Thea Westreich and her husband, Ethan Wagner, live in a loft in New York's SoHo district, surrounded by their collection of edgy contemporary art -- and some unusual furniture.

There's one chair that's been worked over with a blowtorch to resemble charcoal. There's another chair made of dolls sewn together, and a third composed of odd-shaped scraps of wood that have been glued together to form a rough, uneven surface.

It looks like art, and in a way, it is, but with a twist: Think design and art.

"The best of these pieces operate functionally and sculpturally," Westreich says of the emerging trend: home furnishings that double as art. Use it or just look at it?

Westreich's chairs have plenty of cachet. Popular with the art-collector crowd -- Westreich and her husband run an art consulting company -- this kind of high-concept furniture is often produced in limited editions. It is increasingly being shown and sold at art galleries, at boutiques that resemble art galleries and at design shows held in conjunction with art fairs.

Still, you might not want to sit too long in the wood scrap chair, known as the Favela, by the Brazilian brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana. "I would have to admit that it is a bit uncomfortable," Westreich allows.

So do you sit on it or look at it?

A better question might be: Can you afford it? Watch the auction action

The Favela costs $3,480. The doll chair, called the Multidao, also by the Campana brothers, cost $7,000 in 2004, when the couple bought it. Some of the burned pieces, by acclaimed Dutch designer Maarten Baas, go for $12,000 or more -- that is, if you can find one of his popular works for sale.

One of the most prominent places to witness this crossover of art and design is Design Miami, timed to coincide with the annual art fair/jamboree Art Basel Miami Beach. Check out Design Miami

At the most recent event, in December, 26 design galleries were on hand, offering works like a polished fiberglass wall shelf by architect Zaha Hadid -- which quickly found a buyer on opening night for around $39,000. Israeli designer Arik Levy's Rock Mirror, made of polished stainless steel in a deconstructed arrangement, sold for $12,500.

Contemporary art collectors "feel comfortable and on familiar ground" in this realm, says Alexander Payne, worldwide design director at Phillips de Pury -- one of many art auction houses that are promoting high-end functional design.

"It complements (collectors') philosophy and their taste and their style," Payne explains. "Furniture becomes a stamp of quality within the context of their art collection."

Part of the allure is the ability to own a work created by a famous designer or celebrity architect -- something produced in a limited edition, with a specified number of copies, like a limited-edition print in the art world. And as in the art world, once the limited edition is produced, no more copies are made.

That means your burned chair will always be special.

Even if you don't use this furniture for practical purposes -- curling up with a book, for instance -- many limited-edition design pieces have proven to be good investments. As art-market prices have reached the stratosphere, contemporary design has come along for the ride, fetching sums previously paid only for antique or mid-century modern furniture.

Another piece by the Campana brothers, for instance -- the Sushi sofa, made of multicolored rolled rubber -- sold for $253,000 at a recent Phillips auction. Australian designer Marc Newson's 1985 Lockheed Lounge, a famously curvaceous (but hard) aluminum lounge, fetched $968,000 at Sotheby's in 2006. Photo: The $968,000 lounge

Of course, you probably won't get much back if your dog uses the doll chair as a teething toy. But if you're after something that's cutting edge, and don't mind stretching the budget, limited-edition design offers furniture that pushes the creative envelope.

That's because the designers, working in limited production mode, feel free to experiment -- with, say, a table or a lamp made of expensive Corian. They don't have to worry about whether the table or lamp will be economically viable in department stores. And the high price means the design can be profitable even if only a few people buy.

"Design studios have become laboratories," says Murray Moss, whose SoHo store, Moss, has pioneered the sale of limited-edition design. Designers can take more risks -- and charge higher prices -- working outside the retail environment, he explains: "They don't have to convince a company's board of directors" that their idea will work.

What Moss showed at Design Miami certainly qualifies as risk-taking. Called the Robber Baron series, it was a suite of five monumental, cast-bronze furniture pieces by the Belgian-based Studio Job. The series included a safe with a jack-in-the-box on top, and a mantel clock complete with gilded oil barrels. At least one was sold, for $700,000.

You don't necessarily have to be super-rich to own works by reigning design stars.

Two years ago Dutch designer Hella Jongerius, who mixes the best of industrial design with traditional craft, created a series of stylish engraved vases for mass-market retailer Ikea. They cost a mere $39.99 each.

Compare that to one of Jongerius' limited-edition pieces at Moss: a 60-inch-high earthenware vase, complete with a wreath-like cast-bronze medallion. Only six of those were made, and buying one will set you back $60,000. Compare: $60,000 vs. $39.99

As prices rise, potential buyers need to take a more critical approach, treating these furnishings as works of art, says Westreich. "We take the same position with the decorative arts as the visual arts," she says. "We ask questions like, Does it extend the vocabulary of design? Is it historically important? How unique is it?".

The reward: living with furniture that is beautiful, reflects the time in which we live -- and might just pay you back.

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Published March 5, 2008