I will take a beautifully designed, functional object over a tool + a piece of art any day. When I buy something I want to it last, and if I'm going to be using it a long time I certainly hope I don't hate the way it looks. If I like the way it looks I'll display it rather than hide it, and if I decorate with the objects I use I certainly don't need a bunch of other stuff taking up space just to look "pretty." Makes perfect sense, right?
For reasons into which we shall not delve at this time I have a very, very strong aversion to clutter, junk, and in general having anything around that isn't useful or much loved. Of course there are these "much loved" exceptions, but I'm highly selective about a lot of things. For the most part the best gift someone can give me is nothing at all; it saves me the trouble of figuring out how to get rid of it in a sustainable way.
One of my/our goals in having our own place and the freedom to chose what we want in our home is to have everyday objects which are Designed and are therefore pieces of art in themselves. Art can be anywhere if you just find it or make it. My favourite example?
Ornamental teapots are stupid; a
beautiful, functional teapot can be both used and displayed daily. I can get behind that. When the time comes Banik and I will build a set of dishes- not buy one, and our kitchen cabinets will showcase the final selection rather than hide it. Creatively displayed even the most mundane things can become features, and I will endeavor to use my not-quite-OCD to that end. Hopefully a few years from now we'll have something that looks pretty awesome.
This is the japanese maple in the front yard. The canopy is at eye level from our living room, so it was a great view. Then one day we got up and all the leaves were on the ground. 
Now the leaves are covered with a few inches of snow and sealed with ice. >.<
