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None of the greatest historians and anthropologists can pinpoint the date when humankind built the four-legged chair with a solid back to lean against. From 40,000 B.C. in China to 2680 B.C. in Egypt, men and women apparently made do with sitting on the ground or on raised mounds, stones and animal hides.

The earliest remnants of backed chairs were found in the tombs of Tutankhamun, wooden seats made with expert craftsmanship. It took until the American 1940s before Barcalounger began making the first recliners suitable for vegging in front of the television.

We’ve come a long way from Pharaoh seating. The old King would simply tut-tut these modern examples of furniture.

Designs that make a splash

Photo by Yanko Design

Designer Michael L. Wendel has found a way for anyone to perform a cannonball right in their own living room. The Splash Lounge Chair is molded from pink insulation foam and then slathered with four coats of Elmer’s glue. Spray on chopped fiberglass and finish with a coat of Bondo…and presto!

The handiest chair you can buy

Photo by Design Home Online

Many of the newest Ukranian designs are user-friendly, witness the warm greeting you get from this chair created by Oleksandr Shestakovych. Check out his portfolio at Behance.

The Russian crossover

Photo by Design Milk

Designers in Russia are also dashing out curiously playful furniture. This cross-legged chair by Vladimir Tsesler is actually a tripod. You’d have to try it out to see if it’s comfortable. I can imagine a fur coat draped across the back (faux mink, of course).

In the clover

Photo by Design Milk

This White Clover Chair by Driade was designed by Ron Arad. The seats, made of polypropylene mono-block, can be used inside the house or outdoors, where you can match them in a selection of hues to match your house siding colors. View more examples of Arad’s designs at Unica Home.

You may now be seated!

Here we are again, at the end of an excellent year for celebrating the most dubious of home improvements. We’ve seen revolting home interiors, botched paint jobs, grotesque house exteriors and raunchy furniture. As the year closes up like puckering lips under the mistletoe, let’s dump out the foulest examples and say good riddance, 2011!

The ugliest fence

Photo by Rick's Fencing

There are lots of contenders but few winners. Oregon’s Rick’s Fencing chose this Corvallis fence as the worst of the year in its annual contest. If good fences make good neighbors, avoid living next door to this place. The homeowner (mercifully unnamed here) won “100 feet of free fencing materials” from Rick’s.

Arresting door of the year

Photo by New Jersey.com

Ohio police officer Michael Cleary submitted this photo to New Jersey.com’s annual ugly door contest. One voter remarked: “I expect that door to open and Liberace to be standing there.” Since Liberace passed in 1987, I reckon he would easily look better than the door. If this photo isn’t enough to induce vomiting, watch five minutes of any movie with Ashton Kutcher.

Tackiest lamp of the year

Photo by Find Great Stuff

A Tennessee woman created this lamp for a single Gatlinburg man in the hopes of keeping him warm on winter nights. I’d prefer setting a bonfire on the sofa and singing “Tenting Tonight”  to my ferret.

Fixer-urper

Photo by Milwaukee Rennaisance

The wood may still be salvageable underneath the siding in this most-foul of outdoor treatments. I’d recommend running a jackhammer across the surface and then dynamiting the rest of the place.

Worst carpet of the decade

Photo by Las Vegas Carpets

Earlier this year, I ran a retrospective of ugly carpets from Vegas. This is what you call a “throw rug”; you roll it up and throw it in the dumpster.

Here’s to a New Year luxuriant in décor and dazzling with fine taste. But I doubt it!