're at, there's a clock within sight. They're on car dashboards, bank marquees, town squares, computers, office walls, wrists, ovens, cell phones, towers, night stands, network graphics ... time is literally everywhere.

It makes sense, then, that a homeowner would want her clock to stand out above all the rest. For the budget-oriented, finding a fanciful, artistic clock is as easy as driving to the local Wal-Mart or Target; the chains' massive collections of inexpensive but ornate wall clocks have been keeping America's middle class in style for the last few years. But clock-shopping certainly does not begin and end at the Supercenter.

+ Grandfather clocks - Undoubtedly still the most ornate and sophisticated clocks a person can own, longcase clocks have roots dating back to 17th-century England. They were originally built tall to incorporate longer pendulums and were housed in plain wooden cases, giving rise to the name "coffin clock." Years later, when a guest at a hotel heard a famous story, he wrote the song "My Grandfather's Clock," and the name stuck.

Today, grandfather clocks are made by companies like Howard Miller, Hermle, Ridgeway and Kieninger. Average prices for well-crafted grandfathers start in the thousands of dollars, however. Styles range from traditionally ornate wood to stark wrought iron to new-wave, steel tempo clocks. Check out GiftOfTime- Clocks.com for more selections.

+ Projection clocks - This certainly isn't your grandpa's clock. DesignClock.com, while obviously written by someone who speaks English as a third or fourth language, offers some of the most new-wave and avante garde clocks on the market today.

Using state-of-the-art technology, the folks at DesignClock created a unit that projects a clock face onto your wall. With moving hands and programmable lighted backgrounds, the clocks can be as big or as small as you want, depending upon where you put the projector. The site also offers a slim projector capable of projecting your favorite picture - or your company logo - onto the wall, provided you have the picture in slide form.

The CoolHeure projector clock, which can project clock faces with roman numerals, Arabic numerals (in different styles) or without numerals at all, starts at about $220. Other styles, which include ceiling- and desk-based projectors, start at $200. Check with your local aretailer, or Visit DesignClock.com for more details.